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PubMed1993

Voltage-dependent calcium and potassium conductances in striated muscle fibers from the scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus.

Ionic currents responsible for the action potential in scorpion muscle fibers were characterized using a three-intracellular microelectrode voltage clamp applied at the fiber ends (8-12 degrees C). Large calcium currents (ICa) trigger contractile activation in physiological saline (5 mM Ca) but can be studied in the absence of contractile activation in a low Ca saline (< or = 2.5 mM). Barium (Ba) ions (1.5-3 mM) support inward current but not contractile activation. Ca conductance kinetics are fast (time constant of 3 msec at 0 mV) and very voltage dependent, with steady-state conductance increasing e-fold in approximately 4 mV. Half-activation occurs at -25 mV. Neither ICa nor IBa show rapid inactivation, but a slow, voltage-dependent inactivation eliminates ICa at voltages positive to -40 mV. Kinetically, scorpion channels are more similar to L-type Ca channels in vertebrate cardiac muscle than to those in skeletal muscle. Outward K currents turn on more slowly and with a longer delay than do Ca currents, and K conductance rises less steeply with voltage (e-fold change in 10 mV; half-maximal level at 0 mV). K channels are blocked by externally applied tetraethylammonium and 3,4 diaminopyridine.

4-Aminopyridine↗

PubMed1983

Classification of Na channel receptors specific for various scorpion toxins.

1. The specific binding to rat brain synaptosomes of a radiolabelled derivative of toxin II from the scorpion Centruroides suffusus suffusus could be prevented by toxins III and IV, but not by toxin V or variants 1-3, from the venom of Centruroides sculpturatus. 2. The specific binding of a similar derivative of toxin II from Androctonus australis Hector was not affected by any of the toxins from Centruroides sculpturatus. 3. There is biochemical evidence for only two distinct classes of Na channel receptors specific for known scorpion toxins.

Animals↗

PubMed1988

Myocardial damage after a scorpion sting: long-term echocardiographic follow-up.

A seven-year-old girl, stung by a scorpion, was hospitalized in a confused state with signs of myocarditis and pulmonary edema. In spite of clinical improvement within 24 h, 14 serial echocardiograms and electrocardiograms performed during a four-month period showed severe changes. There have been no previously published reports of echocardiographic studies showing myocardial changes after a scorpion sting.

Animals↗

PubMed2007

Using a recombinant bispecific antibody to block Na+ -channel toxins protects against experimental scorpion envenoming.

In recent years, several molecular engineering methods of designing bispecific antibodies in various formats have been developed. Tandem-scFvs comprising two scFvs fused together via a peptide are 55-kDa molecules, and are one of the most promising and most straightforward approaches to bispecific antibody production. We report an attempt to design more effective antivenoms to the Androctonus australis scorpion using murine scFvs as building blocks to create a unique bispecific molecule that neutralizes the potent neurotoxins AahI and AahII. The tandem-scFv was produced in recombinant bacteria, purified by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography, and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blot, gel filtration, mass spectrometry, and direct and competitive radioimmunoassay. In vivo, it neutralized the binding of the AahI and AahII toxins to their receptor, and protected mice against experimental envenomation. The findings reported here highlight the potential of recombinant antibody fragments for protecting against scorpion venom toxicity.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Novel insect resistance in Brassica napus developed by transformation of chitinase and scorpion toxin genes.

Transgenic plants with introduced pest-resistant gene offer an efficient alternative insect control. The novel insect-resistant gene combination, chitinase(chi) and BmkIT(Bmk), containing an insect-specific chitinase gene and a scorpion insect toxin gene was introduced into Brassica napus cultivar via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Fifty-seven regenerated plantlets with kanamycin-resistance were obtained. Transgenic plants were verified by Southern blot analysis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and bioassay of artificial inoculation with diamondback moth (Plutella maculipenis) (DBM) larvae indicated that some of the transgenic plants were high-level expression for both chitinase and scorpion toxin proteins and performed high resistance against the tested pest infestation. The genetic analysis of T(1) progeny confirmed that the inheritance of introduced genes followed the Mendelian rules.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Electrophysiological evidence of synaptic interactions within chemosensory sensilla of scorpion pectines.

