关键词: 蝎毒, 昆虫类毒素, 哺乳类毒素, GH₃细胞

Abstract: Two partially purified neurotoxins, peak II and III, were obtained from the crude venom of scorpion Buthus martensii by fractionation on Sephadex G-50. Bioassay experiments on cockroaches and mice indicated that peak II was more toxic to cockroaches and less to mice, while peak III was just reversed. The effects of these two partially purified neurotoxins on sodium currents of rat anterior pituitary cells (GH3 cells) were investigatedusing the whole-cell patch clamp technique. Peak III induced a pronounced slowing of Na⁺ inactivation, which is a typical response to a α type anti-mammal toxin from the Old World scorpion venom. Peak II dramatically shifted the voltage dependence sodium currents activation to much more negetive potentials, just like a typical β type anti-mammal toxin from the New World scorpion. It is interesting to see that a partially purified anti-insect toxin from the Old World scorpion behaved as a β type anti-mammal toxin on mammalian sodium channels.

Key words: scorpion venom, anti-insect toxin, anti-mammal toxin, GH3 cell