[Preparation and ESR study of spin-labeled derivatives of Naja naja oxiana neurotoxin II].

After neurotoxin II Naja naja oxiana reaction with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-carboxymethylpiperidine-1-oxyl, six derivatives were isolated, each containing one spin label. Their analysis (reduction, carboxymethylation, tryptic hydrolysis, isolation and identification of the spin labeled peptide) allowed to localize the label position: the epsilon-amino groups of Lys15, Lys25, Lys26, Lys44, Lys48, and alpha-amino group of Leu1. The neurotoxin II reaction with N-hydroxysuccinimidyl 2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-3-carboxypyrrolin-1-oxyl followed by chromatography afforded 10 derivatives, each having two labeled lysine residues, wherein the position of the modified residues was determined. The reactivity and microenvironment of amino groups are discussed basing on the dependence between the reaction conditions and yields. For di-spin labeled derivatives of the pyrroline series, the inter-label distances were determined by EPR from the standard curve and used for refinement of the neurotoxin conformation in solution.