Taipoxin is an extremely potent neurotoxin

Neurotoxin

A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...

 developed by purifying the venom

Venom

Venom is the general term referring to any variety of toxins used by certain types of animals that inject it into their victims by the means of a bite or a sting...

 of the Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n taipan

Taipan

The taipans are a genus of large, fast, highly venomous Australasian snakes of the elapid family.-Overview:The taipan was named by Donald Thomson after the word used by the Wik-Mungkan Aboriginal people of central Cape York Peninsula, Queensland, Australia.There are three known species: the coastal...

 Oxyuranus microlepidotus. The toxin causes a gradual reduction to complete stop of evoked and spontaneous release of acetylcholine

Acetylcholine

The chemical compound acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter in both the peripheral nervous system and central nervous system in many organisms including humans...

 from motor nerve terminals. The victim dies from asphyxia

Asphyxia

Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...

 caused by paralysis of the respiratory muscles. It is the most lethal neurotoxin isolated from any snake venom so far.

The molecular mass

Molecular mass

The molecular mass of a substance is the mass of one molecule of that substance, in unified atomic mass unit u...

 is about 46,000 Dalton

Atomic mass unit

The unified atomic mass unit or dalton is a unit that is used for indicating mass on an atomic or molecular scale. It is defined as one twelfth of the rest mass of an unbound neutral atom of carbon-12 in its nuclear and electronic ground state, and has a value of...

; median lethal dose for mice was determined as 2 μg/kg (subcutaneous injection

Subcutaneous injection

A subcutaneous injection is administered as a bolus into the subcutis, the layer of skin directly below the dermis and epidermis, collectively referred to as the...

).