To obtain their complete sequences, the peptides were reduced and S-alkylated

with vinyl pyridine according to the method described by Henschen [13]. Each sample was dissolved in 1 mL of 6 M guanidine–HCl in 0.1 M tris–HCl, pH 8.6. To this solution 30 μL of 2-mercaptoethanol was added under nitrogen and the sample incubated at 50 °C for 4 h. After this, 40 μL of 4-vinylpyridine was added and the samples were incubated under nitrogen at 37 °C in the dark during 2 h. The samples were then desalted on a Vydac C4 column, using a gradient of 0–65% acetonitrile in 0.1% TFA http://www.selleckchem.com/products/bay80-6946.html during 140 min and lyophilized. The S-pyridyl-ethylated peptides were dissolved in 200 μL of 8 M urea, and then diluted with 1.8 mL of 0.1 M ammonium bicarbonate (pH 7.9) and

digested at 37 °C with chymotrypsin (2%, w/w enzyme/substrate) for 3 h. The peptides produced by this digestion were separated by reverse phase HPLC on a Vydac C-18 column (4.6 mm × 250 mm, i.d.) (small pore) using an extended gradient of 0–50% acetonitrile in 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid for 180 min at a flow rate of 1 mL/min. HEK293 cell lines stably expressing human NaV1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 (generously donated by GlaxoSmithKline, Medicines Res. Centre, Gunnels Wood Rd., Stevenage, Herts SG1 2NY, UK) were cultured in modified Dulbecco’s medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum as described [23]. NaV1.4-expressing cells were obtained by stably transfecting a plasmid containing the hNav1.4 construct Cyclopamine clinical trial (a kind gift from Prof. Diana Conti-Camerino, University of Bari, Italy). NaV1.7-expressing cells were obtained by transient transfection of a plasmid containing the hNaV1.7 construct (a kind gift from Prof. Franz Hofmann through Prof. Akihiko Flavopiridol (Alvocidib) Wada, University of Miyazaki, Japan). Approximately 2 × 104 cells were transfected with 2 μg of hNaV1.7 vector along with 0.2 μg of green fluorescent protein (GFP) in pEGFP-C1 (Clontech, USA) using lipofectamine reagent kit

(Invitrogen, USA) following the instructions of the manufacturer. Currents were recorded 24–72 h following transfection. The standard extracellular solution contained (mM): NaCl 70, N-Methyl-d-Glucamine 67, CaCl2 1, MgCl2 1.5, HEPES 5, d-glucose 10 at pH 7.40. The standard pipette solution contained (mM): CsF 105, CsCl 27, NaCl 5, MgCl2 2, EGTA 10, Hepes 10 at pH 7.30. About 6–8% of the cells in the clone expressing NaV1.6 channels had a persistent Na+ current, as reported by Burbidge et al. [7]. We systematically tested these cells and discarded those showing incomplete inactivation (a residual current after 250 ms of <0.1% of the peak Na+ current). Known quantities of the toxins were dissolved in the extracellular solution immediately before the experiments. Tetrodotoxin (TTX, Sigma, Italy) was used at 300 nM on the NaV1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6 and NaV1.7 currents and the resulting traces were subtracted from the control traces to obtain the TTX-sensitive currents; the NaV1.