Hydrophobic Gate of Mechanosensitive Channel of Large Conductance in Lipid Bilayers Revealed by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

Mechanosensitive channel MscL gating transitions coupling with constriction point shift

The mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) acts as an "emergency release valve" that protects bacterial cells from acute hypoosmotic stress, and it serves as a paradigm for studying the mechanism underlying the transduction of mechanical forces. MscL gating is proposed to initiate with an expansion without opening, followed by subsequent pore opening via a number of intermediate substates, and ends in a full opening. However, the details of gating process are still largely unknown. Using in vivo viability assay, single channel patch clamp recording, cysteine cross-linking, and tryptophan fluorescence quenching approach, we identified and characterized MscL mutants with different occupancies of constriction region in the pore domain. The results demonstrated the shifts of constriction point along the gating pathway towards cytoplasic side from residue G26, though G22, to L19 upon gating, indicating the closed-expanded transitions coupling of the expansion of tightly packed hydrophobic constriction region to conduct the initial ion permeation in response to the membrane tension. Furthermore, these transitions were regulated by the hydrophobic and lipidic interaction with the constricting "hot spots". Our data reveal a new resolution of the transitions from the closed to the opening substate of MscL, providing insights into the gating mechanisms of MscL.

An efficient method for detecting membrane protein oligomerization and complex using 05SAR-PAGE

Oligomerization is an important feature of proteins, which gives a defined quaternary structure to complete the biological functions. Although frequently observed in membrane proteins, characterizing the oligomerization state remains complicated and time-consuming. In this study, 0.05% (w/v) sarkosyl-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (05SAR-PAGE) was used to identify the oligomer states of the membrane proteins CpxA, EnvZ, and Ma-Mscl with high sensitivity. Furthermore, two-dimensional electrophoresis (05SAR/sodium dodecyl sulfate-PAGE) combined with western blotting and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was successfully applied to study the complex of CpxA/OmpA in cell lysate. The results indicated that 05SAR-PAGE is an efficient, economical, and practical gel method that can be widely used for the identification of membrane protein oligomerization and the analysis of weak protein interactions.

Membrane Protein Structures in Native Cellular Membranes Revealed by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy

The structural characterization of membrane proteins within the cellular membrane environment is critical for understanding the molecular mechanism in their native functional context. However, conducting residue site-specific structural analysis of membrane proteins in native membranes by solid-state NMR faces challenges due to poor spectral sensitivity and serious interference from background protein signals. In this study, we present a new protocol that combines various strategies for cellular membrane sample preparations, enabling us to reveal the secondary structure of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance from Methanosarcina acetivorans (MaMscL) in Escherichia coli inner membranes. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of achieving complete resonance assignments and the potential for determining the 3D structures of membrane proteins within cellular membranes. We find that the use of the BL21(DE3) strain in this protocol is crucial for effectively suppressing background protein labeling without compromising the sensitivity of the target protein. Furthermore, our data reveal that the structures of different proteins exhibit varying degrees of sensitivity to the membrane environment. These results underscore the significance of studying membrane proteins within their native cellular membranes when performing structural characterizations. Overall, this study opens up a new avenue for achieving the atomic-resolution structural characterization of membrane proteins within their native cellular membranes, providing valuable insights into the nativeness of membrane proteins.

Recent Advances in NMR Protein Structure Prediction with ROSETTA

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a powerful method for studying the structure and dynamics of proteins in their native state. For high-resolution NMR structure determination, the collection of a rich restraint dataset is necessary. This can be difficult to achieve for proteins with high molecular weight or a complex architecture. Computational modeling techniques can complement sparse NMR datasets (<1 restraint per residue) with additional structural information to elucidate protein structures in these difficult cases. The Rosetta software for protein structure modeling and design is used by structural biologists for structure determination tasks in which limited experimental data is available. This review gives an overview of the computational protocols available in the Rosetta framework for modeling protein structures from NMR data. We explain the computational algorithms used for the integration of different NMR data types in Rosetta. We also highlight new developments, including modeling tools for data from paramagnetic NMR and hydrogen-deuterium exchange, as well as chemical shifts in CS-Rosetta. Furthermore, strategies are discussed to complement and improve structure predictions made by the current state-of-the-art AlphaFold2 program using NMR-guided Rosetta modeling.

