Structure-function relationships of peptides forming the calcin family of ryanodine receptor ligands

Calcins are a novel family of scorpion peptides that bind with high affinity to ryanodine receptors (RyRs) and increase their activity by inducing subconductance states. Here, we provide a comprehensive analysis of the structure-function relationships of the eight calcins known to date, based on their primary sequence, three-dimensional modeling, and functional effects on skeletal RyRs (RyR1). Primary sequence alignment and evolutionary analysis show high similarity among all calcins (>= 78.8% identity). Other common characteristics include an inhibitor cysteine knot (ICK) motif stabilized by three pairs of disulfide bridges and a dipole moment (DM) formed by positively charged residues clustering on one side of the molecule and neutral and negatively charged residues segregating on the opposite side. [H-3] Ryanodine binding assays, used as an index of the open probability of RyRs, reveal that all eight calcins activate RyR1 dose-dependently with K-d values spanning approximately three orders of magnitude and in the following rank order: opicalcin(1) > opicalcin(2) > vejocalcin > hemicalcin > imperacalcin > hadrucalcin > maurocalcin >> urocalcin. All calcins significantly augment the bell-shaped [Ca2+]-[H-3] ryanodine binding curve with variable effects on the affinity constants for Ca2+ activation and inactivation. In single channel recordings, calcins induce the appearance of a subconductance state in RyR1 that has a unique fractional value (similar to 20% to similar to 60% of the full conductance state) but bears no relationship to binding affinity, DM, or capacity to stimulate Ca2+ release. Except for urocalcin, all calcins at 100 nM concentration stimulate Ca2+ release and deplete Ca2+ load from skeletal sarcoplasmic reticulum. The natural variation within the calcin family of peptides offers a diversified set of high-affinity ligands with the capacity to modulate RyRs with high dynamic range and potency.