Michael Gurevitz

• Professor
• Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University

Scorpion α-toxins bind at the pharmacologically-defined site-3 on the sodium channel and inhibit channel inactivation by preventing the outward movement of the voltage sensor in domain IV (IVS4), whereas scorpion β-toxins bind at site-4 on the sodium channel and enhance channel activation by trapping the voltage sensor of domain II (IIS4) in its ou...

The interaction of insect-selective scorpion depressant β-toxins (LqhIT2 and Lqh-dprIT3 from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus) with the Blattella germanica sodium channel, BgNav1-1a, was investigated using site-directed mutagenesis, electrophysiological analyses, and structural modeling. Focusing on the pharmacologically-defined binding site-4 of s...

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Opinion about the Corona virus spread

Searching for compounds that inhibit growth of photosynthetic organisms highlighted a prominent effect at micromolar concentrations of the nitroheteroaromatic thioether, 2-nitrothiophene, applied in the light. Since similar effects were reminiscent to those obtained also by radicals produced under excessive illumination or by herbicides, and in lig...

Darwin's contribution to better understanding of evolution is an example of revolutionary science based on observations and interpretations by an individual. Nowadays, however, substantial advances in certain fields of experimental sciences often require integrated efforts of large research groups sometimes conglomerates with access to almost unlim...

Voltage-dependent potassium channels (K v s) gate in response to changes in electrical membrane potential by coupling a voltage-sensing module with a K ⁺ -selective pore. Animal toxins targeting K v s are classified as pore blockers, which physically plug the ion conduction pathway, or as gating modifiers, which disrupt voltage sensor movements. A...

Voltage dependent potassium channels (K v s) gate in response to changes in electrical membrane potential by coupling a voltage-sensing module with a K ⁺ - selective pore. Animal toxins targeting K v s are classified to "pore-blockers" that physically plug the ion conduction pathway and "gating modifiers" that disrupt voltage sensor movements. A th...

Ornidazole of the 5-nitroimidazole drug family is used to treat protozoan and anaerobic bacterial infections via a mechanism that involves pre-activation by reduction of the nitro group, and production of toxic derivatives and radicals. Metronidazole, another drug family member, has been suggested to affect photosynthesis by draining electrons from...

Scorpion alpha and beta toxins interact with voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) at two pharmacologically distinct sites. Alpha toxins bind at receptor site 3 and inhibit channel inactivation, whereas beta toxins bind at receptor site 4 and shift the voltage-dependent activation toward more hyperpolarizing potentials. The two toxin classes are sub...

Av3 is a peptide neurotoxin from the sea anemone Anemonia viridis that shows specificity for arthropod voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs). Interestingly, Av3 competes with a scorpion a-toxin on binding to insect Navs and similarly inhibits the inactivation process, and thus has been classified as 'receptor site-3 toxin', although the two peptides...

Tetrodotoxin-sensitive persistent sodium currents, INaP, that activate at subthreshold voltages, have been detected in numerous vertebrate and invertebrate neurons. These currents are believed to be critical for regulating neuronal excitability. However, the molecular mechanism underlying INaP is controversial. In this study, we identified an INaP...

AbstractTetrodotoxin-sensitive persistent sodium currents, INaP, that activate at subthreshold voltages, have been detected in numerous vertebrate and invertebrate neurons. These currents are believed to be critical for regulating neuronal excitability. However, the molecular mechanism underlying INaP is controversial. In this study, we identified...

The position of the voltage-sensing transmembrane segment, S4, in voltage-gated ion channels as a function of voltage remains incompletely elucidated. Site-3 toxins bind primarily to the extracellular loops connecting transmembrane helical segments S1-S2 and S3-S4 in Domain 4 (D4) and S5-S6 in Domain 1 (D1) and slow fast-inactivation of voltage-gat...

Scorpion alpha and beta toxins interact with voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) at two pharmacologically distinct sites. Alpha toxins bind at receptor site 3 and inhibit channel inactivation, whereas beta toxins bind at receptor site 4 and shift the voltage-dependent activation toward more hyperpolarizing potentials. The two toxin classes are sub...

