Figure 4.

Membrane catalysis for the nAChR inhibition pathway of NTII. Step A→B: unspecific electrostatic adsorption of the positively charged toxin from solution to the negatively charged surface of a cell membrane. Step B→C: anchoring of the toxin to the lipid headgroups in a specific orientation that favors the receptor recognition. Step C→nAChR: NTII lateral diffusion and subsequent recognition of nAChR. The toxin-binding site between α- and γ-subunits of nAChR is marked by a gray oval. NTII, nAChR, and lipid bilayer are shown schematically.