Michael Turkov

The Putative Bioactive Surface of Insect-selective Scorpion Excitatory Neurotoxins

Scorpion neurotoxins of the excitatory group show total specificity for insects and serve as invaluable probes for insect sodium channels. However, despite their significance and potential for application in insect-pest control, the structural basis for their bioactivity is still unknown. We isolated, characterized, and expressed an atypically long excitatory toxin, Bj-xtrIT, whose bioactive features resembled those of classical excitatory toxins, despite only 49% sequence identity. With the objective of clarifying the toxic site of this unique pharmacological group, Bj-xtrIT was employed in a genetic approach using point mutagenesis and biological and structural assays of the mutant products. A primary target for modification was the structurally unique C-terminal region. Sequential deletions of C-terminal residues suggested an inevitable significance of Ile73 and Ile74 for toxicity. Based on the bioactive role of the C-terminal region and a comparison of Bj-xtrIT with a Bj-xtrIT-based model of a classical excitatory toxin, AaHIT, a conserved surface comprising the C terminus is suggested to form the site of recognition with the sodium channel receptor.

Diversification of neurotoxins by C-tail ‘wiggling’: a scorpion recipe for survival

The structure of bioactive surfaces of proteins is a subject of intensive research, yet the mechanisms by which such surfaces have evolved are largely unknown. Polypeptide toxins produced by ven¬omous animals such as sea anemones, cone snails, scorpions, and snakes show multiple routes for active site diversification, each maintaining a typical con¬served scaffold. Comparative analysis of an array of genetically related scorpion polypeptide toxins that modulate sodium channels in neuronal membranes suggests a unique route of toxic site diversification. This premise is based on recent identification of bioactive surfaces of toxin representative of three distinct pharmacological groups and a comparison of their 3‐dimensional structures. Despite their similar scaffold, the bioactive surfaces of the various toxins vary consid¬erably, but always coincide with the molecular exterior onto which the C‐tail is anchored. Superposition of the toxin structures indicates that the C‐tails diverge from a common structural start point, which suggests that the pharmacological versatility displayed by these toxins might have been achieved along evolution via structural reconfiguration of the C‐tail, leading to reshaping of new bioactive surfaces.—Gurevitz, M., Gordon, D., Ben‐Natan, S., Turkov, M., Froy, O. Diversification of neurotoxins by C‐tail ‘wiggling’: a scorpion recipe for survival. FASEB J. 15, 1201–1205 (2001)

Positions under positive selection - key for selectivity and potency of scorpion α-toxins

Alpha-neurotoxins target voltage-gated sodium channels (Na(v)s) and constitute an important component in the venom of Buthidae scorpions. These toxins are short polypeptides highly conserved in sequence and three-dimensional structure, and yet they differ greatly in activity and preference for insect and various mammalian Na(v)s. Despite extensive studies of the structure-function relationship of these toxins, only little is known about their evolution and phylogeny. Using a broad data set based on published sequences and rigorous cloning, we reconstructed a reliable phylogenetic tree of scorpion alpha-toxins and estimated the evolutionary forces involved in the diversification of their genes using maximum likelihood-based methods. Although the toxins are largely conserved, four positions were found to evolve under positive selection, of which two (10 and 18; numbered according to LqhalphaIT and Lqh2 from the Israeli yellow scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus) have been previously shown to affect toxin activity. The putative role of the other two positions (39 and 41) was analyzed by mutagenesis of Lqh2 and LqhalphaIT. Whereas substitution P41K in Lqh2 did not alter its activity, substitution K41P in LqhalphaIT significantly decreased the activity at insect and mammalian Na(v)s. Surprisingly, not only that substitution A39L in both toxins increased their activity by 10-fold but also LqhalphaIT(A39L) was active at the mammalian brain channel rNa(v)1.2a, which otherwise is hardly affected by LqhalphaIT, and Lqh2(A39L) was active at the insect channel, DmNa(v)1, which is almost insensitive to Lqh2. Thus, position 39 is involved not only in activity but also in toxin selectivity. Overall, this study describes evolutionary forces involved in the diversification of scorpion alpha-toxins, highlights the key role of positions under positive selection for selectivity and potency, and raises new questions as to the toxin-channel face of interaction.