Central cavity dehydration as a gating mechanism of potassium channels

The hydrophobic gating model, in which ion permeation is inhibited by the hydrophobicity, rather than a physical occlusion of the nanopore, functions in various ion channels including potassium channels. Available research focused on the energy barriers for ion/water conduction due to the hydrophobicity, whereas how hydrophobic gating affects the function and structure of channels remains unclear. Here, we use potassium channels as examples and conduct molecular dynamics simulations to investigate this problem. Our simulations find channel activities (ion currents) highly correlated with cavity hydration level, implying insufficient hydration as a barrier for ion permeation. Enforced cavity dehydration successfully induces conformational transitions between known channel states, further implying cavity dewetting as a key step in the gating procedure of potassium channels utilizing different activation mechanisms. Our work reveals how the cavity dewetting is coupled to structural changes of potassium channels and how it affects channel activity. The conclusion may also apply to other ion channels.

Dynamic Interactions Between Brilliant Green and MscL Investigated by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations

The mechanosensitive ion channel of large conductance (MscL) is a promising template for the development of new antibiotics due to its high conservation and uniqueness to microbes. Brilliant green (BG), a triarylmethane dye, has been identified as a new antibiotic targeted MscL. However, the detailed binding sites to MscL and the dynamic pathway of BG through the MscL channel remain unknown. Here, the dynamic interactions between BG and MscL were investigated using solid-state NMR spectroscopy and molecule dynamics (MD) simulations. Residue site-specific binding sites of BG to the MscL channel were identified by solid-state NMR. In addition, MD simulations revealed that BG conducts through the MscL channel via residues along the inner surface of the pore sequentially, in which the strong hydrophobic interactions between BG and hydrophobic residues F23 and I27 in the hydrophobic gate region of the MscL channel are major restrictions. Particularly, it was demonstrated that BG activates the MscL channel by reducing the hydrophobicity of the F23 in the gate region by water molecules that are bound to BG. Taken together, these simulations and experimental data provide novel insights into the dynamic interactions between BG and MscL, based on which new hydrophobic antibiotics and adjuvants targeting MscL can be developed.

Water Nanoconfined in a Hydrophobic Pore: Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transmembrane Protein 175 and the Influence of Water Models

Water molecules within biological ion channels are in a nanoconfined environment and therefore exhibit behaviors which differ from that of bulk water. Here, we investigate the phenomenon of hydrophobic gating, the process by which a nanopore may spontaneously dewet to form a "vapor lock" if the pore is sufficiently hydrophobic and/or narrow. This occurs without steric occlusion of the pore. Using molecular dynamics simulations with both rigid fixed-charge and polarizable (AMOEBA) force fields, we investigate this wetting/dewetting behavior in the transmembrane protein 175 ion channel. We examine how a range of rigid fixed-charge and polarizable water models affect wetting/dewetting in both the wild-type structure and in mutants chosen to cover a range of nanopore radii and pore-lining hydrophobicities. Crucially, we find that the rigid fixed-charge water models lead to similar wetting/dewetting behaviors, but that the polarizable water model resulted in an increased wettability of the hydrophobic gating region of the pore. This has significant implications for molecular simulations of nanoconfined water, as it implies that polarizability may need to be included if we are to gain detailed mechanistic insights into wetting/dewetting processes. These findings are of importance for the design of functionalized biomimetic nanopores (e.g., sensing or desalination) as well as for furthering our understanding of the mechanistic processes underlying biological ion channel function.