TY - JOUR T1 - Vm24, a Natural Immunosuppressive Peptide, Potently and Selectively Blocks Kv1.3 Potassium Channels of Human T Cells JF - Molecular Pharmacology JO - Mol Pharmacol SP - 372 LP - 382 DO - 10.1124/mol.112.078006 VL - 82 IS - 3 AU - Zoltan Varga AU - Georgina Gurrola-Briones AU - Ferenc Papp AU - Ricardo C. Rodríguez de la Vega AU - Gustavo Pedraza-Alva AU - Rajeev B. Tajhya AU - Rezso Gaspar AU - Luis Cardenas AU - Yvonne Rosenstein AU - Christine Beeton AU - Lourival D. Possani AU - Gyorgy Panyi Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://molpharm.aspetjournals.org/content/82/3/372.abstract N2 - Blockade of Kv1.3 K+ channels in T cells is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and type 1 diabetes mellitus. Vm24 (α-KTx 23.1) is a novel 36-residue Kv1.3-specific peptide isolated from the venom of the scorpion Vaejovis mexicanus smithi. Vm24 inhibits Kv1.3 channels of human lymphocytes with high affinity (Kd = 2.9 pM) and exhibits >1500-fold selectivity over other ion channels assayed. It inhibits the proliferation and Ca2+ signaling of human T cells in vitro and reduces delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions in rats in vivo. Our results indicate that Vm24 has exceptional pharmacological properties that make it an excellent candidate for treatment of certain autoimmune diseases. ER -