کد مقاله کد نشریه سال انتشار مقاله انگلیسی نسخه تمام متن
2515420 1118520 2007 16 صفحه PDF دانلود رایگان
عنوان انگلیسی مقاله ISI
The ω-atracotoxins: Selective blockers of insect M-LVA and HVA calcium channels
موضوعات مرتبط
علوم پزشکی و سلامت داروسازی، سم شناسی و علوم دارویی داروشناسی
پیش نمایش صفحه اول مقاله
The ω-atracotoxins: Selective blockers of insect M-LVA and HVA calcium channels
چکیده انگلیسی

The ω-atracotoxins (ω-ACTX) are a family of arthropod-selective peptide neurotoxins from Australian funnel-web spider venoms (Hexathelidae: Atracinae) that are candidates for development as biopesticides. We isolated a 37-residue insect-selective neurotoxin, ω-ACTX-Ar1a, from the venom of the Sydney funnel-web spider Atrax robustus, with high homology to several previously characterized members of the ω-ACTX-1 family. The peptide induced potent excitatory symptoms, followed by flaccid paralysis leading to death, in acute toxicity tests in house crickets. Using isolated smooth and skeletal nerve-muscle preparations, the toxin was shown to lack overt vertebrate toxicity at concentrations up to 1 μM. To further characterize the target of the ω-ACTXs, voltage-clamp analysis using the whole-cell patch-clamp technique was undertaken using cockroach dorsal unpaired median neurons. It is shown here for the first time that ω-ACTX-Ar1a, and its homolog ω-ACTX-Hv1a from Hadronyche versuta, reversibly block both mid–low- (M-LVA) and high-voltage-activated (HVA) insect calcium channel (Cav) currents. This block occurred in the absence of alterations in the voltage-dependence of Cav channel activation, and was voltage-independent, suggesting that ω-ACTX-1 family toxins are pore blockers rather than gating modifiers. At a concentration of 1 μM ω-ACTX-Ar1a failed to significantly affect global Kv channel currents. However, 1 μM ω-ACTX-Ar1a caused a modest 18% block of insect Nav channel currents, similar to the minor block of Nav channels reported for other insect Cav channel blockers such as ω-agatoxin IVA. These findings validate both M-LVA and HVA Cav channels as potential targets for insecticides.

ناشر
Database: Elsevier - ScienceDirect (ساینس دایرکت)
Journal: Biochemical Pharmacology - Volume 74, Issue 4, 15 August 2007, Pages 623–638
نویسندگان
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