The pectines of scorpions are ventral bilateral appendages supporting 10(4)-10(5) chemosensory sensilla called pegs. Each peg contains 10-18 sensory neurons, some of which show ultrastructural evidence of axo-axonic synapses with other sensory neurons in the same sensillum. In extracellular recordings from single-peg sensilla, individual sensory units can be distinguished by impulse waveform and firing frequency. Cross-correlation analysis of impulse activity showed that at least two of these units, types 'A1' and 'A2', are inhibited during the 100-ms period immediately following activity of a third unit, type 'B'. This interaction between sensory units in a single sensillum also occurs in surgically isolated pectines, indicating that it does not involve efferent feedback from the central nervous system. Other sensillar neurons appear to have excitatory interactions. Thus, in scorpion pectine, chemosensory information undergoes some form of processing within individual sensilla prior to its relay to the CNS, making this an unusually accessible preparation for study of first-order chemosensory processing events.

Animals↗

PubMed2000

Modulation of cloned skeletal muscle sodium channels by the scorpion toxins Lqh II, Lqh III, and Lqh alphaIT.

The scorpion alpha-toxins Lqh II, Lqh III, and Lqh alphaIT from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus are representatives of typical alpha-toxins, specific for either mammals (Lqh II) or insects (Lqh alphaIT), and alpha-like toxins (Lqh III) which act on both mammals and insects. For a comparative study of the effects of these toxins on mammalian sodium channels we stably expressed rat skeletal muscle sodium channel alpha subunits (microI) in HEK 293 cells and measured Na+ currents in the whole-cell patch-clamp mode. The alpha- and alpha-like toxins strongly slowed down channel inactivation with a half-maximal effect at 1.4 nM (Lqh II), 5.4 nM (Lqh III), and 0.5 nM (Lqh alphaIT). The recovery from fast inactivation was accelerated by all toxins with the potency sequence: Lqh II>Lqh alphaIT>Lqh III. The voltage dependence of inactivation and recovery from inactivation were reduced while the threshold for activation was only slightly shifted by approximately equal to 10 mV without altering the slope factors, suggesting uncoupling of the impaired inactivation from the activation. The toxins induced an increase in peak inward current, which was accounted for by an increased maximal open-channel probability. Although all three toxins induced similar modifications of the channel properties, their kinetics of association and dissociation were very different. Between -140 and -80 mV toxin association was not voltage dependent. In 100 nM toxin the association time constants were: 1.3 s (Lqh II), 20 s (Lqh III), and 3.8 s (Lqh alphaIT). At positive voltages the toxin dissociated from the channel; at +100 mV the dissociation time constants were 30, 321, and 135 ms, respectively. In contrast to the association, dissociation was voltage dependent with a similar slope of about 12 mV per e-fold change for all three toxins. The strong differences in the association and dissociation kinetics of these toxins may identify them as members of different scorpion alpha-toxin subgroups.

Animals↗

PubMed1985

An excitatory and a depressant insect toxin from scorpion venom both affect sodium conductance and possess a common binding site.

