The low selectivity of Kv1 peptide inhibitors for specific isoforms makes them poor candidates for the development of theraputics. Using combined approaches, we showed that the Kv1 turret is the critical determinant for ADWX-1 peptide inhibitor selectivity of Kv1.3 over Kv1.1. Mutation of Kv1.1 turret residues to match the sequence of Kv1.3 lead to increased inhibition of Kv1.1 activity. These studies may lead to improvements in peptide inhibitor drug development.Keywords: ADWX-1 peptide selectivity; channel turret; Kv1.1 channel; Kv1.3 channel; structural basis;

Human potassium channels are widely inhibited by peptide toxins from venomous animals. However, no human endogenous peptide inhibitor has been discovered so far. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time using electrophysiological techniques, that endogenous human β–defensin 2 (hBD2) is able to selectively and dose-dependently inhibit the human voltage-gated Kv1.3 channel at picomolar peptide concentration. The co-immunoprecipitation assays further supported the selective binding of hBD2 to Kv1.3 channel. Using mutagenesis experiments, we found that the outer pore domain of Kv1.3 channel was the binding site of hBD2, which is similar to the interacting site of Kv1.3 channel recognized by animal toxin inhibitors. The hBD2 was able to suppress IL-2 production through inhibition of Kv1.3 channel currents in human Jurkat cells, which was further confirmed by the lack of hBD2 activity on IL-2 production after Kv1.3 knockdown in these cells. More interestingly, hBD2 was also found to efficiently inhibit Kv1.3 channel currents and suppress IL-2 production in both human primary CD3+ T cells and peripheral mononuclear cells from either healthy donors or psoriasis patients. Our findings not only evidenced hBD2 as the first characterized endogenous peptide inhibitor of human potassium channels, but also paved a promising avenue to investigate newly discovered function of hBD2 as Kv1.3 channel inhibitor in the immune system and other fields.

Protein−protein control recognition remains a huge challenge, and its development depends on understanding the chemical and biological mechanisms by which these interactions occur. Here we describe a protein−protein control recognition technique based on the dominant electrostatic interactions occurring between the proteins. We designed a potassium channel inhibitor, BmP05-T, that was 90.32% identical to wild-type BmP05. Negatively charged residues were translocated from the nonbinding interface to the binding interface of BmP05 inhibitor, such that BmP05-T now used BmP05 nonbinding interface as the binding interface. This switch demonstrated that nonbinding interfaces were able to control the orientation of protein binding interfaces in the process of protein−protein recognition. The novel function findings of BmP05-T peptide suggested that the control recognition technique described here had the potential for use in designing and utilizing functional proteins in many biological scenarios.

The scorpion toxin, charybdotoxin (ChTX), is the first identified peptide inhibitor for the large-conductance Ca2+ and voltage-dependent K+ (BK) channel, and the chemical information of the interaction between ChTX and BK channel remains unclear today. Using combined computational methods, we obtained a ChTX-BK complex structure model, which correlated well with the mutagenesis data. In this complex, ChTX mainly used its β-sheet domains to associate the BK channel with a conserved pore-blocking Lys27. Another crucial Tyr36 residue of ChTX lied over the loop connecting selectivity filter and S6 helix of BK channel, forming a hydrogen bond with Gly291 of BK channel. Besides, the unique turret region of BK channel was found to be far away from bound ChTX, which could explain the fact that many BK channel blockers show less selectivity over Kv channels. Together, all these information is helpful to reveal the diverse interactions between scorpion toxins and potassium channels and can accelerate the molecular engineering of specific inhibitor design.

The low selectivity of Kv1 peptide inhibitors for specific isoforms makes them poor candidates for the development of theraputics. Using combined approaches, we showed that the Kv1 turret is the critical determinant for ADWX-1 peptide inhibitor selectivity of Kv1.3 over Kv1.1. Mutation of Kv1.1 turret residues to match the sequence of Kv1.3 lead to increased inhibition of Kv1.1 activity. These studies may lead to improvements in peptide inhibitor drug development.

