Specific binding of cardiotoxins from spitting cobra venom with chondroitin/dermatan sulfate suggests their action mechanism

K. A. Vyas, H. V. Patet, A. A. Vyas, W. Wu

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We have recently shown that cobra cardiotoxin (CTX), a basic polypeptide with (i0 amino acid residues of three-fingered loop, may bind specifically to het)arin/heparan sulfide (heparin/HS). The binding speciticity is controlled by the charge dislribution near the tip of loop 2 region and CTX may then provide a useflfl template for the design of high affinity heparin-binding polypeptides. Herein we show that relocating a positively charge amino acid residue from Lys-3:3 to Arg-28 may also change its binding speciticity from heparin/tiS to chondroitin/dermatan sulfate (CS/DS). This is demonstrated by the enhanced binding constant of several Arg-28 containing, but Lys-33 lacking, CTX homotogues with CS/DS, as compared with heparin/ttS. Since only CTXs from African spitting , but not Asian non-spitting, cobra venom exhibit specific binding with CS/DS over heparin, the result suggests a novel explanation for the biological activity of CTXs in causing the corneal opacity of the victim via the interaction of CTXs with CS/DS proteoglycans. Cobra CTX may also provide a useful tool in future stndies to dissect cell signaling process involving different GAGs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)A1243
JournalFASEB Journal
Volume11
Issue number9
StatePublished - Dec 1 1997

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biotechnology
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

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