Comparison of pore-forming ability in membranes of a native and a recombinant variant of Sticholysin II from Stichodactyla helianthus

Synergistic Action of Actinoporin Isoforms from the Same Sea Anemone Species Assembled into Functionally Active Heteropores

Among the toxic polypeptides secreted in the venom of sea anemones, actinoporins are the pore-forming toxins whose toxic activity relies on the formation of oligomeric pores within biological membranes. Intriguingly, actinoporins appear as multigene families that give rise to many protein isoforms in the same individual displaying high sequence identities but large functional differences. However, the evolutionary advantage of producing such similar isotoxins is not fully understood. Here, using sticholysins I and II (StnI and StnII) from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, it is shown that actinoporin isoforms can potentiate each other's activity. Through hemolysis and calcein releasing assays, it is revealed that mixtures of StnI and StnII are more lytic than equivalent preparations of the corresponding isolated isoforms. It is then proposed that this synergy is due to the assembly of heteropores because (i) StnI and StnII can be chemically cross-linked at the membrane and (ii) the affinity of sticholysin mixtures for the membrane is increased with respect to any of them acting in isolation, as revealed by isothermal titration calorimetry experiments. These results help us understand the multigene nature of actinoporins and may be extended to other families of toxins that require oligomerization to exert toxicity.

Pore-forming toxins: Properties, diversity, and uses as tools to image sphingomyelin and ceramide phosphoethanolamine

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) represent a unique class of highly specific lipid-binding proteins. The cytotoxicity of these compounds has been overcome through crystallographic structure and mutation studies, facilitating the development of non-toxic lipid probes. As a consequence, non-toxic PFTs have been utilized as highly specific probes to visualize the diversity and dynamics of lipid nanostructures in living and fixed cells. This review is focused on the application of PFTs and their non-toxic analogs as tools to visualize sphingomyelin and ceramide phosphoethanolamine, two major phosphosphingolipids in mammalian and insect cells, respectively. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Pore-Forming Toxins edited by Mauro Dalla Serra and Franco Gambale.

Interaction of cyclic and linear Labaditin peptides with anionic and zwitterionic micelles

Conformational changes of the cyclic (Lo) peptide Labaditin (VWTVWGTIAG) and its linear analogue (L1) promoted by presence of anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and zwitterionic L-α-Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) micelles were investigated. Results from λ(max) blue-shift of tryptophan fluorescence emission combined with Stern-Volmer constants values and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations indicated that L1 interacts with SDS micelles to a higher extent than does Lo. Further, the MD simulation demonstrated that both Lo and L1 interact similarly with LPC micelles, being preferentially located at the micelle/water interface. The peptide-micelle interaction elicits conformational changes in the peptides. Lo undergoes limited modifications and presents unordered structure in both LPC and SDS micelles. On the other hand, L1 displays a random-coil structure in aqueous medium, pH 7.0, and it acquires a β-structure upon interaction with SDS and LPC, albeit with structural differences in each medium.

Inactivation of the pore-forming toxin Sticholysin I by peroxynitrite: protection by cys groups incorporated in the toxin

Sea anemones synthesize a variety of toxic peptides and proteins of biological interest. The Caribbean Sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, produces two pore-forming toxins, Sticholysin I (St I) and Stichloysin II (St II), with the ability to form oligomeric pores in cell and lipid bilayers characteristically lacking cysteine in their amino acid sequences. Recently, two mutants of a recombinant variant of Sticholysin I (rSt I) have been obtained with a Cys residue in functionally relevant regions for the pore-forming activity of the toxin: r St I F15C (in the amino terminal sequence) and r St I R52C (in the binding site). Aiming at characterizing the effects of oxidants in toxins devoid (r St I) or containing -SH moieties (r St I F15C and r St I R52C), we measured their hemolytic activity and pore forming capacity prior and after their incubation with peroxynitrite (ONOO(-)). At low ONOO(-)/Toxin ratios, nearly 0.8 Trp groups are modified by each added peroxynitrite molecule, and the toxin activity is reduced in ca. 20 %. On the other hand, in -SH bearing mutants only 0.5 Trp groups are modified by each peroxynitrite molecule and the toxin activity is only reduced in 10 %. The results indicated that Cys is the initial target of the oxidative damage and that Trp residues in Cys-containing toxins were less damaged than those in r St I. This relative protection of Trp groups correlates with a smaller loss of hemolytic activity and permeabilization ability in liposomes and emphasizes the relevance of Trp groups in the pore forming capacity of the toxins.

