An excitatory scorpion toxin with a distinctive feature: an additional α helix at the C terminus and its implications for interaction with insect sodium channels

Abstract

Background: Scorpion neurotoxins, which bind and modulate sodium channels, have been divided into two groups, the α and β toxins, according to their activities. The β-toxin class includes the groups of excitatory and depressant toxins, which differ in their mode of action and are highly specific against insects. The three-dimensional structures of several α and β toxins have been determined at high resolution, but no detailed 3D structure of an excitatory toxin has been presented so far.

Results: The crystal structure of an anti-insect excitatory toxin from the scorpion Buthotus judaicus, Bj-xtrlT, has been determined at 2.1 å resolution and refined to an R factor of 0.209. The first 59 residues form a closely packed module, structurally similar to the conserved α and β toxins (‘long toxins’) affecting sodium channels. The last 17 residues form a C-terminal extension not previously seen in scorpion toxins. It comprises a short α helix anchored to the N-terminal module by a disulfide bridge and is followed by a highly mobile stretch of seven residues, of which only four are seen in the electron-density map. This mobile peptide covers part of a conserved hydrophobic surface that is thought to be essential for interaction with the channel in several long toxins.

Conclusions: Replacement of the last seven residues by a single glycine abolishes the activity of Bj-xtrlT, strongly suggesting that these residues are intimately involved in the interaction with the channel. Taken together with the partial shielding of the conserved hydrophobic surface and the proximity of the C terminus to an adjacent surface rich in charged residues, it seems likely that the bioactive surface of Bj-xtrlT is formed by residues surrounding the C terminus. The 3D structure and a recently developed expression system for Bj-xtrlT pave the way for identifying the structural determinants involved in the bioactivity and anti-insect specificity of excitatory toxins.