Segment α 182-198 of Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor contains a second toxin-binding region and binds anti-receptor antibodies

• Published in: FEBS letters 1986-04, Vol.199 (1), p.68-74
• Main Authors: Mulac-Jericevic, Biserka, Atassi, M.Zouhair
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acetylcholine; Acetylcholine receptor; Amino Acid Sequence; Animals; Antibody; Antigenic site; Binding Sites; Bungarotoxins - metabolism; Cobratoxin; Electric Organ - analysis; fish physiology; Marine; neurophysiology; neurotransmitters; peptides; Peptides - chemical synthesis; Receptors, Cholinergic - analysis; Receptors, Cholinergic - immunology; Synthetic peptide; Torpedo - metabolism; Torpedo californica; Toxin-binding region; toxins; α-Bungarotoxin
• ISSN: 0014-5793; 1873-3468
• DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(86)81225-X

The area around Cys-192 and Cys-193 is thought to be a functionally important part of the α-subunit of the acetylcholine receptor. We have synthesized peptide α 182-198 of the α-chain of the Torpedo californica acetylcholine receptor and investigated the binding to the peptide of α-bungarotoxin, cobratoxin and antibodies raised against acetylcholine receptor. The results showed that the synthetic peptide α 182-198 contains a second toxin-binding region and also binds a considerable fraction of anti-receptor antibodies. We also report here the toxin-binding activity of synthetic peptide a 125–148 of the human acetylcholine receptor which has been previously localized as a toxin-binding region in the α-chain of the Torpedo receptor.