Team:Georgia State/Project Summary/

Our team from Georgia State University has been working to successfully insert and purify mambalgin, a protein component of the venom of Dendroaspis Polylepis, better known as the Black Mamba. The mambalgin peptide is a powerful analgesic that directly blocks pain transmission in the peripheral nervous system (Diochot et al, 2012) by targeting acid sensing ion channels within nociceptors beneath the epidermis. Furthermore, recombinant purification of mambalgin could assist in developing anti-venom without the attendant risk of harvesting venom directly from snakes.