BMB Reports Papers in Press available online.

Search Papers In Press
This galley proof is being listed electronically before publishing the final manuscript (It's not final version).

 
Solution structure and functional analysis of HelaTx1: the first toxin member of the リ-KTx5 subfamily
Jae IL Kim1,*
1Department of Life Sciences, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology,
2Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Leuven,
3Department of Environmental Sciences, Fukuoka Women's University
Abstract
Scorpion venom comprises a cocktail of toxins that have proven to be useful molecular tools for studying the pharmacological properties of membrane ion channels. HelaTx1, a short peptide neurotoxin isolated recently from the venom of the scorpion Heterometrus laoticus, is a 25 amino acid peptide with two disulfide bonds that shares low sequence homology with other scorpion toxins. HelaTx1 effectively decreases the amplitude of the K+ currents of voltage-gated Kv1.1 and Kv1.6 channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes, and was identified as the first toxin member of the リ-KTx5 subfamily, based on a sequence comparison and phylogenetic analysis. In the present study, we report the NMR solution structure of HelaTx1, and the major interaction points for its binding to voltage-gated Kv1.1 channels. The NMR results indicate that HelaTx1 adopts a helix-loop-helix fold linked by two disulfide bonds without any モ-sheets, resembling the molecular folding of other cysteine-stabilized helix-loop-helix (Cs メ/メ) scorpion toxins such as リ-hefutoxin, HeTx, and OmTx, as well as conotoxin pl14a. A series of alanine-scanning analogs revealed a broad surface on the toxin molecule largely comprising positively-charged residues that is crucial for interaction with voltage-gated Kv1.1 channels. Interestingly, the functional dyad, a key molecular determinant for activity against voltage-gated potassium channels in other toxins, is not present in HelaTx1.
Abstract, Accepted Manuscript(in press) [Submitted on October 26, 2019, Accepted on November 11, 2019]
  © KSBMB. All rights reserved. / Powered by INFOrang Co., Ltd