Institute of Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland , St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.
J Am Chem Soc. 2015 Mar 11;137(9):3209-12. doi: 10.1021/jacs.5b00244. Epub 2015 Mar 3.
Covalently attached peptide dendrimers can enhance binding affinity and functional activity. Homogenous di- and tetravalent dendrimers incorporating the α7-nicotinic receptor blocker α-conotoxin ImI (α-ImI) with polyethylene glycol spacers were designed and synthesized via a copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition of azide-modified α-ImI to an alkyne-modified polylysine dendron. NMR and CD structural analysis confirmed that each α-ImI moiety in the dendrimers had the same 3D structure as native α-ImI. The binding of the α-ImI dendrimers to binding protein Ac-AChBP was measured by surface plasmon resonance and revealed enhanced affinity. Quantitative electrophysiology showed that α-ImI dendrimers had ∼100-fold enhanced potency at hα7 nAChRs (IC50 = 4 nM) compared to native α-ImI (IC50 = 440 nM). In contrast, no significant potency enhancement was observed at heteromeric hα3β2 and hα9α10 nAChRs. These findings indicate that multimeric ligands can significantly enhance conotoxin potency and selectivity at homomeric nicotinic ion channels.
共价连接的肽树突可以增强结合亲和力和功能活性。通过铜催化的叠氮-炔环加成反应,将带有聚乙二醇间隔臂的α7 烟碱型受体阻断剂α-芋螺毒素 ImI(α-ImI)的叠氮化物修饰到炔烃修饰的聚赖氨酸树突上,设计并合成了同双价和四价树突。NMR 和 CD 结构分析证实,树突中的每个α-ImI 部分都具有与天然α-ImI 相同的 3D 结构。通过表面等离子体共振测量了α-ImI 树突与结合蛋白 Ac-AChBP 的结合,显示出增强的亲和力。定量电生理学研究表明,与天然α-ImI(IC50 = 440 nM)相比,α-ImI 树突在 hα7 nAChRs 上的效力提高了约 100 倍(IC50 = 4 nM)。相比之下,在异源 hα3β2 和 hα9α10 nAChRs 上没有观察到显著的效力增强。这些发现表明,多聚配体可以显著增强同型烟碱离子通道中芋螺毒素的效力和选择性。