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Kuzmenkov AI, Gigolaev AM, Pinheiro-Junior EL, Peigneur S, Tytgat J, Vassilevski AA. Methionine-isoleucine dichotomy at a key position in scorpion toxins inhibiting voltage-gated potassium channels. Toxicon 2023; 231:107181. [PMID: 37301298 DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2023.107181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies have identified some key amino acid residues in scorpion toxins blocking potassium channels. In particular, the most numerous toxins belonging to the α-KTx family and affecting voltage-gated potassium channels (KV) present a conserved K-C-X-N motif in the C-terminal half of their sequence. Here, we show that the X position of this motif is almost always occupied by either methionine or isoleucine. We compare the activity of three pairs of peptides that differ just by this residue on a panel of KV1 channels and find that toxins bearing methionine affect preferentially KV1.1 and 1.6 isoforms. The refined K-C-M/I-N motif stands out as the principal structural element of α-KTx conferring high affinity and selectivity to KV channels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexey I Kuzmenkov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
| | - Andrei M Gigolaev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997, Russia
| | | | - Steve Peigneur
- Toxicology and Pharmacology, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Jan Tytgat
- Toxicology and Pharmacology, KU Leuven, Leuven, 3000, Belgium
| | - Alexander A Vassilevski
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997, Russia.
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Tabakmakher VM, Gigolaev AM, Peigneur S, Krylov NA, Tytgat J, Chugunov AO, Vassilevski AA, Efremov RG. Potassium channel blocker crafted by α-hairpinin scaffold engineering. Biophys J 2021; 120:2471-2481. [PMID: 33932436 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2021.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 04/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The α-Hairpinins are a family of plant defense peptides with a common fold presenting two short α-helices stabilized by two invariant S-S-bridges. We have shown previously that substitution of just two amino acid residues in a wheat α-hairpinin Tk-AMP-X2 leads to Tk-hefu-2 that features specific affinity to voltage-gated potassium channels KV1.3. Here, we utilize a combined molecular modeling approach based on molecular dynamics simulations and protein surface topography technique to improve the affinity of Tk-hefu-2 to KV1.3 while preserving its specificity. An important advance of this work compared with our previous studies is transition from the analysis of various physicochemical properties of an isolated toxin molecule to its consideration in complex with its target, a membrane-bound ion channel. As a result, a panel of computationally designed Tk-hefu-2 derivatives was synthesized and tested against KV1.3. The most active mutant Tk-hefu-10 showed a half-maximal inhibitory concentration of ∼150 nM being >10 times more active than Tk-hefu-2 and >200 times more active than the original Tk-hefu. We conclude that α-hairpinins provide an attractive disulfide-stabilized scaffold for the rational design of ion channel inhibitors. Furthermore, the success rate can be considerably increased by the proposed "target-based" iterative strategy of molecular design.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valentin M Tabakmakher
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Andrei M Gigolaev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Steve Peigneur
- Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Nikolay A Krylov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
| | - Jan Tytgat
- Toxicology and Pharmacology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Anton O Chugunov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Oblast, Russia
| | - Alexander A Vassilevski
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Oblast, Russia.
| | - Roman G Efremov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia; Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, Moscow State University, Dolgoprudny, Moscow Oblast, Russia
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Gigolaev AM, Kuzmenkov AI, Peigneur S, Tabakmakher VM, Pinheiro-Junior EL, Chugunov AO, Efremov RG, Tytgat J, Vassilevski AA. Tuning Scorpion Toxin Selectivity: Switching From K V1.1 to K V1.3. Front Pharmacol 2020; 11:1010. [PMID: 32733247 PMCID: PMC7358528 DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2020.01010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Voltage-gated potassium channels (KVs) perform vital physiological functions and are targets in different disorders ranging from ataxia and arrhythmia to autoimmune diseases. An important issue is the search for and production of selective ligands of these channels. Peptide toxins found in scorpion venom named KTx excel in both potency and selectivity with respect to some potassium channel isoforms, which may present only minute differences in their structure. Despite several decades of research the molecular determinants of KTx selectivity are still poorly understood. Here we analyze MeKTx13-3 (Kalium ID: α-KTx 3.19) from the lesser Asian scorpion Mesobuthus eupeus, a high-affinity KV1.1 blocker (IC50 ~2 nM); it also affects KV1.2 (IC50 ~100 nM), 1.3 (~10 nM) and 1.6 (~60 nM). By constructing computer models of its complex with KV1.1-1.3 channels we identify specific contacts between the toxin and the three isoforms. We then perform mutagenesis to disturb the identified contacts with KV1.1 and 1.2 and produce recombinant MeKTx13-3_AAAR, which differs by four amino acid residues from the parent toxin. As predicted by the modeling, this derivative shows decreased activity on KV1.1 (IC50 ~550 nM) and 1.2 (~200 nM). It also has diminished activity on KV1.6 (~1500 nM) but preserves KV1.3 affinity as measured using the voltage-clamp technique on mammalian channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes. In effect, we convert a selective KV1.1 ligand into a new specific KV1.3 ligand. MeKTx13-3 and its derivatives are attractive tools to study the structure-function relationship in potassium channel blockers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrei M Gigolaev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexey I Kuzmenkov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | | | - Valentin M Tabakmakher
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Federal University, Vladivostok, Russia
| | | | - Anton O Chugunov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Applied Mathematics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Dolgoprudny, Russia
| | - Roman G Efremov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Department of Applied Mathematics, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Dolgoprudny, Russia
| | - Jan Tytgat
- Toxicology and Pharmacology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Alexander A Vassilevski
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Dolgoprudny, Russia
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Kasheverov IE, Oparin PB, Zhmak MN, Egorova NS, Ivanov IA, Gigolaev AM, Nekrasova OV, Serebryakova MV, Kudryavtsev DS, Prokopev NA, Hoang AN, Tsetlin VI, Vassilevski AA, Utkin YN. Scorpion toxins interact with nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. FEBS Lett 2019; 593:2779-2789. [PMID: 31276191 DOI: 10.1002/1873-3468.13530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2019] [Revised: 06/30/2019] [Accepted: 07/01/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Neurotoxins are among the main components of scorpion and snake venoms. Scorpion neurotoxins affect voltage-gated ion channels, while most snake neurotoxins target ligand-gated ion channels, mainly nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). We report that scorpion venoms inhibit α-bungarotoxin binding to both muscle-type nAChR from Torpedo californica and neuronal human α7 nAChR. Toxins inhibiting nAChRs were identified as OSK-1 (α-KTx family) from Orthochirus scrobiculosus and HelaTx1 (κ-KTx family) from Heterometrus laoticus, both being blockers of voltage-gated potassium channels. With an IC50 of 1.6 μm, OSK1 inhibits acetylcholine-induced current through mouse muscle-type nAChR heterologously expressed in Xenopus oocytes. Other well-characterized scorpion toxins from these families also bind to Torpedo nAChR with micromolar affinities. Our results indicate that scorpion neurotoxins present target promiscuity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor E Kasheverov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Institute of Molecular Medicine, Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Peter B Oparin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Maxim N Zhmak
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Natalya S Egorova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Igor A Ivanov
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Andrei M Gigolaev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Oksana V Nekrasova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marina V Serebryakova
- Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
| | - Denis S Kudryavtsev
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nikita A Prokopev
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Russia
| | - Anh N Hoang
- Institute of Applied Materials Science, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
| | - Victor I Tsetlin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Alexander A Vassilevski
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.,Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University), Dolgoprudny, Moscow Oblast, Russia
| | - Yuri N Utkin
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
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