title: muO conotoxins inhibit NaV channels by interfering with their voltage sensors in domain-2.
abstract: The muO-conotoxins MrVIA and MrVIB are 31-residue peptides from Conus marmoreus, belonging to the O-superfamily of conotoxins with three disulfide bridges. They have attracted attention because they are inhibitors of tetrodotoxin-insensitive voltage-gated sodium channels (Na(V)1.8) and could therefore serve as lead structure for novel analgesics. The aim of this study was to elucidate the molecular mechanism by which muO-conotoxins affect Na(V) channels. Rat Na(V)1.4 channels and mutants thereof were expressed in mammalian cells and were assayed with the whole-cell patch-clamp method. Unlike for the M-superfamily mu-conotoxin GIIIA from Conus geographus, channel block by MrVIA was strongly diminished after activating the Na(V) channels by depolarizing voltage steps. Searching for the source of this voltage dependence, the gating charges in all four-voltage sensors were reduced by site-directed mutagenesis showing that alterations of the voltage sensor in domain-2 have the strongest impact on MrVIA action. These results, together with previous findings that the effect of MrVIA depends on the structure of the pore-loop in domain-3, suggest a functional similarity with scorpion beta-toxins. In fact, MrVIA functionally competed with the scorpion beta-toxin Ts1 from Tityus serrulatus, while it did not show competition with mu-GIIIA. Ts1 and mu-GIIIA did not compete either. Thus, similar to scorpion beta-toxins, muO-conotoxins are voltage-sensor toxins targeting receptor site-4 on Na(V) channels. They "block" Na(+) flow most likely by hindering the voltage sensor in domain-2 from activating and, hence, the channel from opening.
authors.affiliation: Center for Molecular Biomedicine, Department of Biophysics, Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leipold
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: DeBie
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zorn
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Baldomero M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Olivera
authors.forename: Heinrich
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terlau
authors.forename: Stefan H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Heinemann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D015640:Ion Channel Gating / Q000187:drug effects; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D009124:Muscle Proteins / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009154:Mutation; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D051381:Rats; D012604:Scorpion Venoms / Q000494:pharmacology; D012964:Sodium / Q000378:metabolism; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015222:Sodium Channels / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014162:Transfection
chemical_list: D020916:Conotoxins; D009124:Muscle Proteins; C466180:Scn4a protein, rat; D012604:Scorpion Venoms; D026941:Sodium Channel Blockers; D015222:Sodium Channels; C094740:muO-conotoxin MrVIA; C046101:conotoxin GIII; D012964:Sodium