Tetrodotoxin

Tetrodotoxin

In this Quick Guide, Lorentz et al. discuss the function of tetrodotoxin and its distribution in the animal kingdom.

Presence of tetrodotoxin and tetrodotoxin-producing bacteria in freshwater sediments.

The occurrence of tetrodotoxin (TTX) in sediment from Lake Suwa, Japan, was confirmed by a tissue culture assay, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Altogether, 17 TTX-producing bacteria belonging to five genera were isolated from Lake Suwa and Pond Inokasira. Our results indicate that TTX and TTX-producing bacteria occur even in freshwater environm...

Instrumental Analysis of Tetrodotoxin

Tetrodotoxin —A brief history—

Tetrodotoxin (TTX), contained in puffer, has become an extremely popular chemical tool in the physiological and pharmacological laboratories since our discovery of its channel blocking action in the early 1960s. This brief review describes the history of discovery of TTX action on sodium channels, and represents a story primarily of my own work. TTX inhibits voltage-gated sodium channels in a h...

Kinetics of modulation of tetrodotoxin-sensitive and tetrodotoxin-resistant sodium channels by tetramethrin and deltamethrin.

Pyrethroid insecticides may be classified into two groups: type I pyrethroids lack a cyano group in the alpha-position, whereas type II pyrethroids have a cyano group. Both types prolong the sodium channel current thereby causing hyperexcitability, yet details of modulation of current kinetics remain largely to be seen. The mechanism of pyrethroid modulation of sodium currents was studied by th...