PMID: 2504931Jul 1, 1989Paper

Three-dimensional model of the insect-directed scorpion toxin from Androctonus australis Hector and its implication for the evolution of scorpion toxins in general

Journal of Molecular Evolution
J C Fontecilla-Camps

Abstract

The three-dimensional structure of the insect-directed toxin from the scorpion Androctonus australis Hector has been modelled using computer graphics and energy-minimization techniques. The model-building procedure was based on the known high resolution structures of two scorpion toxins of different types: toxin II from A. australis Hector, an alpha-toxin, and variant 3 from Centruroides sculpturatus Ewing that belongs to the beta-toxin structural group. Although the insect-directed toxin has one atypical disulfide bridge, the general structural features of the scorpion toxin family, including the presence of a "conserved-hydrophobic" surface, seem to be well-conserved. However, the orientation and length of some loops and regions thought to be important for toxicity are different for alpha-toxins, beta-toxins, and the insect-directed toxin. Thus, the binding of a scorpion toxin to its site on the Na+ channel seems to be based on (1) the presence of a surface containing a series of conserved and/or hydrophobic residues, more or less common to all these molecules, and (2) an adjacent area that modulates the specificity of the interaction.

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Citations

Jun 17, 1998·Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology·Y NakagawaB D Hammock
Jan 1, 1993·Archives of Insect Biochemistry and Physiology·E ZlotkinM E Adams
Jan 1, 1991·Toxicon : Official Journal of the International Society on Toxinology·H ZerroukM F Martin-Eauclaire
Oct 29, 1998·Toxicon : Official Journal of the International Society on Toxinology·A Ménez
Oct 29, 1998·Toxicon : Official Journal of the International Society on Toxinology·M GurevitzN Chejanovsky
Nov 22, 2000·Biochimie·E ZlotkinM Elazar
Apr 23, 2011·Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry·Galax JoyaJonas Perales
Sep 5, 2001·Molecular Microbiology·M J GageT J Smith
Jun 6, 2003·European Journal of Biochemistry·Dalia GordonMichael Gurevitz
Apr 15, 1993·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·S D Dib-HajjM D Summers
Jun 1, 1997·European Journal of Biochemistry·Y NakagawaB D Hammock
Jan 15, 1994·European Journal of Biochemistry·W LeeN R Krishna
May 12, 2009·Peptides·André de Oliveira Carvalho, Valdirene Moreira Gomes
Feb 20, 1999·The Journal of Biological Chemistry·O FroyM Gurevitz

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