Abstract
Phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) are a major component of snake venoms. Some of them cause severe muscle necrosis through a still unknown mechanism. Phospholipid hydrolysis is a possible explanation of their toxic action, but catalytic and toxic properties of PLA2s are not directly connected. In addition, viperid venoms contain PLA2-like proteins, which are very toxic even if they lack catalytic activity due to a critical mutation in position 49. Nucleolin, a main component of the nucleolus, is a disordered protein involved in many protein assembly and phase separation phenomena. In some circumstances nucleolin is exposed on the cell surface from where it is involved in the internalization of many ligands.
In this work we demonstrate that Bothrops asper myotoxin II (Mt-II), a Lys49 PLA2-like toxin, interacts with, and is internalized in cells by nucleolin. The internalization process is functional to the toxicity of the protein, as both an antibody and an aptamer specific for nucleolin protect cells from intoxication. We identified central RRM and the C-terminal R/F-GG domain of nucleolin as the regions involved in the interaction with Mt-II. Finally we observed that Mt-II forms, on the cell surface, amyloid-like assemblies that colocalize with nucleolin and that can be involved in the activation of the internalization process. The presence, in the three dimensional structure of Mt-II and related PLA2 homologues, of four exposed loops enriched in prion-like amino acid sequences reinforces this hypothesis.
Phospholipases A2 | Lys49 myotoxins | nucleolin | amyloid-like | molecular assemblies
SIGNIFICANCE The main finding of this work, the role of nucleolin as Bothrops asper Mt-II receptor, is a remarkable step forward in understanding the mechanism of action of cytotoxic PLA2s. It may suggest new strategies for anti-venom therapies and explain the anti-tumoral and anti-viral pharmacological action of snake PLA2s, since nucleolin is a receptor for many growth factors and virus.
The proposed internalization mechanism, via formation of molecular assemblies among Mt-II amyloid-like structures and other proteins, including nucleolin, can be of general validity. Cell surface molecular assemblies couldbepointsofselectionandconcentrationnotonlyofsnake,butalsoofmammaliansecretedPLA2s, proteins involved in different pathologies, and trigger the internalization pathway only when their molarity exceeds a threshold dose.
