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Intimate details of the most poisonous poison

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Crystal structures of type B botulinum neurotoxin, determined under conditions relevant to the extracellular binding and intracellular substrate cleavage steps of its toxic action, reveal that minimal structural changes occur upon binding a ganglioside or after substrate cleavage. The unique structure of this toxin provides information for developing preventive measures against botulism.

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Figure 1
Figure 2: Schematic models of the neurotransmitter release and the actions of botulinum and tetanus toxins.

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank S. Cai for his assistance in preparing figures. The work was supported by grants from the NIH and the Dreyfus Foundation.

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  1. the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Dartmouth, 02747, Massachusetts, USA

    Bal Ram Singh

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  1. Bal Ram Singh
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Singh, B. Intimate details of the most poisonous poison. Nat Struct Mol Biol 7, 617–619 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/77900

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