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Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Synthesis and Structure Determination of µ-Conotoxin PIIIA Isomers with Different Disulfide Connectivities
Published on: October 2, 2018
Novel conopeptides in a form of disulfide-crosslinked dimer
Xue-Chen Wu1, Mi Zhou, Can Peng
1Institute of Protein Research, Tongji University, 1239 Siping Road, Shanghai 200092, China.
Abstract:
In our present work, seven conotoxins and conopeptides were cloned from four cone snail species based on the M-superfamily signal peptides. Among them, two conopeptides, Vt3.1 and Vt3.2, showed unusual sequence characteristics. Both of them contained two cysteines that are separated by just one non-cysteine residue. In vitro, the chemically synthesized Vt3.1 formed dimers with different intermolecular disulfide linkages. Only the dimer with crossed disulfides showed bioactivity when injected into the intraventricular region of mice brains. Therefore, Vt3.1 and Vt3.2 represent a new group of conopeptides that form disulfide-crosslinked dimers in vitro and probably in vivo.
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