New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby

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  New Publication: Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby I am pleased to share the publication of my latest paper, “Hybridisation in the Tarantula Hobby: Ethical Boundaries and Biological Consequences,” in the Journal of the British Tarantula Society , Volume 41, No. 1, September 2026. The paper addresses an issue that deserves serious consideration within the tarantula community: hybridisation and its potential long-term effects on the integrity of captive lineages. More Than a Breeding Decision The tarantula hobby has changed considerably over the past several decades. What was once a relatively small community has grown into an international network of keepers, breeders, vendors, researchers, and societies. Captive breeding has contributed enormously to that growth, improving husbandry knowledge and increasing the availability of captive-bred animals. With that success comes responsibility for the lineages we maintain. Hybridisation may seem like an isolated breeding experiment,...

Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice

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Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice

Abstract

We evaluated the effects of Tetrascorpin-1 from Androctonus australis (AaTs-1), a tetrapeptide obtained from scorpion venom, previously hypothesized to bind the formyl peptide receptor like-1 (FPRL-1) known as formyl peptide receptor-2 (FPR-2) in vitro, on pain responses and cytokines, neuronal and glial morpho-functional alterations in the spinal cord of mice with formalin-induced long-lasting pain hypersensitivity. Due to the peptide chemical nature and for favoring its penetration into the central nervous system, AaTs-1 was daily administered intranasally for 10 days. In formalin-injected mice the AaTs-1 treatment abolished mechanical allodynia, thermal hyperalgesia, hyperactivation of spinal nociceptive-specific (NS) neurons, and partially restored spinal anti-inflammatory/pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and microglia/astrocyte phenotype alterations. Additionally, in contrast to what occurred in formalin-injected mice, AaTs-1 treatment facilitated the firing activity of NS neurons and consistently altered the levels of some spinal cytokines under investigation in healthy mice. Based on the opposing effects of AaTs-1 under physiological and pathological conditions, we suspect that it acts as a partial agonist in vivo rather than as an antagonist of FPR-2, as other in vitro data would suggest.
Pagano, S., Limongelli, R., Moslah, W., Saada, M., Manzo, I., Bonsale, R., Teweldemedhin, M. M., Fusco, A., Guida, F., Belardo, C., Morace, A. M., Perrone, M., Ricciardi, F., Pierretti, G., Vastarella, M. G., Infantino, R., Srairi-Abid, N., Maione, S., Palazzo, E., . . . Luongo, L. (2025). Antinociceptive and neuromodulatory effects of the scorpion venom tetrapeptide tetrascorpin-1 in a long-lasting pain hypersensitivity model in mice. Toxicon, 108611. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxicon.2025.108611