Refined electrophysiological analysis suggests that a depressant toxin is a sodium channel opener rather than a blocker.

The effects of a recombinant depressant insect toxin from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus, Lqh IT2-r, have been studied in current and voltage-clamp conditions on the isolated axonal and DUM neuron preparations of the cockroach Periplaneta americana. Lqh IT2-r depolarizes the axon, blocks the evoked action potentials, and modifies the amplitude and the kinetics of the sodium current. The inward transient peak current is greatly decreased and is followed by a maintained slow activating-deactivating sodium current. The slow component develops at membrane potentials more negative than the control, and has a time constant of activation of several tens of milliseconds. The flaccid properties of Lqh IT2-r do not correspond to a blockage of the Na+ channels, but may be attributed to modified Na+ channels which open at more negative potential, activate slowly and do not inactivate normally.

Substitutions in the Domain III Voltage-sensing Module Enhance the Sensitivity of an Insect Sodium Channel to a Scorpion β-Toxin

Scorpion β-toxins bind to the extracellular regions of the voltage-sensing module of domain II and to the pore module of domain III in voltage-gated sodium channels and enhance channel activation by trapping and stabilizing the voltage sensor of domain II in its activated state. We investigated the interaction of a highly potent insect-selective scorpion depressant β-toxin, Lqh-dprIT3, from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus with insect sodium channels from Blattella germanica (BgNav). Like other scorpion β-toxins, Lqh-dprIT3 shifts the voltage dependence of activation of BgNav channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes to more negative membrane potentials but only after strong depolarizing prepulses. Notably, among 10 BgNav splice variants tested for their sensitivity to the toxin, only BgNav1-1 was hypersensitive due to an L1285P substitution in IIIS1 resulting from a U-to-C RNA-editing event. Furthermore, charge reversal of a negatively charged residue (E1290K) at the extracellular end of IIIS1 and the two innermost positively charged residues (R4E and R5E) in IIIS4 also increased the channel sensitivity to Lqh-dprIT3. Besides enhancement of toxin sensitivity, the R4E substitution caused an additional 20-mV negative shift in the voltage dependence of activation of toxin-modified channels, inducing a unique toxin-modified state. Our findings provide the first direct evidence for the involvement of the domain III voltage-sensing module in the action of scorpion β-toxins. This hypersensitivity most likely reflects an increase in IIS4 trapping via allosteric mechanisms, suggesting coupling between the voltage sensors in neighboring domains during channel activation.

Mammalian skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channels are affected by scorpion depressant "insect-selective" toxins when preconditioned.

Among scorpion β- and α-toxins that modify the activation and inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs), depressant β-toxins have traditionally been classified as anti-insect selective on the basis of toxicity assays and lack of binding and effect on mammalian Navs. Here we show that the depressant β-toxins LqhIT2 and Lqh-dprIT3 from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus (Lqh) bind with nanomolar affinity to receptor site 4 on rat skeletal muscle Navs, but their effect on the gating properties can be viewed only after channel preconditioning, such as that rendered by a long depolarizing prepulse. This observation explains the lack of toxicity when depressant toxins are injected in mice. However, when the muscle channel rNav1.4, expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, was modulated by the site 3 α-toxin LqhαIT, LqhIT2 was capable of inducing a negative shift in the voltage-dependence of activation after a short prepulse, as was shown for other β-toxins. These unprecedented results suggest that depressant toxins may have a toxic impact on mammals in the context of the complete scorpion venom. To assess whether LqhIT2 and Lqh-dprIT3 interact with the insect and rat muscle channels in a similar manner, we examined the role of Glu24, a conserved “hot spot” at the bioactive surface of β-toxins. Whereas substitutions E24A/N abolished the activity of both LqhIT2 and Lqh-dprIT3 at insect Navs, they increased the affinity of the toxins for rat skeletal muscle channels. This result implies that depressant toxins interact differently with the two channel types and that substitution of Glu24 is essential for converting toxin selectivity.