Tyrosine-rich conopeptides affect voltage-gated K+ channels

Julita S. Imperial, Ping Chen, Annett Sporning, Heinrich Terlau, Norelle L. Daly, David J. Craik, Paul F. Alewood, Baldomero M. Olivera

14 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Two venom peptides, CPY-Pl1 (EU000528) and CPY-Fe1 (EU000529), characterized from the vermivorous marine snails Conus planorbis and Conus ferrugineus, define a new class of conopeptides, the conopeptide Y (CPY) family. The peptides have no disulfide cross-links and are 30 amino acids long; the high content of tyrosine is unprecedented for any native gene product. The CPYpeptides were chemically synthesized and shown to be biologically active upon injection into both mice and Caenorhabditis elegans; activity on mammalian Kv1 channel isoforms was demonstrated using an oocyte heterologous expression system, and selectivity for Kv1.6 was found. NMR spectroscopy revealed that the peptides were unstructured in aqueous solution; however, a helical region including residues 12-18 for one peptide, CPY-Pl1, formed in trifluoroethanol buffer. Clones obtained from cDNA of both species encoded prepropeptide precursors that shared a unique signal sequence, indicating that these peptides are encoded by a novel gene family. This is the first report of tyrosine-rich bioactive peptides in Conus venom.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume283
Issue number34
Pages (from-to)23026-23032
Number of pages7
ISSN0021-9258
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22.08.2008

Research Areas and Centers

  • Academic Focus: Center for Brain, Behavior and Metabolism (CBBM)

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