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Molecular architecture of black widow spider neurotoxins
oleh: Minghao Chen, Daniel Blum, Lena Engelhard, Stefan Raunser, Richard Wagner, Christos Gatsogiannis
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | Nature Portfolio 2021-11-01 |
Deskripsi
The venom of Latrodectus spiders contains seven Latrotoxins (LaTXs), among them α-latrocrustatoxin (LCT) and δ- latroinsectotoxins δ-LIT. LaTXs bind to specific receptors on the surface of neuronal cells and target the molecular exocytosis machinery. Here, the authors present the cryo-EM structure of the α-LCT monomer and the δ-LIT dimer, which reveal that LaTXs are organized in four domains and they discuss the potential oligomerisation mechanism that takes place before LaTXs membrane insertion. Both recombinant α-LCT and δ-LIT form channels in artificial membrane bilayers, that are stabilized by Ca2+ ions.