WGU Deathcap

Death Cap Mushrooms

A look into the hepatoxic effect of the Deathcap
Mushroom.

Okey dokey then...
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So, yeah...hepato-toxic. Kills the liver.
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I suppose one could stop there and call it good, but that really wouldn 't suffice to tell the tale and the more I dug into it the more interesting it was.

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The Deathcap mushroom produce two major toxin groups – amatoxins and phallotoxins (yeah, that did make me giggle, I admit it).
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The Amatoxin being the key component we 'll examine here... (Lee, MD 2012)
(Santini, 2012)

Now then...
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Since I like to mix it up a bit...first a few thoughts about DNA and RNA.
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DNA can be described as the master blue print of a house or the initial code of a computer program; that first set of instructions, if you will.

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RNA is the copy, the working script as it were; now then...one step deeper in the gene pool (oh, I have ALWAYS wanted to say that!) - there is an essential enzyme called RNA polymerase that will bind to the DNA strand allowing it unwind (during the transcription phase), thus giving it a base from which to build a template for the copy that 'll follow. This way, a single gene can be copied into hundred, thousands...millions...eh, you get the idea. Works sort of like PK-Unzip, just WAY more efficient
(and to think that nature came up with the idea first...).

So?
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Wanna take a stab at what the amatoxin does?
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DING

DING
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DING!

THAT 'S RIGHT! IT 'S FIBRINOLYTIC AND STOPS
BLOOD FROM CLOTING! No...wait...that doesn 't sound right...

Sorry. Just having fun...
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As I was saying...
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The amatoxin found in the deathcap mushroom actually blocks the action of the mRNA polymerase. ●

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No transcription. No translation. Cellular breakdown, cellular death and eventual organ system failure and death of the organism.
Since there is no longer any essential cellular protein synthesis (back to the blocking of the mRNA polymerase), cellular function breaks down the cells die, but why the liver and kidneys?

Citations: 1) Lee, MD, D., Bentley, MD, S., & Bania, MD, T. (2012, December 6). Amatoxin Toxicity  2) Main, D. (2014, February 11). Found: Possible Antidote For Death Cap Mushroom Poisoning 3) Gumz, J. (2010, May 10). Dominican doctors pioneering research on mushroom poisoning antidote Retrieved August 4, 2014.