title: Ion channels formed in planar lipid bilayers by the dipteran-specific Cry4B Bacillus thuringiensis toxin and its alpha1-alpha5 fragment.
abstract: Trypsin activation of Cry4B, a 130-kDa Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) protein, produces a 65-kDa toxin active against mosquito larvae. The active toxin is made of two protease resistant-products of ca. 45 kDa and ca. 20 kDa. The cloned 21-kDa fragment consisting of the N-terminal region of the toxin was previously shown to be capable of permeabilizing liposomes. The present study was designed to test the following hypotheses: (1) Cry4B, like several other Bt toxins, is a channel-forming toxin in plannar lipid bilayers; and (2) the 21-kDa N-terminal region, which maps for the first five helices (alpha1-alpha5) of domain 1 in other Cry toxins, and which putatively shares a similar tri-dimensional structure, is sufficient to account for the ion channel activity of the whole toxin. Using circular dichroism spectroscopy and planar lipid bilayers, we showed that the 21-kDa polypeptide existed as an alpha-helical structure and that both Cry4B and its alpha1-alpha5 fragment formed ion channels of 248 +/- 44 pS and 207 +/- 23 pS, respectively. The channels were cation-selective with a potassium-to-chloride permeability ratio of 6.7 for Cry4B and 4.5 for its fragment. However, contrary to the full-length toxin, the alpha1-alpha5 region formed channels at low dose; they tended to remain locked in their open state and displayed flickering activity bouts. Thus, like the full-length toxin, the alpha1-alpha5 region is a functional channel former. A pH-dependent, yet undefined region of the toxin may be involved in regulating the channel properties.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Mahidol University, Salaya Campus, Nakornpathom 73170, Thailand.
authors.forename: Theeraporn
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Puntheeranurak
authors.forename: Panapat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Uawithya
authors.forename: Léna
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Potvin
authors.forename: Chanan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Angsuthanasombat
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Schwartz
mesh_terms: D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry*; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004731:Endotoxins; D007473:Ion Channels; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D011994:Recombinant Proteins