Structure-function relationship of bifunctional scorpion toxin BmBKTx1

  1. Suming Wang1,4,
  2. Lijun Huang2,
  3. Dieter Wicher3,
  4. Chengwu Chi2,4,*,
  5. Chenqi Xu4,†,*

Article first published online: 1 DEC 2008

DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-7270.2008.00479.x

Issue

Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica

Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica

Volume 40, Issue 11, pages 955–963, November 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Wang, S., Huang, L., Wicher, D., Chi, C. and Xu, C. (2008), Structure-function relationship of bifunctional scorpion toxin BmBKTx1. Acta Biochimica et Biophysica Sinica, 40: 955–963. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7270.2008.00479.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China

  2. 2

    Institute of Protein Research, College of Life Sciences and Technology, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

  3. 3

    Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Department of Evolutionary Neuroethology, D-07745 Jena, Germany

  4. 4

    Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China

  1. †

    Dana 1410, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA

* *Corresponding authors: Chenqi Xu: Tel, 1–617–5827846; Fax, 1–617–6322662; E-mail, chenqi_xu@dfci.harvard.edu Chengwu Chi: Tel, 86–21–54921165; Fax, 86–21–65988403; E-mail, zwqi@sibs.ac.cn

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 DEC 2008
  2. Article first published online: 1 DEC 2008
  3. Received: July 29, 2008 Accepted: September 27, 2008

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Keywords:

  • BmBKTx1;
  • scorpion K+ channel toxin (KTx);
  • K+ channel;
  • two functional faces

As the first identified scorpion toxin active on both big conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (BK) and small c on duc t a n c e Ca2+-activated K+ channels (SK), BmBKTx1 has been proposed to have two separate functional faces for two targets. To investigate this hypothesis, two double mutants, K21A-Y30A and R9A-K11A, together with wild-type toxin were expressed in Escherichia coli. The recombinant toxins were tested on cockroach BK and rat SK2 channel for functional assay. Mutant K21A-Y30A had a dramatic loss of function on BK but retained its function on SK. Mutant R9A-K11A did not lose function on BK or SK. These data support the two functional-face hypothesis and indicate that the BK face is on the C-terminal β-sheet.

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