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  • Title: Delta-atracotoxins from Australian funnel-web spiders compete with scorpion alpha-toxin binding on both rat brain and insect sodium channels.
    Author: Little MJ, Wilson H, Zappia C, Cestèle S, Tyler MI, Martin-Eauclaire MF, Gordon D, Nicholson GM.
    Journal: FEBS Lett; 1998 Nov 20; 439(3):246-52. PubMed ID: 9845331.
    Abstract:
    Atracotoxins are novel peptide toxins from the venom of Australian funnel-web spiders that slow sodium current inactivation in a similar manner to scorpion alpha-toxins. To analyse their interaction with known sodium channel neurotoxin receptor sites we determined their effect on scorpion toxin, batrachotoxin and saxitoxin binding. Nanomolar concentrations of delta-atracotoxin-Hv1 and delta-atracotoxin-Ar1 completely inhibited the binding of the scorpion alpha-toxin AaH II to rat brain synaptosomes as well as the binding of LqhalphaIT, a scorpion alpha-toxin highly active on insects, to cockroach neuronal membranes. Moreover, delta-atracotoxin-Hv1 cooperatively enhanced batrachotoxin binding to rat brain synaptosomes in an analogous fashion to scorpion alpha-toxins. Thus the delta-atracotoxins represent a new class of toxins which bind to both mammalian and insect sodium channels at sites similar to, or partially overlapping with, the receptor binding sites of scorpion alpha-toxins.
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