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Tarantula peptide inhibits atrial fibrillation

Nature volume 409, pages 35–36 (2001)Cite this article

A peptide from spider venom can prevent the heartbeat from losing its rhythm.

Atrial fibrillation is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia to occur in humans, secondary to valve disease, hypertension or heart failure. It is often associated with passive stretching of the atrial chamber arising from haemodynamic or mechanical dysfunction of the heart. Here we show that atrial fibrillation potentiated by dilatation in rabbit heart can be inhibited by blocking stretch-activated ion channels with a specific peptide from tarantula venom, without altering the resting action potential. Our findings open a window on cardiac arrhythmogenesis and point the way towards developing a new class of drugs.

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Figure 1: Inhibition of atrial fibrillation by GsMtx-4 during stretch.

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Author notes

  1. Frank Bode

    Present address: Present address: Medizinische Klinik II, Universitaetsklinikum Luebeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Luebeck, Germany,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Georgetown University, 3900 Reservoir Road, Washington, 20007, DC, USA

    Frank Bode & Michael R. Franz

  2. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York, 124 Sherman Hall, Buffalo, 14214, New York, USA

    Frederick Sachs

Authors
  1. Frank Bode
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  2. Frederick Sachs
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  3. Michael R. Franz
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Correspondence to Frederick Sachs.

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Bode, F., Sachs, F. & Franz, M. Tarantula peptide inhibits atrial fibrillation. Nature 409, 35–36 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35051165

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