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Bazzone A, Barthmes M, George C, Brinkwirth N, Zerlotti R, Prinz V, Cole K, Friis S, Dickson A, Rice S, Lim J, Fern Toh M, Mohammadi M, Pau D, Stone DJ, Renger JJ, Fertig N. A Comparative Study on the Lysosomal Cation Channel TMEM175 Using Automated Whole-Cell Patch-Clamp, Lysosomal Patch-Clamp, and Solid Supported Membrane-Based Electrophysiology: Functional Characterization and High-Throughput Screening Assay Development. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12788. [PMID: 37628970 PMCID: PMC10454728 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/12/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The lysosomal cation channel TMEM175 is a Parkinson's disease-related protein and a promising drug target. Unlike whole-cell automated patch-clamp (APC), lysosomal patch-clamp (LPC) facilitates physiological conditions, but is not yet suitable for high-throughput screening (HTS) applications. Here, we apply solid supported membrane-based electrophysiology (SSME), which enables both direct access to lysosomes and high-throughput electrophysiological recordings. In SSME, ion translocation mediated by TMEM175 is stimulated using a concentration gradient at a resting potential of 0 mV. The concentration-dependent K+ response exhibited an I/c curve with two distinct slopes, indicating the existence of two conducting states. We measured H+ fluxes with a permeability ratio of PH/PK = 48,500, which matches literature findings from patch-clamp studies, validating the SSME approach. Additionally, TMEM175 displayed a high pH dependence. Decreasing cytosolic pH inhibited both K+ and H+ conductivity of TMEM175. Conversely, lysosomal pH and pH gradients did not have major effects on TMEM175. Finally, we developed HTS assays for drug screening and evaluated tool compounds (4-AP, Zn as inhibitors; DCPIB, arachidonic acid, SC-79 as enhancers) using SSME and APC. Additionally, we recorded EC50 data for eight blinded TMEM175 enhancers and compared the results across all three assay technologies, including LPC, discussing their advantages and disadvantages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Bazzone
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Maria Barthmes
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Cecilia George
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Nina Brinkwirth
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Rocco Zerlotti
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
- RIGeL-Regensburg International Graduate School of Life Sciences, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Valentin Prinz
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Kim Cole
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Søren Friis
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
| | - Alexander Dickson
- SB Drug Discovery, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0XA, UK; (A.D.); (S.R.)
| | - Simon Rice
- SB Drug Discovery, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0XA, UK; (A.D.); (S.R.)
| | - Jongwon Lim
- Cerevel Therapeutics, 222 Jacobs St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA; (J.L.); (M.F.T.); (D.J.S.); (J.J.R.)
| | - May Fern Toh
- Cerevel Therapeutics, 222 Jacobs St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA; (J.L.); (M.F.T.); (D.J.S.); (J.J.R.)
| | | | - Davide Pau
- SB Drug Discovery, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0XA, UK; (A.D.); (S.R.)
| | - David J. Stone
- Cerevel Therapeutics, 222 Jacobs St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA; (J.L.); (M.F.T.); (D.J.S.); (J.J.R.)
| | - John J. Renger
- Cerevel Therapeutics, 222 Jacobs St, Cambridge, MA 02141, USA; (J.L.); (M.F.T.); (D.J.S.); (J.J.R.)
| | - Niels Fertig
- Nanion Technologies, Ganghoferstr. 70a, 80339 Munich, Germany (V.P.); (S.F.)
