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Feng Z, Di Zanni E, Alvarenga O, Chakraborty S, Rychlik N, Accardi A. In or out of the groove? Mechanisms of lipid scrambling by TMEM16 proteins. Cell Calcium 2024; 121:102896. [PMID: 38749289 PMCID: PMC11178363 DOI: 10.1016/j.ceca.2024.102896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 04/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
Phospholipid scramblases mediate the rapid movement of lipids between membrane leaflets, a key step in establishing and maintaining membrane homeostasis of the membranes of all eukaryotic cells and their organelles. Thus, impairment of lipid scrambling can lead to a variety of pathologies. How scramblases catalyzed the transbilayer movement of lipids remains poorly understood. Despite the availability of direct structural information on three unrelated families of scramblases, the TMEM16s, the Xkrs, and ATG-9, a unifying mechanism has failed to emerge thus far. Among these, the most extensively studied and best understood are the Ca2+ activated TMEM16s, which comprise ion channels and/or scramblases. Early work supported the view that these proteins provided a hydrophilic, membrane-exposed groove through which the lipid headgroups could permeate. However, structural, and functional experiments have since challenged this mechanism, leading to the proposal that the TMEM16s distort and thin the membrane near the groove to facilitate lipid scrambling. Here, we review our understanding of the structural and mechanistic underpinnings of lipid scrambling by the TMEM16s and discuss how the different proposals account for the various experimental observations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhang Feng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Eleonora Di Zanni
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Omar Alvarenga
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Sayan Chakraborty
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States
| | - Nicole Rychlik
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Institute of Physiology I, University of Münster, Robert-Koch-Str. 27a, D-48149 Münster, Germany
| | - Alessio Accardi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States; Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, United States.
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Feng Z, Alvarenga OE, Accardi A. Structural basis of closed groove scrambling by a TMEM16 protein. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2024:10.1038/s41594-024-01284-9. [PMID: 38684930 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-024-01284-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
Activation of Ca2+-dependent TMEM16 scramblases induces phosphatidylserine externalization, a key step in multiple signaling processes. Current models suggest that the TMEM16s scramble lipids by deforming the membrane near a hydrophilic groove and that Ca2+ dependence arises from the different association of lipids with an open or closed groove. However, the molecular rearrangements underlying groove opening and how lipids reorganize outside the closed groove remain unknown. Here we directly visualize how lipids associate at the closed groove of Ca2+-bound fungal nhTMEM16 in nanodiscs using cryo-EM. Functional experiments pinpoint lipid-protein interaction sites critical for closed groove scrambling. Structural and functional analyses suggest groove opening entails the sequential appearance of two π-helical turns in the groove-lining TM6 helix and identify critical rearrangements. Finally, we show that the choice of scaffold protein and lipids affects the conformations of nhTMEM16 and their distribution, highlighting a key role of these factors in cryo-EM structure determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhang Feng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Omar E Alvarenga
- Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA
| | - Alessio Accardi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
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Feng Z, Alvarenga OE, Accardi A. Structural basis of closed groove scrambling by a TMEM16 protein. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2023.08.11.553029. [PMID: 37609346 PMCID: PMC10441378 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.11.553029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Activation of Ca2+-dependent TMEM16 scramblases induces the externalization of phosphatidylserine, a key molecule in multiple signaling processes. Current models suggest that the TMEM16s scramble lipids by deforming the membrane near a hydrophilic groove, and that Ca2+ dependence arises from the different association of lipids with an open or closed groove. However, the molecular rearrangements involved in groove opening and of how lipids reorganize outside the closed groove remain unknown. Using cryogenic electron microscopy, we directly visualize how lipids associate at the closed groove of Ca2+-bound nhTMEM16 in nanodiscs. Functional experiments pinpoint the lipid-protein interaction sites critical for closed groove scrambling. Structural and functional analyses suggest groove opening entails the sequential appearance of two π-helical turns in the groove-lining TM6 helix and identify critical rearrangements. Finally, we show that the choice of scaffold protein and lipids affects the conformations of nhTMEM16 and their distribution, highlighting a key role of these factors in cryoEM structure determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhang Feng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
| | - Omar E. Alvarenga
- Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medical College
| | - Alessio Accardi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medical College
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Feng Z, Alvarenga OE, Accardi A. Structural basis of closed groove scrambling by a TMEM16 protein. RESEARCH SQUARE 2023:rs.3.rs-3256633. [PMID: 37645847 PMCID: PMC10462188 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3256633/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
Activation of Ca2+-dependent TMEM16 scramblases induces the externalization of phosphatidylserine, a key molecule in multiple signaling processes. Current models suggest that the TMEM16s scramble lipids by deforming the membrane near a hydrophilic groove, and that Ca2+ dependence arises from the different association of lipids with an open or closed groove. However, the molecular rearrangements involved in groove opening and of how lipids reorganize outside the closed groove remain unknown. Using cryogenic electron microscopy, we directly visualize how lipids associate at the closed groove of Ca2+-bound nhTMEM16 in nanodiscs. Functional experiments pinpoint the lipid-protein interaction sites critical for closed groove scrambling. Structural and functional analyses suggest groove opening entails the sequential appearance of two π-helical turns in the groove-lining TM6 helix and identify critical rearrangements. Finally, we show that the choice of scaffold protein and lipids affects the conformations of nhTMEM16 and their distribution, highlighting a key role of these factors in cryoEM structure determination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhang Feng
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
| | - Omar E. Alvarenga
- Physiology, Biophysics and Systems Biology Graduate Program, Weill Cornell Medical College
| | - Alessio Accardi
- Department of Anesthesiology, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College
- Department of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medical College
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Khelashvili G, Kots E, Cheng X, Levine MV, Weinstein H. The allosteric mechanism leading to an open-groove lipid conductive state of the TMEM16F scramblase. Commun Biol 2022; 5:990. [PMID: 36123525 PMCID: PMC9484709 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-022-03930-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Accepted: 08/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
TMEM16F is a Ca2+-activated phospholipid scramblase in the TMEM16 family of membrane proteins. Unlike other TMEM16s exhibiting a membrane-exposed hydrophilic groove that serves as a translocation pathway for lipids, the experimentally determined structures of TMEM16F shows the groove in a closed conformation even under conditions of maximal scramblase activity. It is currently unknown if/how TMEM16F groove can open for lipid scrambling. Here we describe the analysis of ~400 µs all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of the TMEM16F revealing an allosteric mechanism leading to an open-groove, lipid scrambling competent state of the protein. The groove opens into a continuous hydrophilic conduit that is highly similar in structure to that seen in other activated scramblases. The allosteric pathway connects this opening to an observed destabilization of the Ca2+ ion bound at the distal site near the dimer interface, to the dynamics of specific protein regions that produces the open-groove state to scramble phospholipids. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal the allosteric mechanism leading to an open, lipid scrambling competent state of a mammalian TMEM16F.
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Affiliation(s)
- George Khelashvili
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA. .,Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.
| | - Ekaterina Kots
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Xiaolu Cheng
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Michael V Levine
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.,Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Harel Weinstein
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA.,Institute for Computational Biomedicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, 10065, USA
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