[Solid-phase synthesis and biological characterization of S12A-HNTX-IV and R29A-HNTX-IV: two mutants of hainantoxin-IV]

Sheng Wu Gong Cheng Xue Bao. 2005 Jan;21(1):92-6.
[Article in Chinese]

Abstract

Hainantoxin-IV (HNTX-IV) purified from the venom of the spider Selenocosmia hainana is a potent antagonist that acts on tetrodotoxin-sensitive (TrX-S) sodium channels. It is a 35-residue polypeptide and includes three disulfide bridges. In order to investigate the structure-function relationship of HNTX-IV, two mutants (S12A-HNTX-IV and R29A-HNTX-IV) of HNTX-TV in which Ser12 and Arg29 were replaced by Ala respectively, were synthesized by solid-phase Fmoc chemistry, followed by oxidative refolding of purified peptides under the optimal conditions. The synthetic mutants were analyzed by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) and electrophysiological experiments for molecular weight, conformation and physiological activity, respectively. The results show that the mutants and native HNTX-IV (nHNTX-IV) have almost identical three-dimensional structures. The bioactivity level of S12A-HNTX-IV is also about the same as that of nHNTX-IV, suggesting that Ser12 does not play any important role for the bioactivity of this toxin. The bioactivity of R29A-HNTX-IV is reduced by at last 155 times, indicating that Arg29 is a key residue relative to the bioactivity of HNTX-IV. It is presumed that the decrease in activity of R29A-HNTX-IV is due to the changes of the property in the binding site rather than the change in the basic conformation of the molecule.

Publication types

  • English Abstract
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Substitution
  • Animals
  • Mutation*
  • Sodium Channel Blockers*
  • Sodium Channels / drug effects*
  • Sodium Channels / physiology
  • Spider Venoms / chemical synthesis*
  • Spider Venoms / genetics
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Tetrodotoxin / pharmacology

Substances

  • Sodium Channel Blockers
  • Sodium Channels
  • Spider Venoms
  • hainantoxin-IV, Seleconosmia hainana
  • Tetrodotoxin