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Bavnhøj L, Driller JH, Zuzic L, Stange AD, Schiøtt B, Pedersen BP. Structure and sucrose binding mechanism of the plant SUC1 sucrose transporter. NATURE PLANTS 2023; 9:938-950. [PMID: 37188854 PMCID: PMC10281868 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-023-01421-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/17/2023]
Abstract
Sucrose import from photosynthetic tissues into the phloem is mediated by transporters from the low-affinity sucrose transporter family (SUC/SUT family). Furthermore, sucrose redistribution to other tissues is driven by phloem sap movement, the product of high turgor pressure created by this import activity. Additionally, sink organs such as fruits, cereals and seeds that accumulate high concentrations of sugar also depend on this active transport of sucrose. Here we present the structure of the sucrose-proton symporter, Arabidopsis thaliana SUC1, in an outward open conformation at 2.7 Å resolution, together with molecular dynamics simulations and biochemical characterization. We identify the key acidic residue required for proton-driven sucrose uptake and describe how protonation and sucrose binding are strongly coupled. Sucrose binding is a two-step process, with initial recognition mediated by the glucosyl moiety binding directly to the key acidic residue in a stringent pH-dependent manner. Our results explain how low-affinity sucrose transport is achieved in plants, and pinpoint a range of SUC binders that help define selectivity. Our data demonstrate a new mode for proton-driven symport with links to cation-driven symport and provide a broad model for general low-affinity transport in highly enriched substrate environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laust Bavnhøj
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Jan Heiner Driller
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lorena Zuzic
- Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Birgit Schiøtt
- Department of Chemistry, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
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Bazzone A, Zerlotti R, Barthmes M, Fertig N. Functional characterization of SGLT1 using SSM-based electrophysiology: Kinetics of sugar binding and translocation. Front Physiol 2023; 14:1058583. [PMID: 36824475 PMCID: PMC9941201 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1058583] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Beside the ongoing efforts to determine structural information, detailed functional studies on transporters are essential to entirely understand the underlying transport mechanisms. We recently found that solid supported membrane-based electrophysiology (SSME) enables the measurement of both sugar binding and transport in the Na+/sugar cotransporter SGLT1 (Bazzone et al, 2022a). Here, we continued with a detailed kinetic characterization of SGLT1 using SSME, determining KM and KD app for different sugars, kobs values for sugar-induced conformational transitions and the effects of Na+, Li+, H+ and Cl- on sugar binding and transport. We found that the sugar-induced pre-steady-state (PSS) charge translocation varies with the bound ion (Na+, Li+, H+ or Cl-), but not with the sugar species, indicating that the conformational state upon sugar binding depends on the ion. Rate constants for the sugar-induced conformational transitions upon binding to the Na+-bound carrier range from 208 s-1 for D-glucose to 95 s-1 for 3-OMG. In the absence of Na+, rate constants are decreased, but all sugars bind to the empty carrier. From the steady-state transport current, we found a sequence for sugar specificity (Vmax/KM): D-glucose > MDG > D-galactose > 3-OMG > D-xylose. While KM differs 160-fold across tested substrates and plays a major role in substrate specificity, Vmax only varies by a factor of 1.9. Interestingly, D-glucose has the lowest Vmax across all tested substrates, indicating a rate limiting step in the sugar translocation pathway following the fast sugar-induced electrogenic conformational transition. SGLT1 specificity for D-glucose is achieved by optimizing two ratios: the sugar affinity of the empty carrier for D-glucose is similarly low as for all tested sugars (KD,K app = 210 mM). Affinity for D-glucose increases 14-fold (KD,Na app = 15 mM) in the presence of sodium as a result of cooperativity. Apparent affinity for D-glucose during transport increases 8-fold (KM = 1.9 mM) compared to KD,Na app due to optimized kinetics. In contrast, KM and KD app values for 3-OMG and D-xylose are of similar magnitude. Based on our findings we propose an 11-state kinetic model, introducing a random binding order and intermediate states corresponding to the electrogenic transitions detected via SSME upon substrate binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andre Bazzone
- Nanion Technologies GmbH, Munich, Germany,*Correspondence: Andre Bazzone,
| | - Rocco Zerlotti
- Nanion Technologies GmbH, Munich, Germany,Department of Structural Biology, Faculty of Biology and Pre-Clinics, Institute of Biochemistry, Genetics and Microbiology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
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Ung KL, Winkler M, Schulz L, Kolb M, Janacek DP, Dedic E, Stokes DL, Hammes UZ, Pedersen BP. Structures and mechanism of the plant PIN-FORMED auxin transporter. Nature 2022; 609:605-610. [PMID: 35768502 PMCID: PMC9477730 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04883-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Auxins are hormones that have central roles and control nearly all aspects of growth and development in plants1–3. The proteins in the PIN-FORMED (PIN) family (also known as the auxin efflux carrier family) are key participants in this process and control auxin export from the cytosol to the extracellular space4–9. Owing to a lack of structural and biochemical data, the molecular mechanism of PIN-mediated auxin transport is not understood. Here we present biophysical analysis together with three structures of Arabidopsis thaliana PIN8: two outward-facing conformations with and without auxin, and one inward-facing conformation bound to the herbicide naphthylphthalamic acid. The structure forms a homodimer, with each monomer divided into a transport and scaffold domain with a clearly defined auxin binding site. Next to the binding site, a proline–proline crossover is a pivot point for structural changes associated with transport, which we show to be independent of proton and ion gradients and probably driven by the negative charge of the auxin. The structures and biochemical data reveal an elevator-type transport mechanism reminiscent of bile acid/sodium symporters, bicarbonate/sodium symporters and sodium/proton antiporters. Our results provide a comprehensive molecular model for auxin recognition and transport by PINs, link and expand on a well-known conceptual framework for transport, and explain a central mechanism of polar auxin transport, a core feature of plant physiology, growth and development. Structural and biophysical analysis of the Arabidopsis thaliana auxin transporter PIN8 reveal that PIN transporters export auxin using an elevator mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kien Lam Ung
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Mikael Winkler
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Lukas Schulz
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Martina Kolb
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Dorina P Janacek
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Emil Dedic
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - David L Stokes
- Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Ulrich Z Hammes
- Plant Systems Biology, School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany.
