What is "palytoxin"

n. A marine toxin that can cause ciguatera.

Palytoxin is an intense vasoconstrictor, and is considered to be one of the most toxic non- protein substances known, second only to maitotoxin in terms of toxicity in mice. Palytoxin is a natural compound, (chemically a fatty alcohol) that is produced by several marine species and can be found in many more species due to a process known as biomagnification. Palytoxin was originally isolated in 1971 in Hawaii from the seaweed-like coral " limu-make-o-Hana" (Seaweed of Death from Hana). Later, in 1982 its full chemical structure was published by Prof. Daisuke Uemura and co-workers at Nagoya University. Yoshito Kishi's group at Harvard University first synthesized palytoxin in 1994. Palytoxin targets the sodium-potassium pump protein by locking it into a position where it allows passive transport of both sodium and potassium ions, thereby destroying the ion gradient that is essential for most cells. Because palytoxin affects every cell in the body, the symptoms are very different for the various routes of exposure. The most common exposure in humans is by ingestion or inhalation. The onset of symptoms is rapid, and death usually follows quickly.