Two insect selective toxins were purified by gel-permeation and ion-exchange chromatographies from the venom of the scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus, and their chemical and pharmacological properties were studied. The first toxin (LqqIT1) induces a fast excitatory contraction paralysis of fly larvae and is about 40 times more toxic than the crude venom. It is a polypeptide composed of 71 amino acids, including 8 half-cystines and devoid of methionine and tryptophan, with an estimated molecular weight of 8189 and a pI value of 8.5. The second toxin (LqqIT2) induces a slow depressant, flaccid paralysis of fly larvae. It is composed of 72 amino acids, including 8 half-cystines, is devoid of proline methionine and histidine, and has an estimated molecular weight of 7990 and a pI value of 8.3. The contrasting symptomatology of these toxins is interpreted in terms of their effects on an isolated axonal preparation of the cockroach in current and voltage clamp conditions. LqqIT1 (0.5-4 microM) induced repetitive firing of the axon which was attributable to two changes in the sodium conductance, a small increase in the peak conductance and a slowing of its turning off. LqqIT2 (1-8 microM) caused a blockage of the evoked action potentials, attributable to both a strong depolarization of the axonal membrane and a progressive suppression of the sodium current. Neither toxin affected potassium conductance. The two toxins differ mainly in their opposite effects on the activatable sodium permeability. In binding assays to a preparation of insect synaptosomal membrane vesicles, the two toxins were shown to competitively displace the radioiodinated excitatory insect toxin derived from the venom of the scorpion, Androctonus australis [( 125I]AaIT), which strongly resembles, in its chemistry and action, the LqqIT1 toxin. The present two toxins have demonstrated a strong affinity closely resembling the AaIT, with KD values of 0.4, 1.9, and 1.0 nM for LqqIT1, LqqIT2, and AaIT, respectively. These data suggest the possibility that the excitatory and depressant insect toxins share a common binding site associated with sodium channels in insect neuronal membranes.

Amino Acids↗

PubMed1979

Electrophysiological studies on embryonic heart cells in culture. Scorpion toxin as a tool to reveal latent fast sodium channel.

Trypsin-dispersed heart cells were obtained from 11-day-old chick embryos. After culture as unstirred suspensions in dimethylsulfoxide-containing medium, spherical aggregates of cells beating spontaneously and apparently synchronously for months were obtained. Two kinds of cell were characterized by electrophysiological recordings: (1) cells with a slow rate of depolarizing phase showing tetrodotoxin-resistant action potential and blocked by D 600 ('slow' cells); (2) cells with high value of rising phase which was strongly decreased by tetrodotoxin and in which D 600 provoked uncoupling of excitation-contraction ('fast' cells). Toxin II from Androctonus australis scorpion venom increased the duration of action potential, which was ascribed to a slowing down of Na+ current inactivation and enhance the maximum rate of depolarization, especially in slow cells. Effects were antagonized by tetrodotoxin in both fast and slow cells. Washing experiments confirmed the results of previous studies, namely that tetrodotoxin and scorpion toxin bind to different receptors. It is concluded that slow cells with tetrodotoxin-resistant action potential contain latent fast Na+ channels that are revealed (activated) by toxin binding to the membrane.

Action Potentials↗

PubMed1978

Structure-function relationships in scorpion neurotoxins. Identification of the supperreactive lysine residue in toxin I of Androctonus australis Hector.

In a previous article (Habersetzer-Rochat, C. and Sampieri, R. (1976) Biochemistry 15, 2254--2261) it was demonstrated that the toxin I of the North African Scorpion Androctonus australis Hector was inactivated after reaction with iodoacetate; the toxicity loss in mice was correlated with the carboxymethylation of one superreactive residue. In the present work, alkylation of toxin I was performed with iodo[14C]-acetate. Hence, it was possible, after reduction, S-methylation and chymotryptic hydrolysis of this toxin, to isolate the peptide containing the labelled lysine residue. By automatic Edman degradation, this residue was identified as being the penultimate lysine at position 56 in the primary sequence. Comparison of three primary structures of scorpion neurotoxins and comparison in different kinds of activity seem to indicate that this lysine residue is mainly important for toxicity in mice.

Alkylation↗

PubMed1988

Acetylcholinesterase (EC 3.1.1.7), a neurotransmitter enzyme in scorpion hemolymph.

