Joro toxin
# Joro toxin

Joro spider toxin (joro toxin, JSTX) - a toxin which was originally extracted from the venom of the joro spider (Trichonephila clavata), originally native to Japan.

## Biochemical analysis

Joro toxin has demonstrated the ability to selectively block

* postsynaptic glutamate potentials and
* AMPA glutamate receptors.

It inhibits

* NMDA receptors in the CNS of vertebrates.

Joro toxin does not affect

* aspartate-induced neural depolarization,
* resting membrane potential,
* nerve terminal spontaneous signalling, or
* inhibitory postsynaptic potentials.

## Sources

* Jackson, Jaewan; Lee, P.N.R. (1988). "Spider toxins as tools for dissecting elements of excitatory amino acid transmission". Trends in Neurosciences. 11 (6): 278–283. doi:10.1016/0166-2236(88)90112-9. PMID 2465627. S2CID 42853484.
* Saito, Mitsuyoshi; Sahara, Yoshinori; Miwa, Akiko; Shimazaki, Kuniko; Nakajima, Terumi; Kawai, Nobufumi (1989). "Effects of a spider toxin (JSTX) on hippocampal CA1 neurons in vitro". Brain Research. 481 (1): 16–24. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(89)90480-0. PMID 2565131. S2CID 24856322.
* Sahara, Yoshinori; Robinson, Hugh P.C.; Miwa, Akiko; Kawai, Nobufumi (1991). "A voltage-clamp study of the effects of Joro spider toxin and zinc on excitatory synaptic transmission in CA1 pyramidal cells of the guinea pig hippocampal slice". Neuroscience Research. 10 (3): 200–210. doi:10.1016/0168-0102(91)90057-6. PMID 1677747. S2CID 38895357.
