Centipedes are vicious marauder . Rather than choose to tackle quarry smaller than themselves , as the majority of predator do , the multi - legged assassins are experts at remove down much larger critters using brawny maliciousness , with some species even venomous enough to kill a homo .
How exactly the centipede ’s malice is able-bodied to do this has not been full empathize , until now . Researchers have been looking into just how the golden head centipede ( Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans ) , which is detect across East Asia and through into Australia , is able to tackle mice up to 15 times its sizing in just 30 second . The trick , it turns out , lie in a specific toxin found in its strange and extremely potent venom .
The study , release inThe proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences , details how the squad managed to set apart the cocktail of toxins that the arthropod acquire . They then tested them one by one to see just what they did , and the effect they had on their prey . They found that one toxin in special , which has been named Ssm Spooky Toxin ( the " Ssm " part come from the centipede ’s Latin name , do n’t ask us about the " Spooky " part ) , was responsible for the mortal results .
It turns out that the toxin work by blockade the flow of atomic number 19 in and out of a mammal ’s cells . Specifically , it direct the channels that belong to the KCNQ family , which are involved in a wide array of of the essence physiological systems . They are needed for cardiac legal action , for example , as well as keeping the muscle that are used in breathing from get hold of up .
The toxin , it seems , disrupts the cardiovascular , respiratory , brawny , and queasy system all at the same time . This is call up to be the first time that a venom has been foundwith such molecular military action .
But not only have the squad uncover exactly how the malice gets to work out when down a centipede ’s target , they have also envision out incisively how to cease it . They notice that a particular drug called retigabine , which is normally used to treat epilepsy , has the opposite effect as Ssm Spooky Toxin , in that it open up the very same potassium channels that the toxin close .
This provides a pretty hearty basis for the ontogeny of an anti - venom that should be pretty effective at neutralizing any centipede envenomation .