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Kermani AA, Burata OE, Koff BB, Koide A, Koide S, Stockbridge RB. Crystal structures of bacterial small multidrug resistance transporter EmrE in complex with structurally diverse substrates. eLife 2022; 11:76766. [PMID: 35254261 PMCID: PMC9000954 DOI: 10.7554/elife.76766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Proteins from the bacterial small multidrug resistance (SMR) family are proton-coupled exporters of diverse antiseptics and antimicrobials, including polyaromatic cations and quaternary ammonium compounds. The transport mechanism of the Escherichia coli transporter, EmrE, has been studied extensively, but a lack of high-resolution structural information has impeded a structural description of its molecular mechanism. Here, we apply a novel approach, multipurpose crystallization chaperones, to solve several structures of EmrE, including a 2.9 Å structure at low pH without substrate. We report five additional structures in complex with structurally diverse transported substrates, including quaternary phosphonium, quaternary ammonium, and planar polyaromatic compounds. These structures show that binding site tryptophan and glutamate residues adopt different rotamers to conform to disparate structures without requiring major rearrangements of the backbone structure. Structural and functional comparison to Gdx-Clo, an SMR protein that transports a much narrower spectrum of substrates, suggests that in EmrE, a relatively sparse hydrogen bond network among binding site residues permits increased sidechain flexibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ali A Kermani
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
| | - Olive E Burata
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
| | - B Ben Koff
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
| | - Akiko Koide
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, United States
| | - Shohei Koide
- Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, United States
| | - Randy B Stockbridge
- Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States
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Expression, purification and characterization of human proton-coupled oligopeptide transporter 1 hPEPT1. Protein Expr Purif 2021; 190:105990. [PMID: 34637915 DOI: 10.1016/j.pep.2021.105990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2021] [Revised: 09/27/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The human peptide transporter hPEPT1 (SLC15A1) is responsible for uptake of dietary di- and tripeptides and a number of drugs from the small intestine by utilizing the proton electrochemical gradient, and hence an important target for peptide-like drug design and drug delivery. hPEPT1 belongs to the ubiquitous major facilitator superfamily that all contain a 12TM core structure, with global conformational changes occurring during the transport cycle. Several bacterial homologues of these transporters have been characterized, providing valuable insight into the transport mechanism of this family. Here we report the overexpression and purification of recombinant hPEPT1 in a detergent-solubilized state. Thermostability profiling of hPEPT1 at different pH values revealed that hPEPT1 is more stable at pH 6 as compared to pH 7 and 8. Micro-scale thermophoresis (MST) confirmed that the purified hPEPT1 was able to bind di- and tripeptides respectively. To assess the in-solution oligomeric state of hPEPT1, negative stain electron microscopy was performed, demonstrating a predominantly monomeric state.
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Stauffer M, Ucurum Z, Harder D, Fotiadis D. Engineering and functional characterization of a proton-driven β-lactam antibiotic translocation module for bionanotechnological applications. Sci Rep 2021; 11:17205. [PMID: 34446740 PMCID: PMC8390754 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96298-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/23/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Novel approaches in synthetic biology focus on the bottom-up modular assembly of natural, modified natural or artificial components into molecular systems with functionalities not found in nature. A possible application for such techniques is the bioremediation of natural water sources contaminated with small organic molecules (e.g., drugs and pesticides). A simple molecular system to actively accumulate and degrade pollutants could be a bionanoreactor composed of a liposome or polymersome scaffold combined with energizing- (e.g., light-driven proton pump), transporting- (e.g., proton-driven transporter) and degrading modules (e.g., enzyme). This work focuses on the engineering of a transport module specific for β-lactam antibiotics. We previously solved the crystal structure of a bacterial peptide transporter, which allowed us to improve the affinity for certain β-lactam antibiotics using structure-based mutagenesis combined with a bacterial uptake assay. We were able to identify specific mutations, which enhanced the affinity of the transporter for antibiotics containing certain structural features. Screening of potential compounds allowed for the identification of a β-lactam antibiotic ligand with relatively high affinity. Transport of antibiotics was evaluated using a solid-supported membrane electrophysiology assay. In summary, we have engineered a proton-driven β-lactam antibiotic translocation module, contributing to the growing toolset for bionanotechnological applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mirko Stauffer
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Zöhre Ucurum
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Daniel Harder
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Dimitrios Fotiadis
- Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, University of Bern, 3012, Bern, Switzerland.
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