|
|
| Cane toad venom is cardioactive in nature, causing vasodilatation, tachycardia, and sinus arrhythmia when ingested by animals or humans. Vasodilatation occurs when the muscles surrounding the blood vessels relax. The process of vasodilatation begins when a primary messenger either diffuses through or attaches to the cell wall of a muscle cell surrounding the blood vessel. This binding causes GTP-ase within the cell to hydrolyze a compound called GTP. The GTP then causes the formation of a secondary messenger called cyclic-GMP. c-GMP serves to magnify the signal sent by the primary messenger. The magnified signal is then able to cause a cellular response and vasodilatation occurs. |
|
|
|
|