Joro toxin explained

Joro spider toxin (joro toxin, JSTX) – a toxin which was originally extracted from the venom of the joro spider (Trichonephila clavata), originally native to Japan.

Biochemical analysis

Joro toxin has demonstrated the ability to selectively block

• postsynaptic glutamate potentials and
• AMPA glutamate receptors.

It inhibits

• NMDA receptors in the CNS of vertebrates.

Joro toxin does not affect

• aspartate-induced neural depolarization,
• resting membrane potential,
• nerve terminal spontaneous signalling, or
• inhibitory postsynaptic potentials.

Sources

• Jaewan . Jackson . P.N.R. . Lee . 1988 . Spider toxins as tools for dissecting elements of excitatory amino acid transmission . Trends in Neurosciences . 11 . 6 . 278–283 . 2465627 . 10.1016/0166-2236(88)90112-9. 42853484 .

• Mitsuyoshi . Saito . Yoshinori . Sahara . Akiko . Miwa . Kuniko . Shimazaki . Terumi . Nakajima . Nobufumi . Kawai . 1989 . Effects of a spider toxin (JSTX) on hippocampal CA1 neurons in vitro . Brain Research . 481 . 16–24 . 1 . 2565131 . 10.1016/0006-8993(89)90480-0. 24856322 .

• Yoshinori . Sahara . Hugh P.C. . Robinson . Akiko . Miwa . Nobufumi . Kawai . 1991 . A voltage-clamp study of the effects of Joro spider toxin and zinc on excitatory synaptic transmission in CA1 pyramidal cells of the guinea pig hippocampal slice . Neuroscience Research . 10 . 3 . 200–210 . 1677747 . 10.1016/0168-0102(91)90057-6. 38895357 .