title: Structural determinants of alpha-bungarotoxin binding to the sequence segment 181-200 of the muscle nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha subunit: effects of cysteine/cystine modification and species-specific amino acid substitutions.
abstract: The sequence segment 181-200 of the Torpedo nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) alpha subunit forms a binding site for alpha-bungarotoxin (alpha-BTX) [e.g., see Conti-Tronconi, B. M., Tang, F., Diethelm, B. M., Spencer, S. R., Reinhardt-Maelicke, S., & Maelicke, A. (1990) Biochemistry 29, 6221-6230]. Synthetic peptides corresponding to the homologous sequences of human, calf, mouse, chicken, frog, and cobra muscle nAChR alpha 1 subunits were tested for their ability to bind 125I-alpha-BTX, and differences in alpha-BTX affinity were determined by using solution (IC50S) and solid-phase (KdS) assays. Panels of overlapping peptides corresponding to the complete alpha 1 subunit of mouse and human were also tested for alpha-BTX binding, but other sequence segments forming the alpha-BTX site were not consistently detectable. The Torpedo alpha 1(181-200) and the homologous frog and chicken peptides bound alpha-BTX with higher affinity (KdS approximately 1-2 microM, IC50s approximately 1-2 microM) than the human and calf peptides (Kds approximately 3-5 microM, IC50s approximately 15 microM). The mouse peptide bound alpha-BTX weakly when attached to a solid support (Kd approximately 8 microM) but was effective in competing for 125I-alpha-BTX in solution (IC50 approximately 1 microM). The cobra nAChR alpha 1-subunit peptide did not detectably bind alpha-BTX in either assay. Amino acid substitutions were correlated with alpha-BTX binding activity peptides from different species. The role of a putative vicinal disulfide bound between Cys-192 and -193, relative to the Torpedo sequence, was determined by modifying the peptides with sulfhydryl reagents. Reduction and alkylation of the peptides decreased alpha-BTX binding, whereas oxidation of the peptides had little effect. Modifications of the cysteine/cystine residues of the cobra peptide failed to induce alpha-BTX binding activity. These results indicate that while the adjacent cysteines are likely to be involved in forming the toxin/alpha 1-subunit interface a vicinal disulfide bound was not required for alpha-BTX binding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota, St. Paul 55108.
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: McLane
authors.forename: X D
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Diethelm
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Conti-Tronconi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002038:Bungarotoxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003545:Cysteine; D003553:Cystine; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014101:Torpedo
chemical_list: D002038:Bungarotoxins; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D010455:Peptides; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D003553:Cystine; D003545:Cysteine