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Palytoxin Is Incredibly Toxic, Perhaps the Second Most Dangerous Non-Peptide

Question 6

Multiple Choice

Palytoxin is incredibly toxic, perhaps the second most dangerous non-peptide toxin. It targets the sodium-potassium pump, locking it open and forming a channel through which the ions can passively flow. Palytoxin is produced by zoanthid cnidarians (soft coral) , and there have been incidents of poisoning from zoanthids within marine aquaria tanks in people's homes. It is also thought to be the source of the legend of the Limu make o hana ("Seaweed of Death from Hana") .
-A Hawaiian legend tells of a village that angered a shark god. In revenge, a "seaweed" began to grow in the tidepools that killed anyone who touched it. In fact, this "limu-make-o-Hana" -- a zoanthid cnidarian -- contains a palytoxin that locks the sodium-potassium pump open, allowing free flow of ions. If a villager suffers palytoxin poisoning, which way will the ions in his neurons flow?


A) all ions will flow out
B) potassium in, sodium out
C) chloride and sodium out, potassium in
D) sodium in, potassium out

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