•Insensitivity mechanism of KCNQ1 towards scorpion toxins was still unclear.•A single basic residue in the KCNQ1 filter region controls its insensitivity.•Amino acid residue diversification controls KCNQ1 sensitivity and insensitivity.•Our work will accelerate rational design of KCNQ1 peptide inhibitors.Although many studies concerning the sensitivity mechanism of scorpion toxin-potassium channel interactions have been reported, few have explored the biochemical insensitivity mechanisms of potassium channel receptors toward natural scorpion toxin peptides, such as the KCNQ1 channel. Here, by sequence alignment analyses of the human KCNQ1 channel and scorpion potassium channel MmKv2, which is completely insensitive to scorpion toxins, we proposed that the insensitivity mechanism of KCNQ1 toward natural scorpion toxins might involve two functional regions, the turret and filter regions. Based on this observation, a series of KCNQ1 mutants were constructed to study molecular mechanisms of the KCNQ1 channel insensitivity toward natural scorpion toxins. Electrophysiological studies of chimera channels showed that the channel filter region controls KCNQ1 insensitivity toward the classical scorpion toxin ChTX. Interestingly, further residue mutant experiments showed that a single basic residue in the filter region determined the insensitivity of KCNQ1 channels toward scorpion toxins. Our present work showed that amino acid residue diversification at common sites controls the sensitivity and insensitivity of potassium channels toward scorpion toxins. The unique insensitivity mechanism of KCNQ1 toward natural scorpion toxins will accelerate the rational design of potent peptide inhibitors toward this channel.

•No Kunitz-type plasmin inhibitor from venomous scorpion has been characterized.•We found a Kunitz-type plasmin inhibitor BmKTT-2 from the scorpion Buthus martensi karch with a Ki value of 8.75 ± 2.05 nM.•BmKTT-2 has potent inhibiting activities towards three digestive serine proteases trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase.•BmKTT-2 is the first Kunitz-type plasmin inhibitor from scorpion venom.Kunitz-type peptides from venomous animals are an important source of lead drug candidates towards human plasmin, a target of protease-associated diseases. However, no Kunitz-type plasmin inhibitor from venomous scorpion has been characterized. Here, we first investigated plasmin inhibiting activities of eight known Kunitz-type scorpion toxins Hg1, BmKTT-1, BmKTT-2, BmKTT-3, LmKTT-1a, LmKTT-1b, LmKTT-1c and BmKPI, and found a new plasmin inhibitor BmKTT-2, a Kunitz-type toxin peptide from the scorpion Buthus martensi karch. Protease inhibitory activity assay showed that BmKTT-2 potently inhibited plasmin with a Ki value of 8.75 ± 2.05 nM. Structure–function relationship studies between BmKTT-2 and plasmin showed that BmKTT-2 is a classical Kunitz-type plasmin inhibitor: Lys13 in BmKTT-2 is the P1 site, and Ala14 in BmKTT-2 is the P1′ site. Interestingly, BmKTT-2 has potent inhibiting activities towards three important digestive serine proteases trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase, suggesting a good stability for administering oral medications. To the best of our knowledge, BmKTT-2 is the first Kunitz-type human plasmin inhibitor from scorpion venom, providing novel insights into drug developments targeting human plasmin protease.

Long-chain and cysteine-rich scorpion toxins exhibit various pharmacological profiles for different voltage-gated sodium channel subtypes. However, the exploration of toxin structure–function relationships has progressed slowly due to the difficulty of obtaining synthetic or recombinant peptides. We now report that we have established an effective expression and purification approach for the novel scorpion toxin BmαTX14. BmαTX14 was over-expressed as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. The insoluble pellet was successfully transformed into active peptide by using a refolding procedure. One-step purification by reverse-phase HPLC was sufficient to generate chromatographically pure peptide. The yield of recombinant toxin reached 4 mg from 1 L LB medium. The pharmacological data further showed that BmαTX14 selectively inhibited the fast inactivation of mNav1.4 (EC50 = 82.3 ± 15.7 nM) rather than that of rNav1.2 (EC50 > 30 μM), which indicates that BmαTX14 is a new α-like toxin. This work enables further structural, functional, and pharmacological studies of BmαTX14 and similar toxins.Highlights► Toxin rBmαTX14 was produced by the recombinant expression in Escherichia coli. ► BmαTX14’s structure is stable with or without His6-tag. ► BmαTX14 selectively inhibits the fast inactivation of mNav1.4 channel. ► The activity of BmαTX14 inhibiting channel inactivation is less affected by His6-tag.