neurotoxin
Sign in to savethumb|300px|right|Neurotoxins can be found in a number of organisms, including some strains of cyanobacteria, that can be found in [[algal blooms or washed up on shore in a green scum.]]
Article
41 sectionsContents
- Background
- Applications in neuroscience
- Mechanisms of activity
- Inhibitors
- Sodium channel
- Tetrodotoxin
- Potassium channel
- Tetraethylammonium
- Chloride channel
- Chlorotoxin
- Calcium channel
- Conotoxin
- Synaptic vesicle release
- Botulinum toxin
- Tetanus toxin
- Blood brain barrier
- Aluminium
- Mercury
- Receptor agonists and antagonists
- Anatoxin-a
- Bungarotoxin
- Caramboxin
- Curare
- Cytoskeleton interference
- Ammonia
- Arsenic
- Calcium-mediated cytotoxicity
- Lead
- Neurotoxins with multiple effects
- Ethanol
- n-Hexane
- Receptor-selective neurotoxins
- MPP<sup>+</sup>
- Endogenous neurotoxin sources
- Nitric oxide
- Glutamate
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|300px|right|Neurotoxins can be found in a number of organisms, including some strains of cyanobacteria, that can be found in [[algal blooms or washed up on shore in a green scum.]]
Neurotoxins are toxins that are destructive to nerve tissue (causing neurotoxicity). Neurotoxins are an extensive class of exogenous chemical neurological insults that can adversely affect function in both developing and mature nervous tissue. The term can also be used to classify endogenous compounds, which, when abnormally contacted, can prove neurologically toxic. Though neurotoxins are often neurologically destructive, their ability to specifically target neural components is important in the study of nervous systems. Common examples of neurotoxins include lead, ethanol (drinking alcohol), glutamate, nitric oxide, botulinum toxin (e.g. Botox), tetanus toxin, and tetrodotoxin. Some substances such as nitric oxide and glutamate are in fact essential for proper function of the body and only exert neurotoxic effects at excessive concentrations.