3 ms·
Back when I studied biology, I found it fascinating that two of the major categories of neurotransmitter receptors are muscarinic and nicotinic receptors, named
by lioeters 8y ago
Back when I studied biology, I found it fascinating that two of the major categories of neurotransmitter receptors are muscarinic and nicotinic receptors, named after: muscarine, from the Amanita muscaria mushroom; and nicotine, from tobacco and other plants from the nightshade family.
- twic 8y agoAn amazing amount of biochemistry has been worked out in reverse from drugs and poisons. I once worked on a protein called TOR, which is a key regulator of cell growth; that gets its name because it's the Target Of Rapamycin, rapamycin being a drug. In fruitflies and nematodes, the preferred way to shake things until they break is mutation rather than drugs, so genes often have names describing what happens when the gene is broken - which is quite confusing. So, another protein i worked on is called Dlg, short for "discs large", because in fruitflies, when missing, the imaginal discs get too big. So you know Dlg's function is somehow to keep imaginal discs small.
- mda 8y agoNit, Amanita muscaria does not really contain muscarin but muscimol and ibotenic acid. Latter causes stomach upset.
- lioeters 8y agoI see, you're right - according to Wikipedia: "Muscarine is only a trace compound in the fly agaric Amanita muscaria; the pharmacologically more relevant compounds from this mushroom are ibotenic acid and muscimol. A. muscaria fruitbodies contain a variable dose of muscarine, usually around 0.0003% fresh weight." Looks like there's a historical reason why muscarine is associated with Amanita muscaria: it was first isolated from the mushroom by a German chemist in 1869.