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Phalloidin
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<p>Phalloidin belongs to a class of toxins called <a href="/facts/Phallotoxins/4dzmSrDH">phallotoxins</a>, which are found in the death cap mushroom <i>(<a href="/facts/Amanita_phalloides/yea3ok6C">Amanita phalloides</a>)</i>. It is a rigid <a href="/facts/Bicyclic_molecule/WfstMqT6">bicyclic</a> <a href="/facts/Peptide/C4ltc7UG">heptapeptide</a> that is lethal after a few days when injected into the bloodstream. The major symptom of phalloidin poisoning is acute <a href="/facts/Hunger_(physiology)/rx8227r0">hunger</a> due to the destruction of liver cells. It functions by binding and stabilizing filamentous <a href="/facts/Actin/Hu3qIUL9">actin</a> (<a href="/facts/F-actin/Hu3qIUL9">F-actin</a>) and effectively prevents the depolymerization of actin fibers. Due to its tight and selective binding to F-actin, derivatives of phalloidin containing <a href="/facts/Fluorescence/qsJVT2qP">fluorescent tags</a> are used widely in microscopy to visualize F-actin in biomedical research. </p>