Recombinant expression and functional characterization of martentoxin: A selective inhibitor for BK channel (α + β4)

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Abstract

Martentoxin (MarTX), a 37-residue peptide purified from the venom of East-Asian scorpion (Buthus martensi Karsch), was capable of blocking large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BK) channels. Here, we report an effective expression and purification approach for this toxin. The cDNA encoding martentoxin was expressed by the prokaryotic expression system pGEX-4T-3 which was added an enterokinase cleavage site by PCR. The fusion protein (GST-rMarTX) was digested by enterokinase to release hetero-expressed toxin and further purified via reverse-phase HPLC. The molecular weight of the hetero-expressed rMarTX was 4059.06 Da, which is identical to that of the natural peptide isolated from scorpion venom. Functional characterization through whole-cell patch clamp showed that rMarTX selectively and potently inhibited the currents of neuronal BK channels (α + β4) (IC50 = 186 nM), partly inhibited mKv1.3, but hardly having any significant effect on hKv4.2 and hKv3.1a even at 10 μM. Successful expression of martentoxin lays basis for further studies of structure-function relationship underlying martentoxin or other potassium-channel specific blockers. © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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Tao, J., Zhou, Z. L., Wu, B., Shi, J., Chen, X. M., & Ji, Y. H. (2014). Recombinant expression and functional characterization of martentoxin: A selective inhibitor for BK channel (α + β4). Toxins, 6(4), 1419–1433. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins6041419

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