Answer:
The substance would prevent action potentials from occurring along the sarcolemma.
Step-by-step explanation:
Tetrodotoxin (TTX) is a deadly neurotoxin that inhibits the action potential of people's neurons and muscles, that is, nerve impulses. This toxin acts in a very powerful and selective way on the cellular sodium channels of neurons and muscle cells and, due to these characteristics, it is widely used by scientists to study the characteristics of excitable cells, that is, those that have action potential Most cases of poisoning by this toxin are caused by the direct consumption of tropical fish of the Tetraodontidae family, such as puffer fish of the genus Takifugu and some puffer fish of the genus Lagocephalus.
Tetrodotoxin blocks the sodium channels of the cells, producing nerve insensitivity and muscle paralysis. For this, the area of the guanidinium group, with charge +, (the three nitrogens, indicated in blue in the model) with a size similar to that of a hydrated Na + ion, joins a zone with negative charge of the channel, with a glutamate , and forces a change in the constituent protein configuration
By blocking sodium channels, tetrodotoxin causes muscle paralysis, causing death in a high number of chaos, about 50%, within 20 minutes to eight hours. In case of survival, intoxication leaves no sequels. Tertrodotoxin is extremely potent as a poison. The lethal-50 dose in mice (the amount that kills 50% of the mice they are given) is 8 micrograms per kilo of body weight, which makes it thousands of times more toxic than cyanide. A single milligram of toxin can cause the death of an adult. Although the toxicity depends on each specimen, a puffer fish can contain toxin in its viscera to kill about 30 people.