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omega-Atracotoxin is an insect-specific neurotoxin produced by the Blue Mountains funnel-web spider. Its phylogenetic specificity derives from its ability to antagonise insect, but not vertebrate, voltage-gated calcium channels. Two spatially proximal amino acid residues, Asn and Arg, form a contiguous molecular surface that is essential for toxin activity. It has been proposed that this surface of the beta-hairpin is a key site for interaction of the toxin with insect calcium channels.
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