Structure and function relationship of toxin from Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmKAGAP): Gaining insight into related sites of analgesic activity

In this study, an effective Escherichia coli expression system was used to study the role of residues in the antitumor-analgesic peptide from Chinese scorpion Buthus martensii Karsch (BmKAGAP). To evaluate the extent to which residues of the toxin core contribute to its analgesic activity, nine mutants of BmKAGAP were obtained by PCR. Using site-directed mutagenesis, all of these residues were individually substituted by one amino acid. These were then subjected to a circular dichroism analysis, and an analgesic activity assay in mice. This study represents a thorough mapping and elucidation of the epitopes that underlie the molecular basis of the analgesic activity. The three-dimensional structure of BmKAGAP was established by homology modeling. Our results revealed large mutant-dependent differences that indicated important roles for the studied residues. With our ongoing efforts for establishing the structure and analgesic activity relationship of BmKAGAP, we have succeeded in pinpointing which residues are important for the analgesic activity.