Functional and structural features of gamma-zeathionins, a new class of sodium channel blockers. Export

@article{Kushmerick1998, abstract = {Gamma1- and gamma2-zeathionins (gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z) are members of a family of small and basic peptides involved in plant protection. These plant defensins exhibit remarkable structural similarity to scorpion neurotoxins and insect defensins. In the present report, we used the whole-cell patch clamp technique to investigate the inhibition of the sodium current (I(Na)) by gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z in the GH3 cell line. Both gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z rapidly and reversibly inhibited I(Na) without changing the kinetics or voltage dependence of activation or inactivation. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a plant protein that inhibits the sodium channel. From structural comparisons with the mu-conotoxins, a family of peptides that block the sodium channel, we detected some similar features that could provide the basis of inhibition of sodium channels by gamma-zeathionins.}, author = {Kushmerick, C. and de Souza Castro, M. and Santos Cruz, J. and Bloch, C. and Beir\~{a}o, P. S.}, citeulike-article-id = {3925750}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9872391}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=9872391}, day = {4}, issn = {0014-5793}, journal = {FEBS letters}, keywords = {defensin, pr12}, month = {December}, number = {3}, pages = {302--306}, posted-at = {2009-01-22 20:14:09}, priority = {2}, title = {Functional and structural features of gamma-zeathionins, a new class of sodium channel blockers.}, url = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9872391}, volume = {440}, year = {1998} }

TY - JOUR ID - Kushmerick1998 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3925750 N2 - Gamma1- and gamma2-zeathionins (gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z) are members of a family of small and basic peptides involved in plant protection. These plant defensins exhibit remarkable structural similarity to scorpion neurotoxins and insect defensins. In the present report, we used the whole-cell patch clamp technique to investigate the inhibition of the sodium current (I(Na)) by gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z in the GH3 cell line. Both gamma1-Z and gamma2-Z rapidly and reversibly inhibited I(Na) without changing the kinetics or voltage dependence of activation or inactivation. To our knowledge, this is the first example of a plant protein that inhibits the sodium channel. From structural comparisons with the mu-conotoxins, a family of peptides that block the sodium channel, we detected some similar features that could provide the basis of inhibition of sodium channels by gamma-zeathionins. IS - 3 JF - FEBS letters SN - 0014-5793 EP - 306 TI - Functional and structural features of gamma-zeathionins, a new class of sodium channel blockers. VL - 440 SP - 302 KW - defensin KW - pr12 AU - Kushmerick, C AU - de Souza Castro, M AU - Santos Cruz, J AU - Bloch, C AU - Beirão, PS PY - 1998/12/04/ UR - http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9872391 ER -