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Tarantula Venom and Chili Peppers Share Receptor
FiReaNGeL writes "Scientists have discovered that venom from a West Indian tarantula has been shown to cause pain by exciting the same nerve cells in mice that sense high temperatures and the hot, spicy ingredient in chili peppers. The findings demonstrate that some plants and animals have evolved the same molecular strategy to deter predators — triggering pain by activating a specific receptor on sensory nerves. The research provides new tools to understand how these pain- and heat-sensing neurons work, and to help develop drugs that ease persistent pain."
Maybe I'm missing something, but should the headline "Tarantula Venom and Chili Peppers Share Receptor" not actually read "Tarantula Venom and Chili Peppers Target Same Receptor"?
:)
It would be truly shocking if they actually shared the same receptor... has that ever happened? A plant growing an animal cell? Just curious...
Incidentally, the article doesn't really say if the same proteins are used by the pepper and the arachnid to provoke this receptor. Somehow I doubt it, since TFA says that just simple heat from the sun, as well as "peppery food, mustard oil and other compounds" also target it. Seems more coincidental than anything; a porcupine and a cactus would be another example of a plant and an animal developing a similar defense mechanism, no? Plant or animal, we do all seem to share the same world here...
In case anyone's interested, this particular species of tarantula, Psalmopoeus cambridgei, is quite cool looking... not quite as cool as, say, Avicularia versicolor or Haplopelma lividum, but cooler than I expected.
who thought the title sounded like something out of Rolling Stone:
..."
"New York punk group Tarantula Venom will be opening for the Red Hot Chili Peppers at the Receptor on 45th and Broadway
I am officially gone from
A biochemist friend of mine was telling me about some of his prospective research projects some time ago. It turns out that the receptor for capsacsin and for high temperature are one and the same, and what's unusual about these receptors is that they are not on the cell surface where most receptors are, but within the cell. This explains why it takes a little while for hot peppers to give you that tingle, and why it takes a while for it to go away, btw.
It may seem odd that capsaicin, a pain-causing compund, can relieve pain. Based on research, it appears that the receptors targetted by capsaicin can eventually become "fatigued", and stop responding, thus easing pain in the case of arthritis or shingles. A doctor friend of mine told me he was once involved in capsaicin pain-relief research. According to him, they injected several rabbits with a relatively pure capsaicin extract. The rabbits writhed in agony for an entire night, but the next day seemed calm and normal. They were put through a battery of tests, and to the incredulity of the researchers, they didn't respond to any pain stimulus whatsoever. It was (he said) as though they'd been completely and permanently anesthetised. In effect, they had "burned out" the capsaicin receptors of the rabbits.