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The three-dimensional structure of conotoxin psi-PIIIE, a 24-amino acid peptide from Conus purpurascens, has been solved using two-dimensional (2D) 1H NMR spectroscopy. Conotoxin psi-PIIIE contains the same disulfide bonding pattern as the mu-conotoxins, which target skeletal muscle sodium channels, but has been shown to antagonize the acetylcholine gated cation channel through a noncompetitive mechanism. Structural information was obtained by the analysis of a series of 2D NOESY spectra as well as measurement of coupling constants from 1D 1H and PE-COSY NMR experiments. Molecular modeling calculations included the use of the distance geometry (DG) algorithm, simulated annealing techniques, and the restrained molecular dynamics method. The resulting structures are considerably similar to the previously published structures for the mu-conotoxins GIIIA and GIIIB, despite the lack of sequence conservation between conotoxin psi-PIIIE and the mu-conotoxins. The structure consists of a series of tight turns, each turn occurring in the position analogous to those of turns described in mu-GIIIA and mu-GIIIB. This suggests the disulfide bonding pattern is able to largely direct the structure of the peptides, creating a stable structural motif which allows extensive sequence substitution of non-cystine residues.

alpha-Conotoxin MII, isolated from Conus magus, is a potent peptidic toxin which specifically targets the mammalian neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, alpha3beta2 subtype. The three-dimensional structure of alpha-conotoxin MII in aqueous solution has been determined by two-dimensional 1H NMR spectroscopy. NOE-derived distances, refined by an iterative relaxation matrix approach, as well as dihedral and chirality restraints were used in high-temperature biphasic simulated annealing calculations. Fourteen minimum energy structures out of 50 subjected to the SA simulations were chosen for evaluation; these 14 structures have a final RMS deviation of 0.76 +/- 0.31 and 1.35 +/- 0.34 A for the backbone and heavy atoms, respectively. The overall structure is unusually well-defined due to a large helical component around the two disulfide bridges. The principal backbone folding motif may be common to a subclass of alpha-conotoxins. There are two distinct surfaces on the molecule almost at right angles to one another. One entirely consists of the hydrophobic residues Gly1, Cys2, Cys3, Leu15, and Cys16. The second comprises the hydrophilic residues Glu11, His12, Ser13, and Asn14. These surfaces on the ligand could be essential for the subtype-specific recognition of the receptor.

A paralytic peptide, psi-conotoxin Piiie has been purified and characterized from Conus purpurascens venom. Electrophysiological studies indicate that the peptide inhibits the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR). However, the peptide does not block the binding of alpha-bungarotoxin, a competitive nAChR antagonist. Thus, psi-conotoxin Piiie appears to inhibit the receptor at a site other than the acetylcholine-binding site. As ascertained by sequence analysis, mass spectrometry, and chemical synthesis, the peptide has the following covalent structure: HOOCCLYGKCRRYOGCSSASCCQR* (O = 4-trans hydroxyproline; * indicates an amidated C-terminus). The disulfide connectivity of the toxin is unrelated to the alpha- or the alphaA-conotoxins, the Conus peptide families that are competitive inhibitors of the nAChR, but shows homology to the mu-conotoxins (which are Na+ channel blockers).