Ion selectivity of metazoan voltage-gated Na(+) channels is critical for neuronal signaling and has long been attributed to a ring of four conserved amino acids that constitute the ion selectivity filter (SF) at the channel pore. Yet, in addition to channels with a preference for Ca(2+) ions, the expression and characterization of Na(+) channel hom...

Activation of voltage-gated sodium (Na(v)) channels initiates and propagates action potentials in electrically excitable cells. β-Scorpion toxins, including toxin IV from Centruroides suffusus suffusus (CssIV), enhance activation of Na(V) channels. CssIV stabilizes the voltage sensor in domain II in its activated state via a voltage-sensor trapping...

Scorpion alpha and beta toxins interact with voltage-gated sodium channels (Na(v)s) at two pharmacologically distinct sites. Alpha toxins bind at receptor site-3 and inhibit channel inactivation, whereas beta toxins bind at receptor site-4 and shift the voltage-dependent activation toward more hyperpolarizing potentials. The two toxin classes are s...

Activation of voltage-gated sodium (Nav) channels initiates and propagates action potentials in electrically excitable cells. The -scorpion toxin CssIV traps a voltage-sensor of Nav channels in its activated state via a voltage-sensor trapping mechanism and thus shifts their voltage dependence of activation to more negative membrane potentials. The...

Jellyfish, hydras, corals and sea anemones (phylum Cnidaria) are known for their venomous stinging cells, nematocytes, used for prey and defence. Here we show, however, that the potent Type I neurotoxin of the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis, Nv1, is confined to ectodermal gland cells rather than nematocytes. We demonstrate massive Nv1 secretion...

The α-scorpions toxins bind to the resting state of Na(+) channels and inhibit fast inactivation by interaction with a receptor site formed by domains I and IV. Mutants T1560A, F1610A, and E1613A in domain IV had lower affinities for Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus toxin II (LqhII), and mutant E1613R had ~73-fold lower affinity. Toxin dissociation...

Neurotoxin receptor site-3 at voltage-gated Na(+) channels is recognized by various peptide toxin inhibitors of channel inactivation. Despite extensive studies of the effects of these toxins, their mode of interaction with the channel remained to be described at the molecular level. To identify channel constituents that interact with the toxins, we...

Voltage-gated sodium (Na(v)) channels are the molecular targets of β-scorpion toxins, which shift the voltage dependence of activation to more negative membrane potentials by a voltage sensor-trapping mechanism. Molecular determinants of β-scorpion toxin (CssIV) binding and action on rat brain sodium channels are located in the S1-S2 (IIS1-S2) and...

Orthophosphate (Pi) stimulates the activation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) while paradoxically inhibiting its catalysis. Of three Pi-binding sites, the roles of the 5P- and latch sites have been documented, whereas that of the 1P-site remained unclear. Conserved residues at the 1P-site of Rubisco from the cyanobacter...

Scorpion β-toxins bind to the extracellular regions of the voltage-sensing module of domain II and to the pore module of domain III in voltage-gated sodium channels and enhance channel activation by trapping and stabilizing the voltage sensor of domain II in its activated state. We investigated the interaction of a highly potent insect-selective sc...

Scorpion β-toxin 4 from Centruroides suffusus suffusus (Css4) enhances the activation of voltage-gated sodium channels through a voltage sensor trapping mechanism by binding the activated state of the voltage sensor in domain II and stabilizing it in its activated conformation. Here we describe the antagonist and partial agonist properties of a mut...

[Author contribution: T.P. conceived, designed, performed, analyzed the experiments and wrote the manuscript; M.G. is an honorary author]. -- The voltage sensor is a four-transmembrane helix bundle (S1-S4) that couples changes in membrane potential to conformational alterations in voltage-gated ion channels leading to pore opening and ion conduct...

Voltage-gated sodium channels are molecular targets of β-scorpion toxins, which enhance excitability by shifting the voltage dependence of activation to more negative potentials. These effects result from a voltage sensor trapping mechanism, in which toxins trap the voltage sensor in its activated conformation. Determinants of β-scorpion toxin (Css...

