Myotoxin
title: "Myotoxin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["snake-toxins", "ion-channel-toxins", "muscular-system", "lizard-toxins"] topic_path: "general/snake-toxins" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myotoxin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
| Symbol = Myotoxins | Name = Myotoxin | image = Crotamin 1H5O.png | width = | caption = Structure of crotamine, a Na+ channel affecting toxin from Crotalus durissus terrificus venom. | Pfam= PF00819 | InterPro= IPR000881 | SMART= | Prosite = PDOC00435 | SCOP = 1h5o | TCDB = | OPM family= | OPM protein= | PDB= A:1-42
Myotoxins are small, basic peptides found in snake venoms (e.g. rattlesnakes) and lizard venoms (e.g. Mexican beaded lizard). This involves a non-enzymatic mechanism that leads to severe muscle necrosis. These peptides act very quickly, causing instantaneous paralysis to prevent prey from escaping and eventually death due to diaphragmatic paralysis.
The first myotoxin to be identified and isolated was crotamine, from the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus, a tropical South American rattlesnake, by Brazilian scientist José Moura Gonçalves, in the 1950s. Its biological actions, molecular structure and gene responsible for its synthesis were all elucidated in the last two decades.
References
References
- (May 2003). "Solution structure of crotamine, a Na+ channel affecting toxin from Crotalus durissus terrificus venom". Eur. J. Biochem..
- (1990). "A new small myotoxin from the venom of the prairie rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis viridis)". FEBS Lett..
- (1991). "Amino acid sequence of a myotoxin from venom of the eastern diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus)". Toxicon.
- (Jun 2008). "Defensins and the convergent evolution of platypus and reptile venom genes.". Genome Research.
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