The growing interest in potassium channels as pharmacological targets has stimulated the development of their fluorescent ligands (including genetically encoded peptide toxins fused with fluorescent proteins) for analytical and imaging applications. We report on the properties of agitoxin 2 C-terminally fused with enhanced GFP (AgTx2-GFP) as one of the most active genetically encoded fluorescent ligands of potassium voltage-gated Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6) channels. AgTx2-GFP possesses subnanomolar affinities for hybrid KcsA-Kv1.x (x = 3, 6) channels and a low nanomolar affinity to KcsA-Kv1.1 with moderate dependence on pH in the 7.0–8.0 range. Electrophysiological studies on oocytes showed a pore-blocking activity of AgTx2-GFP at low nanomolar concentrations for Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6) channels and at micromolar concentrations for Kv1.2. AgTx2-GFP bound to Kv1.3 at the membranes of mammalian cells with a dissociation constant of 3.4 ± 0.8 nM, providing fluorescent imaging of the channel membranous distribution, and this binding depended weakly on the channel state (open or closed). AgTx2-GFP can be used in combination with hybrid KcsA-Kv1.x (x = 1, 3, 6) channels on the membranes of E. coli spheroplasts or with Kv1.3 channels on the membranes of mammalian cells for the search and study of nonlabeled peptide pore blockers, including measurement of their affinity.
