| melittin | <protein> The major component of bee venom, responsible for the pain of the sting. A 26 amino acid peptide, that has a hydrophobic and a positively charged region. Can lyse cell membranes and activate phospholipase A2 enzymes, it has a very high affinity for calmodulin but the biological relevance of this is unclear. (13 Nov 1997) |
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