FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS

(1) Block of conduction and marked increase in permeability of the squid giant axon, when surrounded by adhering small nerve fibers, is caused by the venoms of cottonmouth, ringhals, and cobra snakes and by phospholipase A (PhA). This phenomenon is associated with a marked breakdown of the substruc...

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Main Authors:	Martin, Rainer, Rosenberg, Philip
Format:	Online
Language:	English
Published:	The Rockefeller University Press 1968
Online Access:	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2107363/

id	pubmed-2107363
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	pubmed-21073632008-05-01 FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS Martin, Rainer Rosenberg, Philip Article (1) Block of conduction and marked increase in permeability of the squid giant axon, when surrounded by adhering small nerve fibers, is caused by the venoms of cottonmouth, ringhals, and cobra snakes and by phospholipase A (PhA). This phenomenon is associated with a marked breakdown of the substructure of the Schwann sheath into masses of cytoplasmic globules. Low concentrations of these agents which render the axons sensitive to curare cause less marked changes in the structure of the sheath. (2) Rattlesnake venom, the direct lytic factor obtained from ringhals venom, and hyaluronidase caused few observable changes in structure, correlating with the inability of these agents to increase permeability. (3) Cottonmouth venom did not alter the structure of giant axons freed of all adhering small nerve fibers. This is in agreement with previous evidence that the venom effects are due to an action of lysophosphatides liberated as a result of PhA action. Cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, a cationic detergent, produces effects that resemble those of venom and PhA. (4) The results provide evidence that PhA is the component of the venoms that is responsible for their effects. It also appears that the Schwann cell and possibly the axonal membrane are the major permeability barriers in the squid giant axon. The Rockefeller University Press 1968-02-01 /pmc/articles/PMC2107363/ /pubmed/4170546 Text en Copyright © 1968 by The Rockefeller University Press This article is distributed under the terms of an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike–No Mirror Sites license for the first six months after the publication date (see http://www.rupress.org/terms). After six months it is available under a Creative Commons License (Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 4.0 Unported license, as described at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).
repository_type	Open Access Journal
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	US National Center for Biotechnology Information
building	NCBI PubMed
collection	Online Access
language	English
format	Online
author	Martin, Rainer Rosenberg, Philip
spellingShingle	Martin, Rainer Rosenberg, Philip FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
author_facet	Martin, Rainer Rosenberg, Philip
author_sort	Martin, Rainer
title	FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
title_short	FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
title_full	FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
title_fullStr	FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
title_full_unstemmed	FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS
title_sort	fine structural alterations associated with venom action on squid giant nerve fibers
description	(1) Block of conduction and marked increase in permeability of the squid giant axon, when surrounded by adhering small nerve fibers, is caused by the venoms of cottonmouth, ringhals, and cobra snakes and by phospholipase A (PhA). This phenomenon is associated with a marked breakdown of the substructure of the Schwann sheath into masses of cytoplasmic globules. Low concentrations of these agents which render the axons sensitive to curare cause less marked changes in the structure of the sheath. (2) Rattlesnake venom, the direct lytic factor obtained from ringhals venom, and hyaluronidase caused few observable changes in structure, correlating with the inability of these agents to increase permeability. (3) Cottonmouth venom did not alter the structure of giant axons freed of all adhering small nerve fibers. This is in agreement with previous evidence that the venom effects are due to an action of lysophosphatides liberated as a result of PhA action. Cetyltrimethylammonium chloride, a cationic detergent, produces effects that resemble those of venom and PhA. (4) The results provide evidence that PhA is the component of the venoms that is responsible for their effects. It also appears that the Schwann cell and possibly the axonal membrane are the major permeability barriers in the squid giant axon.
publisher	The Rockefeller University Press
publishDate	1968
url	https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2107363/
_version_	1611409459924434944

FINE STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH VENOM ACTION ON SQUID GIANT NERVE FIBERS

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