((( Latest Protein Spotlight issue: sting ))) January 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Venomé hasà a «language of its own». The recurring message is not a nice one, and usually expresses one thing: back off. Certain animals use venom - a cocktail of molecules - to ward off predators or, at the very least, to divert oncoming danger. We all know what a wasp's sting is like and many of us may have felt the sting of a jellyfish, or perhaps even the bite of a snake. It is a painful experience. To what end? The reason is twofold: one, we at once recoil from the animal that has just caused pain and two, our body is instantly told where it hurts. Concomitantly, the animal takes flight while our body attends to our wound. The feeling of pain itself is caused by the opening and closing of minute channels that riddle the membranes of our nerve cells just under our skin. This gives rise to pain signals that originate at the location of the sting, or bite, and are relayed to our brain. Understanding how pain occurs on the molecular plane helps scientists find ways of designing pain relievers. However, more often than not, pain is usually accompanied by swelling which has a protective role. So we face a conundrum: how do you relieve pain while preserving inflammation? One particular scorpion toxin, the Black Rock scorpion toxin known as the wasabi receptor toxin or WaTx, may well provide an answer. Read more: http://www.proteinspotlight.org If you would like to make a direct link to this issue, please use the following link: http://www.proteinspotlight.org/back_issues/219/ If you wish to unsubscribe, you may do so here: http://www.proteinspotlight.org/unsubscribe/