This old version of Proteopedia is provided for student assignments while the new version is undergoing repairs. Content and edits done in this old version of Proteopedia after March 1, 2026 will eventually be lost when it is retired in about June of 2026.
Apply for new accounts at the new Proteopedia. Your logins will work in both the old and new versions.
5t3m
From Proteopedia
Solution structure of a triple mutant of HwTx-IV - a potent blocker of Nav1.7
Structural highlights
FunctionTXH4_CYRSC This lethal neurotoxin (without cyclization at position 53) inhibits neuronal voltage-gated sodium channel Nav1.2/SCN2A (IC(50)=10-150 nM), rNav1.3/SCN3A (IC(50)=338 nM), Nav1.6/SCN8A (IC(50)=117 nM), and hNav1.7/SCN9A (IC(50)=9.6-33 nM) (PubMed:18628201, PubMed:20855463, PubMed:25658507, PubMed:29703751,PubMed:31234412, PubMed:23760503). It inhibits activation of sodium channel by trapping the voltage sensor of domain II (DIIS4) in the closed configuration (PubMed:18628201, PubMed:23760503). The toxin neither shifts the Nav1.7/SCN9A activation curve nor modifies the slope factor (PubMed:20855463). It does not slow fast-inactivation of hNav1.7/SCN9A channels (PubMed:20855463). In addition, it has only a weak affinity for lipid membranes (PubMed:18054060, PubMed:29703751, PubMed:28115115). This toxin also exists with a pyroglutamate at position 53 (PubMed:23826086). The sole difference observed between modified (mHwTx-IV) and unmodified toxins is that moderate or high depolarization voltages (200 mV) permit the unmodified toxin to dissociate, whereas mHwTx-IV toxin does not dissociate, even at high depolarization voltages (PubMed:23826086). These data indicate that mHwTx-IV strongly binds to voltage sensor of sodium channel even at extreme depolarization voltages (PubMed:23826086).[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] Publication Abstract from PubMedVenom-derived peptides have attracted much attention as potential lead molecules for pharmaceutical development. A well-known example is Huwentoxin-IV (HwTx-IV), a peptide toxin isolated from the venom of the Chinese bird-eating spider Haplopelma schmitdi. HwTx-IV was identified as a potent blocker of a human voltage-gated sodium channel (hNaV1.7), which is a genetically validated analgesic target. The peptide was promising as it showed high potency at NaV1.7 (IC50 ~26 nM) and selectivity over the cardiac NaV subtype (NaV1.5). Mutagenesis studies aimed at optimising the potency of the peptide resulted in the development of a triple-mutant of HwTx-IV (E1G, E4G, Y33W, m3-HwTx-IV) with significantly increased potency against hNaV1.7 (IC50 = 0.4 +/- 0.1 nM) without increased potency against hNaV1.5. The activity of m3-HwTx-IV against other NaV subtypes was, however, not investigated. Similarly, the structure of the mutant peptide was not characterised, limiting the interpretation of the observed increase in potency. In this study we produced isotope-labelled recombinant m3-HwTx-IV in E. coli, which enabled us to characterise the atomic-resolution structure and dynamics of the peptide by NMR spectroscopy. The results show that the structure of the peptide is not perturbed by the mutations, whilst the relaxation studies reveal that residues in the active site of the peptide undergo conformational exchange. Additionally, the NaV subtype selectivity of the recombinant peptide was characterised, revealing potent inhibition of neuronal NaV subtypes 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.6 and 1.7. In parallel to the in vitro studies, we investigated NaV1.7 target engagement of the peptide in vivo using a rodent pain model, where m3-HwTx-IV dose-dependently suppressed spontaneous pain induced by the NaV1.7 activator OD1. Thus, our results provide further insight into the structure and dynamics of this class of peptides that may prove useful in guiding the development of inhibitors with improved selectivity for analgesic NaV subtypes. The structure, dynamics and selectivity profile of a NaV1.7 potency-optimised huwentoxin-IV variant.,Rahnama S, Deuis JR, Cardoso FC, Ramanujam V, Lewis RJ, Rash LD, King GF, Vetter I, Mobli M PLoS One. 2017 Mar 16;12(3):e0173551. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173551., eCollection 2017. PMID:28301520[11] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. References
| ||||||||||||||||
