apamin

Apamin is an 18 amino acid globular peptide neurotoxin found in apitoxin (bee venom). Dry bee venom consists of 2–3% of apamin. Apamin selectively blocks SK channels, a type of Ca2+-activated K+ channel expressed in the central nervous system. Toxicity is caused by only a few amino acids, in particular cysteine1, lysine4, arginine13, arginine14 and histidine18. These amino acids are involved in the binding of apamin to the Ca2+-activated K+ channel. Due to its specificity for SK channels, apamin is used as a drug in biomedical research to study the electrical properties of SK channels and thei

Key facts

Protein.Name: Apamin Preproprotein
Protein.Symbol: Apamin
Protein.CAS_number: 24345-16-2
Protein.EntrezGene: 406135
Protein.UniProt: P01500

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Research

3,407 papers

Apamin.Pharmacology & therapeutics · 1984
Therapeutic Effects of Apamin as a Bee Venom Component for Non-Neoplastic Disease.Toxins · 2020
Apamin Improves Prefrontal Nicotinic Impairment in Mouse Model of Alzheimer's Disease.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2020
Apamin Enhances Neurite Outgrowth and Regeneration after Laceration Injury in Cortical Neurons.Toxins · 2021
The therapeutic potential of bee venom-derived Apamin and Melittin conjugates in cancer treatment: A systematic review.Pharmacological research · 2024

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Wikidata facts

Mass: 2025.886608

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chemical formula: C₇₉H₁₃₁N₃₁O₂₄S₄
isomeric SMILES: C[C@H]1C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CSSC[C@H]2C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N3CCC[C@H]3C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N[C@@H](CSSC[C@@H](C(=O)N[C@H](C(=O)N2)CC(=O)N)N)C(=O)N1)CC(C)C)C)[C@@H](C)O)CCC(=O)O)C)CCCCN)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)N)C(=O)N[C@@H](CCC(=O)N)C(=O)N[C@@H](CC4=CNC=N4)C(=O)N)CCCNC(=N)N)CCCNC(=N)N
canonical SMILES: CC1C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(CSSCC2C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)N3CCCC3C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)NC(CSSCC(C(=O)NC(C(=O)N2)CC(=O)N)N)C(=O)N1)CC(C)C)C)C(C)O)CCC(=O)O)C)CCCCN)C(=O)NC(CCC(=O)N)C(=O)NC(CCC(=O)N)C(=O)NC(CC4=CNC=N4)C(=O)N)CCCNC(=N)N)CCCNC(=N)N

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Article

9 sections

Contents

Origin
Structure and active site
Toxicodynamics
Toxicokinetics
Symptoms
Toxicity rates
Therapeutic use
References
External links

==Origin== The first symptoms of apitoxin (bee venom), that are now thought to be caused by apamin, were described back in 1936 by Hahn and Leditschke. Apamin was first isolated by Habermann in 1965 from Apis mellifera, the Western honey bee. Apamin was named after this bee. Bee venom contains many other compounds, like histamine, phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, MCD peptide, and the main active component melittin. Apamin was separated from the other compounds by gel filtration and ion exchange chromatography.