Escobar L I, Salvador C, Martínez M, Vaca L
Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.
Neurobiology (Bp). 1998;6(1):59-74.
Maitotoxin (MTX), a water soluble polyether obtained from the marine dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus toxicus is one of the entities responsible for Ciguatera, a form of seafood poisoning. This toxin is a potent activator of changes in the intracellular Ca2+ concentrations of cells from a wide variety of organisms. Evidence published in the last few years strongly suggests that this toxin has no ionophoretic activity. Molecular mechanics studies, shown for the first time in this review, models MTX as a molecular 'wire'. The present work compiles the few studies developed with electrophysiological techniques. All these reports indicate that MTX is activating a voltage independent, nonselective cationic channel, which in some preparations requires the presence of extracellular Ca2+ for channel activation. The conductance estimated from a variety of tissues is in the order of 12-40 pS. Thus far, no specific blocker has been identified for this channel. The nature of the MTX receptor remains a mistery.
maitotoxin（MTX）是一种从海洋甲藻纲毒冈比甲藻中提取的水溶性聚醚，是引起雪卡毒素中毒（一种海鲜中毒形式）的致病因素之一。这种毒素是多种生物体细胞内钙离子浓度变化的强效激活剂。过去几年发表的证据有力地表明，这种毒素没有离子载体活性。本综述首次展示的分子力学研究将MTX模拟为分子“导线”。目前的工作汇编了一些用电生理技术开展的研究。所有这些报告表明，MTX正在激活一个电压非依赖性、非选择性阳离子通道，在某些制剂中，该通道的激活需要细胞外钙离子的存在。从各种组织估计的电导约为12 - 40 pS。到目前为止，尚未确定该通道的特异性阻滞剂。MTX受体的性质仍然是个谜。
