 Palytoxin targets the sodium-potassium pump protein by locking it into a position where it allows passive transport of both sodium and potassium ions, thereby destroying the ion gradient that is essential for life.Because palytoxin can affect every type of cell in the body, the symptoms can be very different for the various routes of exposure.Palytoxin's planar chemical structure was solved in 1981 by two research groups independently from each other.