Substitutions in the cardenolide binding site and interaction of subunits affect kinetics besides cardenolide sensitivity of insect Na,K-ATPase

- Some insects on cardenolide plants evolved resistance to the toxins by substitutions in the Na,K-ATPase and gene duplications.
- Introduced into the Drosophila enzyme, these substitutions drastically alter the Na+ and K+ affinities of the Na,K-ATPase.
- The β-subunit strongly modulates the activity of the enzyme and increases the affinity for one or the other ion.

Substitutions within the cardenolide target site of several insects' Na,K-ATPase α-subunits may confer resistance against toxic cardenolides. However, to which extent these substitutions alter the Na,K-ATPase's kinetic properties and how they interact with different β-subunits is not clear. The cardenolide-adapted milkweed bug Oncopeltus fasciatus possesses three paralogs of the α-subunit (A, B, and C) that differ in number and identity of resistance-conferring substitutions. We introduced these substitutions into the α-subunit of Drosophila melanogaster and combined them with the β-subunits Nrv2.2 and Nrv3. The substitutions Q111T-N122H-F786N-T797A (A-copy mimic) and Q111T-N122H-F786N (B-copy mimic) mediated high insensitivity to ouabain, yet they drastically lowered ATPase activity. Remarkably, the identity of the β-subunit was decisive and all α-subunits were less active when combined with Nrv3 than when combined with Nrv2.2. Both the substitutions and the co-expressed β-subunit strongly affected the enyzme's affinity for Na+ and K+. Na+ affinity was considerably higher for all enzymes expressed with nrv3 while expression with nrv2.2 mostly increased K+ affinity. Our results provide the first evidence that resistance against cardenolides comes at the cost of significantly altered kinetic properties of the Na,K-ATPase. The β-subunit can strongly modulate these properties but cannot fully compensate for the effect of the substitutions.

233