Channeling chi: blocking channel for pain
Following up on Buddhini Samarasinghe’s knockout mouse post (http://goo.gl/DjWewM) which you should read but I know most of you read it already, here’s a mouse that will knockout scorpions and centipedes. The grasshopper mouse (Onychomys torridus) is an awesome fighter. Besides howling at the moon, they can block the pain from some types of venom.
Nociceptors are sensory neurons that are associated with pain. They used to be called pain receptors but we know now that they are involved with sensing more than just pain. Some venoms bind to the sodium channel in nociceptors, causing intense pain (among other things).
The unique thing about the grasshopper mouse is that it has a mutation that actually uses the venom to block pain, i.e. block the transmission of the signal from the nociceptor to the brain. Now that’s pretty cool.
Grasshopper mouse vs. centipede.
http://goo.gl/VCMDaO via National Geographic
Grasshopper mouse howling
http://goo.gl/b6blp via WIRED
Zoologger: Mouse eats scorpions and howls at the moon
http://goo.gl/CDqZmV via New Scientist
Image source: http://goo.gl/YQfR9Z
#ScienceEveryday
August 12, 2013
I think Tommy Leung will like the last part of the Wired article: Epilogue: There are a few clips of grasshopper mice hunting on YouTube, but I did not include them in this post because of the atrocious narration which accompanies them. Two National Geographic clips (here and here), in particular, use narration which sounds better suited to a trailer for the latest moronic Rob Schneider film than a nature program. Another frustrating confirmation that basic cable nature channels are the bottomless chum bucket of science communication.
August 12, 2013
I wonder if they could take that mutation and work it into human pain relief from chronic issues.
August 12, 2013
I don’t know. Rajini Rao knows a lot more about Na channels and this type of stuff. Maybe she has a sense of whether any of it is translatable.
August 12, 2013
Nice post! I’ll have to wait until I get home to explore all the links. But definitely, this work translates to humans. The Nav channels in humans are targets for pain relief. There is the famous case of a Pakistani family with mutations in Nav1.7 as a result, they feel no pain. Tragically, this led to loss of life in a young boy in this family because without pain he would engage in risky behavior. Here is the abstract: http://goo.gl/ICzedy and a blog post that explains it: http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/12/14/a-family-that-feels-no-pain/
August 12, 2013
Thanks Rajini Rao. I think the grasshopper mouse has a mutation in Nav1.8. It reminds me of why diabetics get gangrene. They can’t feel when they injure their extremities.
August 12, 2013
That’s what used to be the primary killer of people with leprosy too.
August 12, 2013
Had not realized the connection with pain for diabetics and leprosy patients..cool, thanks.
October 24, 2013
Michael Habib here’s more on the grasshopper mouse.