Guidelines for the submission of abstracts for poster presentation

Deadline - 1st May 2024

  • Formats: .doc, .docx, .odt
  • Language: english (preferable) or russian
  • Filesize: <20 MB
  • The abstract must includes: title, list of authors (lastname and initials, affiliation notes), list of affiliations, and main text (see example)
  • The abstract title should be short and informative, and must not exceed 200 characters. It must be written in ‘sentence case’ (capitalise only the first letter and any words or abbreviations that must be capitalised).
  • The abstract body can have a maximum of 2000 characters (with formatting and spaces). It should be as informative as possible and include an explanation as to why the paper meets the school theme. The first sentences should provide the background of the work. This should be followed by the experimental details, with a conclusion of one or two sentences.
  • Abstracts are not edited by the organisers and author corrections will not be accepted after the abstract deadline date. Abstracts should be checked carefully for accuracy prior to submission.
  • Abstracts will be reviewed.
  • The abstract example:

Spider toxin HM-3 differently interacts with voltage-sensing domains of Nav1.4 and blocks gating pore currents underlying periodic paralysis

Shenkarev ZO1, Lyukmanova EN1,2
1Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS, Moscow, Russia
2Biological Faculty, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119234 Russia

Voltage-gated Na+ (NaV) channels contain domains that have discrete functionalities. The central pore domain allows current flow and provides ion selectivity, whereas peripherally located four voltage-sensing domains (VSD-I/IV) are needed for voltagedependent gating. Certain mutations trigger a leak current through VSDs leading to various diseases. For example, hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HypoPP) type 2 is caused by mutations in the S4 voltage-sensing segments of VSDs in the skeletal muscle channel NaV1.4. The gating modifier toxin Hm-3 (crab spider Heriaeus melloteei) inhibits leak (gating pore) currents through such mutant channels and represents useful hit for HypoPP therapy.

To investigate molecular basis of Hm-3 interaction with NaV1.4 channel, we studied isolated VSD-I and VSD-II by NMR in membrane mimicking environment. Hm-3 partitions into micelles through a hydrophobic cluster formed by aromatic residues and interacts with both VSDs by the prolonged positively charged beta-hairpin. The toxin binds to different sites on the domains. On VSD-I Hm-3 interacts with the S3b helix and S3–S4 extracellular loop forming two salt bridges with conserved E208 and D211 residues, while on VSD-II the toxin binds to the S1-S2 extracellular loop interacting with E604 and D606 side chains. Nevertheless, in the both cases the allosteric changes in S4 helix conformation induced by the bound toxin block the gating pore currents. In the obtained complexes, the toxin forms lot of the stabilizing contacts with the lipids surrounding the VSDs. This suggests membrane-mediated mechanism of Hm-3/NaV1.4 interaction.

The work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant #24-00-000000.