This paper discusses literature reports over the last 12 years and the results of our own experimental investigations of the structures of the immune recognition regions of protein antigens --in particular presynaptic and postsynaptic neurotoxins from spider and snake venoms.Of the more than 3000 species of spiders [1] and about 2340 species of snakes [2] living in the world, hundreds are poisonous. The organic parts of the venoms of these animals contain protein components with various molecular masses that consist mainly of enzymes and toxins. The roles of the majority of these enzymes remain unelucidated, while the toxins are the active principles of the venoms, which is expressed in their binding to elements of the presynaptic or postsynaptic membranes. The toxins binding to presynaptic membranes are classified into three groups: 1) those directed to the channels and neuromuscular receptors; 2) blockers of neuromuscular excitation; and 3) so-called "pure" presynaptic stimulatory toxins acting on the plasmatic membranes of nerve endings. The first group includes toxins active not only in the presynaptic compartment but also in the neurons. Some of them --for example, /3-bungarotoxin --besides affecting the channels and receptors, act as proteolytic or lipolytic enzymes modifying the structures of the membranes near their specific binding sections [3]. On the other hand, the neurotoxins of the second group, blockers of neuromediator excitation, such as botulin and tetanus toxin, are highly specific. The active subunits of these toxins are directed through the plasmatic membrane to the cytoplasm of the nerve endings, where they block the release of the mediator by an as yet unexplained mechanism. The third group, of "pure" presynaptic toxins, such as latrotoxin, act on the plasmatic membranes of nerve endings, promoting the generation of interterminal signals, which in the final account leads to a massive stimulation of the release of the neuromediator [4].Postsynaptic neurotoxins binding to nicotinic acetyicholine receptors are defined as o~-neurotoxins, tx-Neurotoxin molecules, which contain from 65 to 74 amino acid residues and 5 intramolecular disulfide bonds (long neurotoxins) or 60-62 residues with 4 disulfide bonds (short neurotoxins), bind specifically to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in postsynaptic membranes and block the channel-openingffunction of cholinergic ligands. To determine the interrelationship between these activities requires an all-sided investigation of the structural and conformational, and also the immunochemical, features of the binding regions in the toxin and receptor molecules.Since the determination of the primary structure of an ~-neurotoxin (toxin a from the cobra Naja nigrocollis) [5], a fairly large number of reports have been published in which the relationship between the structure and functions of neurotoxins is considered [6][7][8][9][10]. On the other hand, functional investigations of the acetylcholine receptor, the tx-subunit of which is responsible for binding ace...