Specific binding of toxin II from Centruroides suffusus suffusus to the sodium channel in electroplaque membranes.

The binding of toxin II from the scorpion Centruroides suffusus suffusus (CssII) to electroplaque membranes from Electrophorus electricus was studied with the use of a radiolabeled derivative of the toxin ([125I]CssII). Specific binding of the latter to the membranes required the protonation of a group, either in the membrane or in the toxin itself, with an apparent pKa value of 7.5 and also the presence of a certain minimum concentration of ions, though there was no requirement for a specific ion. At 20 degrees C and pH 6 the second-order rate constant for formation of the [125I]CssII-membrane complex was about 5 X 10(6) M-1 s-1, while the first-order constant for its dissociation was about 2 X 10(-3) s-1. Under equilibrium conditions specific binding of [125I]CssII was a simple saturable function of [125I]CssII concentration, characterized by a dissociation constant of 0.4-0.7 nM and a maximum capacity of 0.9-2.4 pmol of toxin/mg of membrane protein. The latter value was the same as the number of membrane sites that could specifically bind a radiolabeled derivative of tetrodotoxin. Unlabeled CssII displaced bound [125I]CssII with an apparent dissociation constant of about 1 nM. None of 19 other neurotoxins or local anaesthetics known to interact with Na+ channels in excitable cells affected [125I]CssII binding, but it was completely inhibited by toxin gamma from the scorpion Tityus serrulatus serrulatus. These findings suggest that the Na+ channel possesses a distinct class of binding sites to which these two scorpion toxins bind with high affinities. On the other hand, no CssII receptor was detected in crab axonal membranes, indicating that it is not a characteristic feature of all Na+ channels.