Wasabi receptor toxin (WaTx) (36-68) is a cell-penetrating peptide that corresponds to the mature toxin sequence and is an activator of transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1).[1] It selectively induces currents in HEK293T cells expressing human TRPA1 (EC50 = 15 nM) over cells expressing human TRP melastatin 8 (TRPM8) or human TRP vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) at 100 nM or rat voltage-gated potassium channel 1.2 (Kv1.2), rat Kv2.1, rat Kv3.1, or rat Kv4.3 at 1,000 nM. WaTx induces nocifensive behavior in wild-type but not Trpa1-/- mice.
References:
[1].King, J.V.L., Emrick, J.J., Kelly, M.J.S., et al.A cell-penetrating scorpion toxin enables mode-specific modulation of TRPA1 and painCell178(6)1362-1374(2019).