The venom of black widow spiders contains a cocktail of seven specific latrotoxins, but only one — α-latrotoxin — targets vertebrates, including humans. Chemists at the University of Münster have now deciphered the structure of α-latrotoxin before and after membrane insertion at near atomic resolution. Cryo-EM structure of α-latrotoxin in two distinct tetrameric states. Image credit: Klink et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52635-5. Latrotoxins...