Acetylcholinesterase (AchE: EC 3.1.1.7) was identified and purified from the hemolymph of the scorpion Heterometrus bengalensis. The purity of the enzyme was determined by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The molecular weight of the enzyme, determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE, was 80,000. The purified AchE hydrolysed acetylthiocholine iodide, but it did not react with butyrylthiocholine iodide. BW284C51, a specific inhibitor of AchE, strongly inhibited the enzyme. The known inhibitor (tetramonoisopropylpyrophosphortetramide) of pseudocholinesterase did not produce any inhibition of the enzyme activity. The purified AchE of scorpion hemolymph was vulnerable to high substrate concentration. The presence of Cu2+ and Ni2+ reduced the enzyme activity, whereas the metal ion, Sn2+, enhanced AchE activity. Ca2+ produced neither inhibition nor activation. (Na+, K+)-ATPase and Mg2+-ATPase activities were greatly enhanced by the purified AchE.

Acetylcholinesterase↗

PubMed1989

Stimulation of dopamine release in the rat neostriatum in vivo by activation of the voltage-sensitive sodium channel by scorpion venom neurotoxin.

Scorpion venom neurotoxins open sodium channels and thus may enhance neurotransmitter release by increasing membrane permeability to sodium. This study carried out in vivo examined the effects of the scorpion Androctonus australis neurotoxin (ScAaTx) on the levels of dopamine (DA) in push-pull perfusates of the striatum of chloral hydrate-anaesthetised rats. ScAaTx (2.5, 5.0 and 10.0 ng/microliters) stimulated DA release in a dose-dependent manner. The release of DA induced by ScAaTx (10 ng/microliters) was completely blocked when the brain site was perfused with Ca2+-free CSF containing 2 mM EGTA or in the presence of TTX (10(-5) M). These results indicate that the potent stimulatory effects of ScAaTx on neostriatal DA release in vivo are mediated via voltage-sensitive sodium channels.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

Scorpion toxin prolongs an inactivation phase of the voltage-dependent sodium current in rat isolated single hippocampal neurons.

The effects of scorpion toxin on the voltage-dependent sodium current (INa) of CA1 pyramidal neurons isolated from rat hippocampus were studied under the single-electrode voltage-clamp condition using a 'concentration-clamp' technique. The toxin increased the peak amplitude of INa and prolonged its inactivation phase in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Inactivation phase of INa proceeded with two exponential components in the absence (control) and presence of the toxin. In the toxin-treated neurons, both the time constant of slow component and its fractional contribution to the total current increased dose-dependently while the fractional contribution of the fast one decreased in a dose-dependent fashion without changing its time constant. Actions of scorpion toxin on the sodium channels of hippocampal pyramidal neurons were essentially similar to those of peripheral preparations. Therefore, it can be concluded that the sodium channels of mammalian brain neurons have structures and functions similar to peripheral channels.

Animals↗

PubMed1986

Scorpion venom (Leiurus quinquestriatus) elicits accumulations of inositol phosphates and cyclic AMP in guinea pig cortical synaptoneurosomes.

Scorpion (Leiurus quinquestriatus) venom (ScV) stimulated accumulations of cyclic AMP and turnover of phosphatidylinositol in guinea pig cortical synaptoneurosomes. The concentrations of ScV that were necessary to increase cyclic [3H]AMP accumulation were lower than those required to stimulate formation of [3H]inositol phosphates from phosphatidylinositol. In the presence of 10 microM 2-chloroadenosine, ScV induced a dose-dependent synergistic accumulation of cyclic AMP with an EC50 value that was comparable to the EC50 required for stimulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover. Tetrodotoxin partially inhibited cyclic AMP accumulations elicited by ScV indicating that at least part of such responses are due to activation of voltage-dependent sodium channel. Tetrodotoxin virtually completely blocked formation of inositol phosphate stimulated by ScV. High concentrations of Mg2+ (30 mM) did not block responses to ScV indicating that release of neurotransmitters was not involved. Membrane potential changes could not be detected at concentrations of ScV that triggered the biochemical responses. Stimulation of phosphatidylinositol turnover by ScV appears to depend on an increase in influx of Na+ in synaptoneurosomes, presumably due to slowing of the inactivation of voltage-dependent sodium channels by alpha-scorpion toxin, a component of ScV. At least in part, the stimulation of cyclic AMP accumulation by ScV correlates with increases in phosphatidylinositol turnover.

