Both alpha-bungarotoxin and curare bind to the same neurotransmitter receptor, but only curare binds reversibly. Which receptor is involved? List some locations for this receptor. Would either toxin be appropriate to use as a paralytic during surgery? Explain your answer. Are all such receptors necessarily affected by a given toxin in the same way? Explain the significance of your answer.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Both of these toxins bind to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. This type of receptor is located on skeletal muscle and in autonomic ganglia. For a paralytic during surgery, curare would be appropriate but bungarotoxin would not, because the irreversibility of bungarotoxin binding results in permanent paralysis of skeletal muscles. Bungarotoxin binds to the receptors in skeletal muscle but not to those in autonomic ganglia, illustrating a structural difference in the receptors in these two sites.