The venom of sea anemones is rich in low molecular weight proteinaceous neurotoxins that vary greatly in structure, site of action, and phyletic (insect, crustacean or vertebrate) preference. This toxic versatility likely contributes to the ability of these sessile animals to inhabit marine environments co-habited by a variety of mobile predators....

Alpha-neurotoxins target voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) and constitute an important component in the venom of Buthidae scorpions. These toxins are short polypeptides highly conserved in sequence and three-dimensional structure, and yet they differ greatly in activity and preference for insect and various mammalian Navs. Despite extensive stud...

Sea anemones are sessile predators that use a variety of toxins to paralyze prey and foe. Among these toxins, Types I, II and III are short peptides that affect voltage-gated sodium channels. Anemonia viridis is the only sea anemone species that produces both Types I and III neurotoxin. Although the two toxin types are unrelated in sequence and thr...

Several peptide families, including insect antimicrobial peptides, plant protease inhibitors, and ion channel gating modifiers, as well as blockers from scorpions, bear a common CSalphabeta scaffold. The high structural similarity between two peptides containing this scaffold, drosomycin and a truncated scorpion beta-toxin, has prompted us to exami...

The scorpion α-toxin Lqh2 (from Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus) is active at various mammalian voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) and is inactive at insect Navs. To resolve the molecular basis of this preference we used the following strategy: 1) Lqh2 was expressed in recombinant form and key residues important for activity at the rat brain cha...

Abstract A new toxin, LqhαlT, which causes a unique mode of paralysis in blowfly larvae, was purified from the venom of the scorpion Leiurus quinquestriatus hebraeus, and its structural and pharmacological properties were compared to those of three other groups of neurotoxins found in Buthinae scorpion venoms. Like the excitatory and depressant ins...

Sea anemones use an arsenal of peptide neurotoxins accumulated in special stinging cells (nematocytes) for defense and predation. Intriguingly, genomic analysis of Nematostella vectensis revealed only a single toxin, Nv1 (N. vectensis toxin 1), encoded by multiple extremely conserved genes. We examined the toxic potential of Nv1 and whether it is p...

The bioactive surface of scorpion beta-toxins that interact with receptor site-4 at voltage-gated sodium channels is constituted of residues of the conserved betaalphabetabeta core and the C-tail. In an attempt to evaluate the extent by which residues of the toxin core contribute to bioactivity, the anti-insect and anti-mammalian beta-toxins Bj-xtr...

Gene families, which encode toxins, are found in many poisonous animals, yet there is limited understanding of their evolution at the nucleotide level. The release of the genome draft sequence for the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis enabled a comprehensive study of a gene family whose neurotoxin products affect voltage-gated sodium channels. All...

Voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) are large transmembrane proteins that initiate action potential in electrically excitable cells. This central role in the nervous system has made them a primary target for a large number of neurotoxins. Scorpion alpha-neurotoxins bind to Navs with high affinity and slow their inactivation, causing a prolonged ac...

Rubisco is considered the main ratelimiting factor of photosynthesis under saturating irradiance and limiting CO2 concentrations. We examined the extent of limitation imposed by Rubisco on photosynthesis of the amphibious plant Nuphar lutea and the cyanobacterium\ Synechocystis PCC6803. In Nuphar aerial leaves we found a daily rhythm in the light-s...

Among scorpion beta- and alpha-toxins that modify the activation and inactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels (Na(v)s), depressant beta-toxins have traditionally been classified as anti-insect selective on the basis of toxicity assays and lack of binding and effect on mammalian Na(v)s. Here we show that the depressant beta-toxins LqhIT2 and Lq...

Gating modifiers of voltage-gated sodium channels (Navs) are important tools in neuroscience research and may have therapeutic potential in medicinal disorders. Analysis of the bioactive surface of the scorpion β-toxin Css4 (from Centruroides suffusus suffusus) toward rat brain (rNav1.2a) and skeletal muscle (rNav1.4) channels using binding studies...

Av3 is a short peptide toxin from the sea anemone Anemonia viridis shown to be active on crustaceans and inactive on mammals. It inhibits inactivation of Na(v)s (voltage-gated Na+ channels) like the structurally dissimilar scorpion alpha-toxins and type I sea anemone toxins that bind to receptor site-3. To examine the potency and mode of interactio...