Centipedes Subdue Giant Prey by Blocking KCNQ Channels

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Title of the paper	Centipedes Subdue Giant Prey by Blocking KCNQ Channels
Author	Luo L, Li B, Wang S, Wu F, Wang X, Liang P, Ombati R, Chen J, Lu X, Cui J, Lu Q, Zhang L, Zhou M, Tian C, Yang S, Lai R
Author	rlai@mail.kiz.ac.cn
Publication of the year	2018
DOI	doi: 10.1073/pnas.1714760115
Abstract	,,Centipedes can subdue giant prey by using venom, which is metabolically expensive to synthesize and thus used frugally through efficiently disrupting essential physiological systems. Here, we show that a centipede (Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans, ∼3 g) can subdue a mouse (∼45 g) within 30 seconds. We found that this observation is largely due to a peptide toxin in the venom, SsTx, and further established that SsTx blocks KCNQ potassium channels to exert the lethal toxicity. We also demonstrated that a KCNQ opener, retigabine, neutralizes the toxicity of a centipede's venom. The study indicates that centipedes' venom has evolved to simultaneously disrupt cardiovascular, respiratory, muscular, and nervous systems by targeting the broadly distributed KCNQ channels, thus providing a therapeutic strategy for centipede envenomation
PublicationName	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Paper origin	http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/12/1714760115.long
Influence factor	9.661（2016年)