Abstract

Cyclic µ-conotoxin PIIIA, a potent blocker of skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel NaV1.4, is a 22mer peptide stabilized by three disulfide bonds. Combining electrophysiological measurements with molecular docking and dynamic simulations based on NMR solution structures, we investigated the 15 possible 3-disulfide-bonded isomers of µ-PIIIA to relate their blocking activity at NaV1.4 to their disulfide connectivity. In addition, three µ-PIIIA mutants derived from the native disulfide isomer, in which one of the disulfide bonds was omitted (C4-16, C5-C21, C11-C22), were generated using a targeted protecting group strategy and tested using the aforementioned methods. The 3-disulfide-bonded isomers had a range of different conformational stabilities, with highly unstructured, flexible conformations with low or no channel-blocking activity, while more constrained molecules preserved 30% to 50% of the native isomer’s activity. This emphasizes the importance and direct link between correct fold and function. The elimination of one disulfide bond resulted in a significant loss of blocking activity at NaV1.4, highlighting the importance of the 3-disulfide-bonded architecture for µ-PIIIA. µ-PIIIA bioactivity is governed by a subtle interplay between an optimally folded structure resulting from a specific disulfide connectivity and the electrostatic potential of the conformational ensemble.

Highlights

  • Covalent linkage of cysteine residues by disulfide bonds is fundamental for the folding, stability, and function of many peptides and proteins [1,2,3,4]

  • Interactions between the isomers and the channel protein were examined via molecular experiments for their potency to block the human skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel present study, these isomers and further analogs

  • This study provides conceptual framework to understand with the pore of how different disulfide connectivities affect the structure of μ-PIIIA

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Summary

Introduction

Covalent linkage of cysteine residues by disulfide bonds is fundamental for the folding, stability, and function of many peptides and proteins [1,2,3,4]. It was was shown that thestructural biological therapeutic potential and they are models to study the impact of disulfide bonds on the structural activities and receptor specificities of some μ-, μO-, and α-conotoxins changed significantly if the the stability of disulfide-rich peptides and proteins. 3-disulfide-bonded μ-conotoxins antagonize voltage-gated sodium channels μ-Conotoxins are so-called pore blockers because they bind to the extracellular pore vestibule and, native disulfide patterns theμ-conotoxins peptides were experimentally modified [9,10,11,12]. Interactions between the isomers and the channel protein were examined via molecular experiments for their potency to block the human skeletal muscle voltage-gated sodium channel present study, these isomers and further analogs were analyzed in electrophysiological examined via molecular docking simulations

Interactions
Bioactivity of 3- and Analogs at Navat
Analysis of 3‐Disulfide‐bonded μ‐PIIIA Isomers 1–15
Analysis of 3-Disulfide-bonded μ-PIIIA Isomers 1–15
Analysis of 2-Disulfide-bonded μ-PIIIA Isomers 16–18
Å to 30
Discussion
Peptide Synthesis and Purification
Electrophysiological Experiments
Molecular Modeling and Docking Simulations
MD Simulations of the μ-PIIIA Isomers and Analogs
MD Simulations of the μ-PIIIA Isomer-Channel Complexes
MEP Calculations

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