Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
2
pubmed:dateCreated
1994-8-4
pubmed:abstractText
The complete amino acid sequence of equinatoxin II, a potent pore-forming toxin with hemolytic, cytotoxic and cardiotoxic activity from the venom of the sea anemone, Actinia equina L., is reported. In addition, circular dicroism was used to estimate the secondary structure of this toxin either in the water-soluble or in the membrane-anchored form. Equinatoxin II when in water was found to contain about 29-33% of alpha-helical structure, 53-58% of beta-strand+beta-turn and 10-16% of random structure. Upon association with phospholipids, in particular with sphingomyelin, a rearrangement of the secondary structure occurs resulting in an increase of the alpha-helix content. An amphiphilic alpha-helical segment is predicted at the N-terminus, which shares structural homology with membrane active peptides like melittin and viral fusion peptides. In analogy to the behaviour of these peptides we propose that at least part of the alpha-helix content increase of equinatoxin II is due to the insertion of its N-terminus into the lipid bilayer. As in the case of melittin, association of 3-4 equinatoxin molecules is necessary to induce membrane permeabilisation.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
0006-3002
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
22
pubmed:volume
1192
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
197-204
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-11-15
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1994
pubmed:articleTitle
Primary and secondary structure of a pore-forming toxin from the sea anemone, Actinia equina L., and its association with lipid vesicles.
pubmed:affiliation
CNR Centro di Fisica degli Stati Aggregati, Trento, Italy.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't