ABSTRACT: In the preparation of synthetic conotoxins containing multiple disulfide bonds, oxidative folding can produce numerous permutations of disulfide bond connectivities. Establishing the native disulfide connectivities thus presents a significant challenge when the venom-derived peptide is not available, as is increasingly the case when conotoxins are identified from cDNA sequences. Here, we investigate the disulfide connectivity of ?-conotoxin KIIIA, which was predicted originally to have a [C1-C9,C2-C15,C4-C16] disulfide pattern based on homology with closely related ?-conotoxins. The two major isomers of synthetic ?-KIIIA formed during oxidative folding were purified and their disulfide connectivities mapped by direct mass spectrometric collision-induced dissociation fragmentation of the disulfide-bonded polypeptides. Our results show that the major oxidative folding product adopts a [C1-C15,C2-C9,C4-C16] disulfide connectivity, while the minor product adopts a [C1-C16,C2-C9,C4-C15] connectivity. Both of these peptides were potent blockers of Na(V)1.2 (K(d) values of 5 and 230 nM, respectively). The solution structure for ?-KIIIA based on nuclear magnetic resonance data was recalculated with the [C1-C15,C2-C9,C4-C16] disulfide pattern; its structure was very similar to the ?-KIIIA structure calculated with the incorrect [C1-C9,C2-C15,C4-C16] disulfide pattern, with an ?-helix spanning residues 7-12. In addition, the major folding isomers of ?-KIIIB, an N-terminally extended isoform of ?-KIIIA identified from its cDNA sequence, were isolated. These folding products had the same disulfide connectivities as ?-KIIIA, and both blocked Na(V)1.2 (K(d) values of 470 and 26 nM, respectively). Our results establish that the preferred disulfide pattern of synthetic ?-KIIIA and ?-KIIIB folded in vitro is 1-5/2-4/3-6 but that other disulfide isomers are also potent sodium channel blockers. These findings raise questions about the disulfide pattern(s) of ?-KIIIA in the venom of Conus kinoshitai; indeed, the presence of multiple disulfide isomers in the venom could provide a means of further expanding the snail's repertoire of active peptides.
