Calciseptine (CaS) is a natural neurotoxin isolated from the black mamba Dendroaspis p. polylepis venom. This toxin consists of 60 amino acids with four disulfide bonds. Calciseptine specifically blocks L-type calcium channels, but not other voltage-dependent Ca2+ channels such as N-type and T-type channels. Calciseptine has been shown to specifically inhibit the L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and was the first natural polypeptide discovered with this property. Specific polypeptide inhibitors of voltage-sensitive channels are important tools in research, and were already known for voltage-sensitive Na+ channels, both voltage-sensitive and Ca2+-activated K+ channels, and for N-type Ca2+-channels. Before calciseptine was sequenced and shown to be a specific L-type calcium channel inhibitor, no specific polypeptide inhibitors were known for this type of voltage-gated channels.
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