Phallotoxin

Phallotoxins addition to the Amatoxinen the toxic ingredients of the Green and the White amanita. The phallotoxins are responsible for the chronic component of Amanita phalloides poisoning.

In molecular biology, its property is used as stabilizers for actin. They are mostly amorphous, water-soluble solids. To date, seven naturally occurring phallotoxins are ( phalloidin Phalloin, Phallisin, Phallacin, Phallicidin, Phallisacin and Prophalloin ) known whose backbone consists of seven cyclic amino acids arranged.

Phalloidin

Phalloidin as the main representative of the phallotoxins is one of the toxins the Green amanita (Amanita phalloides ), a cyclic peptide with an amanitin -like structure, which was determined by Theodor Wieland. When ingested, phalloidin is ineffective because it is not absorbed from the intestine, injected but it changes the cells of the liver as a result of irreversible binding to F- actin, the LD50 ( mouse ip) is 2 to 3 mg / kg.

The affinity to F -actin is exploited in molecular biology to make the corresponding parts of the cytoskeleton visible. Phalloidin is used here, to which a fluorescent dye is bound. This can be made visible as in fluorescence microscopy and thus obtains information about the distribution of F -actin in the cell.

In addition to phalloidin and the Amatoxinen the amanita contains more toxic compounds with phalloidin - related structure ( phallotoxins ). The Yellow Amanita phalloides contains only bufotenine.

Swell

• Rompp Lexikon Chemie - Version 2.0, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart / New York 1999
• Theodor Wieland: amatoxins, phallotoxins - the poisons of Amanita mushroom, chemicals in our time, 13 Jahrg 1979, No. 2, pp. 56-63, ISSN 0009-2851

• Mycotoxin
• Peptide
• Chemicals group
• A macrocyclic compound