2-Chloroadenosine↗

PubMed1989

Characterization of two different peptides from the venom of the scorpion Buthus sindicus.

Two disulfide-rich, low-molecular mass peptides (approximately 3 kDa and approximately 4 kDa) have been isolated from Buthus sindicus venom using ion-exchange and reverse-phase HPLC. Peptide I has 35 residues with 8 half-cystine residues and is clearly related to four-disulfide core proteins of the neurophysin type and to toxins of other scorpion species (55-63% residue identity). Peptide II, present in low yield, has 28 residues with 6 half-cystine residues and a structure largely dissimilar from that of peptide I and other characterized toxins, although probably still a member of the disulfide core peptide type. Consequently, scorpion venom contains, in addition to toxins characterized before, toxin-like compounds with distant relationships.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1990

Primary structure of scorpion anti-insect toxins isolated from the venom of Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus.

The amino acid sequences of insect-selective scorpion toxins, purified from the venom of Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus, have been determined by automatic phenyl isothiocyanate degradation of the S-carboxymethylated proteins and derived proteolytic peptides. The excitatory toxin Lqq IT1 and Lqq IT1' (70 residues) show the shift of one half-cystine from an external position, which is characteristic of anti-mammal toxins, to an internal sequence position. Lqq IT2 (61 residues) displays the half-cystine residue in position 12, common to the sequence of all known anti-mammal toxins; it induces flaccid paralysis on insects but is non-toxic for the mouse. Lqq IT2 structurally defines a new type of anti-insect toxins from scorpion venoms. CD spectra and immunological data are in agreement with this finding.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1992

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence analysis of a cDNA encoding the main beta-neurotoxin from the venom of the South American scorpion Tityus serrulatus.

A cDNA encoding the main Tityus serrulatus beta-neurotoxin was isolated from a venom gland cDNA library by using an oligonucleotide probe. The amino acid sequence deduced from the cDNA nucleotide sequence indicated that the toxin is the processed product of a precursor containing: (i) a signal peptide of 20 residues; (ii) the amino acid sequence of the mature toxin; and (iii) an extra Gly-Lys-Lys tail at the C-terminal end before the termination codon. Thus, in addition to the removal of the signal peptide by a signal peptidase, the generation of the mature toxin requires both a post-translational cleavage by a carboxypeptidase specific for basic residues and the action of an alpha-amidating enzyme. These results also show that the biosynthetic pathway for beta-toxins of 'New World' scorpion venoms is similar to that already described for alpha-toxins of 'Old World' scorpion venoms.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Binding of an alpha scorpion toxin to insect sodium channels is not dependent on membrane potential.

The insect-specific Lqh alpha IT toxin resembles alpha scorpion toxins affecting mammals by its amino acid sequence and effects on sodium conductance. The present study reveals that Lqh alpha IT does not bind to rat brain membranes and possesses in locust neuronal membranes a single class of high affinity (Kd = 1.06 +/- 0.15 nM) and low capacity (Bmax = 0.7 +/- 0.19 pmol/mg protein) binding sites. The latter are: (1) distinct from binding sites of other sodium channel neurotoxins; (2) inhibited by sea anemone toxin II; (3) cooperatively interacting with veratridine; (4) not dependent on membrane potential, in contrast to the binding sites of alpha toxins in vertebrate systems. These data suggest the occurrence of (a) conformational-structural differences between insect and mammal sodium channels and (b) the animal group specificity and pharmacological importance of the alpha scorpion toxins.

Animals↗