title: Catalytic properties of botulinum neurotoxin subtypes A3 and A4.
abstract: Botulinum toxins (BoNT) are zinc proteases (serotypes A-G) which cause flaccid paralysis through the cleavage of SNARE proteins within motor neurons. BoNT/A was originally organized into two subtypes, BoNT/A1 and BoNT/A2, which are approximately 95% homologous and possess similar catalytic activities. Subsequently, two additional subtypes were identified, BoNT/A3 (Loch Maree) and BoNT/A4 (657Ba), which are 81 and 88% homologous with BoNT/A1, respectively. Alignment studies predicted that BoNT/A3 and BoNT/A4 were sufficiently different from BoNT/A1 to affect SNAP25 binding and cleavage. Recombinant light chain (LC) of BoNT/A3 (LC/A3) and BoNT/A4 (LC/A4) were subjected to biochemical analysis. LC/A3 cleaved SNAP25 at 50% of the rate of LC/A1 but cleaved SNAPtide at a faster rate than LC/A1, while LC/A4 cleaved SNAP25 and SNAPtide at slower rates than LC/A1. LC/A3 and LC/A4 had similar K(m) values for SNAP25 relative to LC/A1, while the k(cat) for LC/A4 was 10-fold slower than that for LC/A1, suggesting a defect in substrate cleavage. Neither LC/A3 nor LC/A4 possessed autocatalytic activity, a property of LC/A1 and LC/A2. Thus, the four subtypes of BoNT/A bind SNAP25 with similar affinity but have different catalytic capacities for SNAP25 cleavage, SNAPtide cleavage, and autocatalysis. The catalytic properties identified among the subtypes of LC/A may influence strategies for the development of small molecule or peptide inhibitors as therapies against botulism.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Henkel
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tepp
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pier
authors.forename: Eric A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Joseph T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Barbieri
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002384:Catalysis; D003014:Clostridium botulinum / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D019274:Botulinum Toxins, Type A