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Recombinant Peptides Ce1 and Ce4 from the Venom of Scorpion Centruroides elegans and Their Interactions with Hybrid Channels KcsA-Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6)

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Abstract

A technique has been developed for obtaining recombinant functionally active peptides Ce1 and Ce4 from the venom of the scorpion Centruroides elegans in the Escherichia coli expression system. The yields of peptides Ce1 and Ce4 were 6.5 and 12 mg per liter of culture, respectively. The properties of the obtained peptides were studied using bioengineered systems based on hybrid channels KcsA-Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6) containing blocker binding sites of the corresponding eukaryotic potassium channels of Kv1-family. It has been shown that recombinant Ce1 and Ce4 do not exhibit affinity to the binding sites of Kv1.1 and Kv1.6 channels up to  micromolar concentrations and, like natural peptides, selectively interact with the binding site of the Kv1.3  channel: the apparent dissociation constants of KcsA-Kv1.3 complexes with recombinant Ce1 and Ce4 are 50 ± 10 and 200 ± 30 nM (mean ± SEM), respectively.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Yu.V. Korolkova for providing R-AgTx2 and M.V. Serebryakova for measurements of peptide masses by mass spectrometry.

Funding

The research was funded by Russian Science Foundation, project number 19-74-30014. The research was partially performed using facilities of the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Moscow University “Molecular Technologies of the Living Systems and Synthetic Biology.”

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Correspondence to N. A. Orlov.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest. The studies were carried out without the use of animals and without involving people as subjects.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Running title: Interaction of Ce1 and Ce4 Peptides with Kv1 Channels

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Translated by A. Deryabina

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Orlov, N.A., Yakimov, S.A., Nekrasova, O.V. et al. Recombinant Peptides Ce1 and Ce4 from the Venom of Scorpion Centruroides elegans and Their Interactions with Hybrid Channels KcsA-Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6). Moscow Univ. Biol.Sci. Bull. 77, 119–125 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0096392522020067

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