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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

A Calcium Bioluminescence Assay for Functional Analysis of Mosquito (Aedes aegypti) and Tick (Rhipicephalus microplus) G Protein-coupled Receptors
Published on: April 20, 2011
Inhibition of the Ca(2+)-activated K(+)-channel by sapecin B, an insect antibacterial protein
Abstract:
Sapecin is an antibacterial protein of the flesh fly and sapecin B is its homologue structurally similar to charybdotoxin of scorpion venom, which is known to be a K+ channel inhibitor. We found that, like charybdotoxin, sapecin B inhibits part of the voltage pulse-induced K+ currents of rat cerebellar Purkinje cells. We suggest that this effect is due to inhibition of the Ca(+)-activated K+ channel. Probably, sapecin B is a naturally occurring K+ channel inhibitor as well as an antibacterial protein.
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