This work was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30025023, 3000062, 30130230 and 30370647);the Major State Basic Research Program of China (G1999054000 and 2004CB720000);the Chinese Academy of Sciences Project (KSCX2-SW-224);the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (2002AA214061).
α-Latrotoxin from the venom of black widow spider induces and augments neurotransmitter and hormone release by way of extracellular Ca^2+ influx and cellular signal transduction pathways. By using whole cell current...