The behavior of sea anemone actinoporins at the water-membrane interface

Actinoporins constitute a group of small and basic α-pore forming toxins produced by sea anemones. They display high sequence identity and appear as multigene families. They show a singular behaviour at the water-membrane interface: In aqueous solution, actinoporins remain stably folded but, upon interaction with lipid bilayers, become integral membrane structures. These membranes contain sphingomyelin, display phase coexistence, or both. The water soluble structures of the actinoporins equinatoxin II (EqtII) and sticholysin II (StnII) are known in detail. The crystalline structure of a fragaceatoxin C (FraC) nonamer has been also determined. The three proteins fold as a β-sandwich motif flanked by two α-helices, one of them at the N-terminal end. Four regions seem to be especially important: A cluster of aromatic residues, a phosphocholine binding site, an array of basic amino acids, and the N-terminal α-helix. Initial binding of the soluble monomers to the membrane is accomplished by the cluster of aromatic amino acids, the array of basic residues, and the phosphocholine binding site. Then, the N-terminal α-helix detaches from the β-sandwich, extends, and lies parallel to the membrane. Simultaneously, oligomerization occurs. Finally, the extended N-terminal α-helix penetrates the membrane to build a toroidal pore. This model has been however recently challenged by the cryo-EM reconstruction of FraC bound to phospholipid vesicles. Actinoporins structural fold appears across all eukaryotic kingdoms in other functionally unrelated proteins. Many of these proteins neither bind to lipid membranes nor induce cell lysis. Finally, studies focusing on the therapeutic potential of actinoporins also abound.

Venom therapy in multiple sclerosis

To date many people with multiple sclerosis (MS) seek complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) to treat their symptoms as an adjunct to conventionally used therapies. Among the common CAM therapies, there is a renewed interest in the therapeutic potential of venoms in MS. The efficacy of this therapeutic method remains unclear. However, venom-based therapy using bee, snakes and scorpions venom and/or sea anemones toxin has been recently developed because current investigations have identified the various components and molecular mechanism of the effects of venoms under in vitro and in vivo conditions. The aim of this review is to describe the recent findings regarding the role of venoms and their components in treatment of MS disease and that whether venom therapy could be recommended as a complementary treatment or not.

The equinatoxin N-terminus is transferred across planar lipid membranes and helps to stabilize the transmembrane pore

Equinatoxin II is a cytolytic protein isolated from the sea anemone Actinia equina. It is a member of the actinoporins, a family of eukaryotic pore-forming toxins with a unique mechanism of pore formation. Equinatoxin II is a 20 kDa cysteineless protein, with sphingomyelin-dependent activity. Recent studies showed that the N-terminal region of the molecule requires conformational flexibility during pore formation. An understanding of the N-terminal position in the final pore and its role in membrane insertion and pore stability is essential to define the precise molecular mechanism of pore formation. The formation of pores and their electrophysiologic characteristics were studied with planar lipid membranes. We show that amino acids at positions 1 and 3 of equinatoxin II are exposed to the lumen of the pore. Moreover, sulfhydryl reagents and a hexa-histidine tag attached to the N-terminus revealed that the N-terminus of the toxin extends through the pore to the other (trans) side of the membrane and that negatively charged residues inside the pore are crucial to define the electrophysiologic characteristics of the channel. Finally, we detected a new, less stable, state with a lower conductance by using a deletion mutant in which the first five N-terminal amino acids were removed. We propose that the first five amino acids help to anchor the amphipathic helix on the trans side of the membrane and consequently stabilize the final transmembrane pore.

Structural and functional characterization of a recombinant sticholysin I (rSt I) from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus

Sticholysins I and II (Sts I and II) are two potent cytolysins from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus. These isoforms present 13 substitutions, with three non-conservative located at the N-terminus. St II is considerably more hemolytic than St I in human red blood cells, a result explained by the smaller number of negatively charged groups present at St II's N-terminus. In the present work, we have obtained a recombinant St I (rSt I), differing from the wild type in a single amino acid residue (E16Q). This pseudo-wild type is structurally similar to St I and shows a similar capacity to interact with and form pores in model membranes. This was assessed by the intrinsic fluorescence increase in the presence of liposomes, their adsorption to bilayers (measured by SPR), their concentration at the air-water interface, their interaction with lipid monolayers and their capacity to promote the release of carboxyfluorescein entrapped in liposomes. In spite of these similarities, rSt I presents a larger hemolytic activity in human red blood cells than St I, being intermediate in activity between Sts I and II. The results obtained in the present work emphasize that even the change of one single E by Q at the N-terminal segment may modify the toxin HA and show that this functional property is the most sensitive to subtle changes in the protein primary structure.

Silent mutations at the 5'-end of the cDNA of actinoporins from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus allow their heterologous overproduction in Escherichia coli

Wild-type actinoporins StnI and StnII from the sea anemone Stichodactyla helianthus, as well as their NH(2)-terminal six-His tagged versions, have been overproduced in Escherichia coli. Overproduction of both wild-type proteins was only possible after introducing silent mutations within the 5'-end of their original cDNA sequences. These mutations would prevent the formation of RNA secondary structures blocking the ribosome-binding site and the initiation codon. The four recombinant proteins were purified to homogeneity in milligrams amount and characterized from spectroscopic and functional points of view. All the isolated proteins behaved as the corresponding natural ones although the six-His tagged variants exhibited a decreased lytic activity. The strategy described will be useful to allow the production of mutant variants of these proteins and probably of other actinoporins.