文章出處:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=mouse-to-scorpion-is-that-all-ya-go-13-10-24
Mouse to Scorpion: "Is That All Ya Got?"
老鼠的進擊
Grasshopper mice have evolved biochemical pathways that thwart scorpion venom by reacting to it as a painkiller. Sophie Bushwick reports
沙居食蝗鼠已演化出能阻撓蠍子毒液，使其(作用)成為止痛藥的生化路徑。 Sophie Bushwick報導
Rodents called grasshopper mice have an unusual favorite food. Not grasshoppers. No, they really like scorpions. You can see the problem. But the mice shrug off any scorpion stings. And a new study shows how.
名為沙居食蝗鼠的囓齒類動物，特別愛吃一種不尋常的食物。不，不是蝗蟲。而是蠍子。看到問題了吧!但是這老鼠根本不把蠍子的刺放在眼裡。一項新的研究告訴了我們為什麼。
Researchers injected common house mice with scorpion venom. The mice nursed the injection site for several minutes. But grasshopper mice injected with venom fussed for only a few seconds. In fact, they were more bothered by saline solution.
研究者在一般的家鼠身上注射了蠍子的毒液。這老鼠舔(照料)了好幾分鐘被注射的地方。但沙居食蝗鼠則是在注射毒液後，僅不安了幾秒鐘。事實上，這兩種老鼠對生理食鹽水更感到困擾。
So what’s going on? In the house mouse, a specific type of nerve-cell signaling-channel got activated by the venom. But this same channel in grasshopper mice stayed inactive in the presence of venom—meaning the mice remained blissfully ignorant.
究竟是發生什麼事了呢?在家鼠體內，有個特殊類型的神經元傳遞信號通道被毒液激活。但是這相同的通道在沙居食蝗鼠體內，卻沒有因毒液的存在而產生反應，表示這老鼠仍然幸福地無感。
In addition, a separate pathway did react to the scorpion venom—and it actually temporarily blocked pain signals. Meaning that for grasshopper mice, scorpion venom is actually an analgesic. The work is in the journal Science. [Ashlee H. Row et al., Voltage-Gated Sodium Channel in Grasshopper Mice Defends against Bark Scorpion Toxin]
此外，另一個不同的通道卻對蠍毒產生了反應，它也確實地暫時的阻擋了疼苦的信號。這代表著，對於沙居食蝗鼠來說，蠍子的毒液其實是止痛藥。這項研究刊載在"科學"期刊中 (Ashlee H. Row 等人 著，沙居食蝗鼠中的電位控制型鈉離子通道，可對抗樹皮蠍毒素)
Understanding details of this system could lead to new approaches in the treatment of pain in people, so that someday we might ask, “Scorpion, where is thy sting?”
(瞭解這系統的細節將可以找到治療人類疼痛的新方法，有一天或許我們會問，"蠍子。你的刺呢?")
若能更深入了解這系統的運作機制，將可以找到對付疼痛的新方法，日後我們大概就會說，"蠍子，把你的刺交出來!"
—Sophie Bushwick
