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  • Title: Joro spider venom: glutamate agonist and antagonist on the rod retina of the dogfish.
    Author: Shiells RA, Falk G.
    Journal: Neurosci Lett; 1987 Jun 15; 77(2):221-5. PubMed ID: 2885795.
    Abstract:
    The venom of the Joro spider, reported to block glutamate action selectively at some glutaminergic synapses, was applied focally to rod horizontal and on-bipolar cells in dark-adapted retinal slices. The venom hyperpolarized horizontal cells in the dark and blocked their responses to light. Depolarization of horizontal cells by ionophoretic pulses of L-glutamate, L-aspartate or kainate was antagonized by the toxin in a slowly reversible manner. These results are consistent with other evidence for glutamate as the rod neurotransmitter acting on a single postsynaptic receptor type on horizontal cells. In contrast, the venom, like glutamate, closed the same ion channels of on-bipolar cells as the transmitter, thereby blocking light responses of on-bipolars. Joro spider toxin distinguishes the glutamate receptor-channel complexes of rod horizontal and on-bipolar cells.
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