Disulfide-rich peptides are the dominant component of most animal venoms. These peptides have received much attention as leads for the development of novel therapeutic agents and bioinsecticides because they target a wide range of neuronal receptors and ion channels with a high degree of potency and selectivity. In addition, their rigid disulfide framework makes them particularly well suited for addressing the crucial issue of in vivo stability. Structural and functional characterization of these peptides necessitates the development of a robust, reliable expression system that maintains their native disulfide framework. The bacterium Escherichia coli has long been used for economical production of recombinant proteins. However, the expression of functional disulfide-rich proteins in the reducing environment of the E. coli cytoplasm presents a significant challenge. Thus, we present here an optimised protocol for the expression of disulfide-rich venom peptides in the periplasm of E. coli, which is where the endogenous machinery for production of disulfide-bonds is located. The parameters that have been investigated include choice of media, induction conditions, lysis methods, methods of fusion protein and peptide purification, and sample preparation for NMR studies. After each section a recommendation is made for conditions to use. We demonstrate the use of this method for the production of venom peptides ranging in size from 2 to 8 kDa and containing 2–6 disulfide bonds.

β-Diguetoxin-Dc1a (Dc1a) is a toxin from the desert bush spider Diguetia canities that incapacitates insects at concentrations that are non-toxic to mammals. Dc1a promotes opening of German cockroach voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels (BgNav1), whereas human Nav channels are insensitive. Here, by transplanting commonly targeted S3b-S4 paddle motifs within BgNav1 voltage sensors into Kv2.1, we find that Dc1a interacts with the domain II voltage sensor. In contrast, Dc1a has little effect on sodium currents mediated by PaNav1 channels from the American cockroach even though their domain II paddle motifs are identical. When exploring regions responsible for PaNav1 resistance to Dc1a, we identified two residues within the BgNav1 domain II S1–S2 loop that when mutated to their PaNav1 counterparts drastically reduce toxin susceptibility. Overall, our results reveal a distinct region within insect Nav channels that helps determine Dc1a sensitivity, aconcept that will be valuable for the design of insect-selective insecticides.

The continued success of malaria control efforts requires the development, study and implementation of new technologies that circumvent insecticide resistance. We previously demonstrated that fungal pathogens can provide an effective delivery system for mosquitocidal or malariacidal biomolecules. Here we compared genes from arthropod predators encoding insect specific sodium, potassium and calcium channel blockers for their ability to improve the efficacy of Metarhizium against wild-caught, insecticide-resistant anophelines. Toxins expressed under control of a hemolymph-specific promoter increased fungal lethality to mosquitoes at spore dosages as low as one conidium per mosquito. One of the most potent, the EPA approved Hybrid (Ca++/K+ channel blocker), was studied for pre-lethal effects. These included reduced blood feeding behavior, with almost 100% of insects infected with ~6 spores unable to transmit malaria within 5 days post-infection, surpassing the World Health Organization threshold for successful vector control agents. Furthermore, recombinant strains co-expressing Hybrid toxin and AaIT (Na+ channel blocker) produced synergistic effects, requiring 45% fewer spores to kill half of the mosquitoes in 5 days as single toxin strains. Our results identify a repertoire of toxins with different modes of action that improve the utility of entomopathogens as a technology that is compatible with existing insecticide-based control methods.

One of the most potent insecticidal venom peptides described to date is Aps III from the venom of the trapdoor spider Apomastus schlingeri. Aps III is highly neurotoxic to lepidopteran crop pests, making it a promising candidate for bioinsecticide development. However, its disulfideconnectivity, three-dimensional structure, and mode of action have not been determined. Here we show that recombinant Aps III (rAps III) is an atypical knottin peptide; three of the disulfide bridges form a classical inhibitor cystine knot motif while the fourth disulfide acts as a molecular staple that restricts the flexibility of an unusually large β hairpin loop that often houses the pharmacophore in this class of toxins. We demonstrate that the irreversible paralysis induced in insects by rAps III results from a potent block of insect voltage-gated sodium channels. Channel block by rAps III is voltage-independent insofar as it occurs without significant alteration in the voltage-dependence of channel activation or steady-state inactivation. Thus, rAps III appears to be a pore blocker that plugs the outer vestibule of insect voltage-gated sodium channels. This mechanism of action contrasts strikingly with virtually all other sodium channel modulators isolated from spider venoms that act as gating modifiers by interacting with one or more of the four voltage-sensing domains of the channel.

Spider venoms contain a plethora of insecticidal peptides that act on neuronal ion channels and receptors. Because of their high specificity, potency and stability, these peptides have attracted much attention as potential environmentally friendly insecticides. Although many insecticidal spider venom peptides have been isolated, the molecular target, mode of action and structure of only a small minority have been explored. Sf1a, a 46-residue peptide isolated from the venom of the tube-web spider Segesteria florentina, is insecticidal to a wide range of insects, but nontoxic to vertebrates. In order to investigate its structure and mode of action, we developed an efficient bacterial expression system for the production of Sf1a. We determined a high-resolution solution structure of Sf1a using multidimensional 3D/4D NMR spectroscopy. This revealed that Sf1a is a knottin peptide with an unusually large b-hairpin loop that accounts for a third of the peptide length. This loop is delimited by a fourth disulfide bond that is not commonly found in knottin peptides. We showed, through mutagenesis, that this large loop is functionally critical for insecticidal activity. Sf1a was further shown to be a selective inhibitor of insect voltage-gated sodium channels, consistent with its 'depressant' paralytic phenotype in insects. However, in contrast to the majority of spider-derived sodium channel toxins that function as gating modifiers via interaction with one or more of the voltage-sensor domains, Sf1a appears to act as a pore blocker.