Toxin III from Leiurus quinquestriatus quinquestriatus: a specific probe for receptor site 3 on insect sodium channels.

Scorpion toxin Lqq III binds to a single class of high affinity (Kd = 72 +/- 19 pM) and low capacity (Bmax = 2.5 +/- 0.2 pmol/mg) binding sites in cockroach neuronal membranes. Its binding was inhibited by Lqh alpha IT (IC50 = 80 +/- 30 pM) and sea-anemone toxin ATX II (IC50 = 2.5 +/- 0.3 nM), suggesting that Lqq III is a specific probe for receptor site 3 on cockroach sodium channels. This was confirmed by competitive binding experiments between 125I-Lqq III and scorpion alpha-toxins which have less toxicity in insects.