A high-resolution solution conformation of a novel conotoxin, [Pro 7,13] alpha A-conotoxin PIVA, GCCGSYPNAACHPCSCKDROSYCGQ-NH2, has been determined by two-dimensional 1H NMR methods and distance geometry calculations. The total of 324 NOE-derived interproton distance restraints including 33 long-range NOE restraints as well as 11 phi and 7 chi 1 torsion angle restraints was used for computation of structures. Back-calculation from the experimental NOE spectrum has provided 49 new NOE restraints and yielded the final R-factors of Ra = 0.641 and Rb = 0.157. The final RMSD values are 0.90 and 1.16 A for the backbone and the heavy atoms, respectively. The C-terminal half of the molecule involving the residues 12-24 is extremely well-defined with a backbone RMSD value of 0.56 A, whereas the N-terminal 3-11 disulfide loop is relatively flexible, possessing a backbone RMSD value of 1.09 A. The [Pro 7,13] alpha A-conotoxin PIVA does not contain any significant secondary structure although the 21S-24G nearly completes one turn of a 3(10) helix. The overall protein fold is largely maintained by the three disulfide bridges of 2-16, 3-11, and 14-23. The presence of the three disulfide bridges imposes geometric constraints that force the molecule to form six continuous bends involving the following residues: 3C-5S, 7P-10A, 12H-14C, 15S-17K, 17K-19R, and 21S-25Q. The overall shape of the [Pro 7,13] alpha A-conotoxin PIVA can be described as an "iron". Residues 15S-19R form a loop that protrudes out of the "bottom plate" formed by the rest of the protein and constitute the handle of the iron. The N-terminal tip of the molecule is relatively immobile due to attractive electrostatic interactions between the gamma-hydroxyl group of 20 Hyp and the phenolic hydroxyl group of 22Y. The flexible 3-11 disulfide loop consists mostly of hydrophobic residues, while the best-defined 14-23 disulfide loop contains the highly charged hydrophilic 15S-19R "handle" domain exposed to the exterior of the protein. Binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptor can be mediated through two different types of interactions: one involving the aromatic hydrophobic residues such as 6Y and 12H and the other involving the positively charged hydrophilic side chain of the 19R. The side chain of the 19R in the [Pro 7, 13] alpha A-conotoxin PIVA and that of the 9R of the alpha-conotoxin G1, and also the side chains of the 12H and 6Y in the former and those of 10H and 11Y in the latter can be aligned to point to the same direction when the corresponding backbone atoms are superimposed to an RMSD value of 2.5 A.

1. A 31-amino-acid peptide from the venom of the snail-hunting species Conus marmoreus, microO-conotoxin MrVIA, inhibits mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels through a novel mechanism distinct from saxitoxin, tetrodotoxin, or mu-conotoxin. 2. MicroO-Conotoxin MrVIA blocks rat brain type II sodium channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes (IC50 approximately 200 nM, Hill coefficient approximately 1.6 +/- 0.2, mean +/- SE). Channel activation/inactivation kinetics and current-voltage relationships were unperturbed. 3. MicroO-Conotoxin MrVIA does not cause phasic or use-dependent inhibition of sodium currents measured in Xenopus oocytes expressing rat brain type II sodium channels, but shifts the steady-state availability of these sodium channels to more hyperpolarized potentials. 4. MicroO-Conotoxin MrVIA inhibited rapidly inactivating sodium channel conductance in rat hippocampal cells in culture. The inhibition was rapidly reversible. 5. MicroO-Conotoxin MrVIA does not displace specific [3H]saxitoxin binding to either rat brain or Electrophorus electric organ sites, indicating inhibitory effects mediated through a binding site distinct from site I.

The major groups of Conus peptides previously characterized from fish-hunting cone snail venoms (the alpha-, mu-, and omega-conotoxins) all blocked neuromuscular transmission. A novel activity, the "lockjaw peptide", from the fish-hunting Conus purpurascens, caused a rigid (instead of flaccid) paralysis in fish and increased excitability at the neuromuscular junction (instead of a block). We report the purification, biological activity, biochemical and preliminary physiological characterization, and chemical synthesis of the lockjaw peptide and the sequence of a cDNA clone encoding its precursor. Taken together, the data lead us to conclude that the lockjaw peptide is a vertebrate-specific delta-conotoxin, which targets voltage-sensitive sodium channels. The sequence of the peptide, which we designate delta-conotoxin PVIA, is (O = 4-trans-hydroxyproline) EACYAOGTFCGIKOGLCCSEFCLPGVCFG-NH2. This is the first of a diverse spectrum of Conus peptides which are excitotoxins in vertebrate systems.