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Zhang D, Howarth GS, Parkin LA, McDermott AE. NMR studies of lipid regulation of the K + channel KcsA. Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr 2020; 1863:183491. [PMID: 33065136 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2020.183491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2020] [Revised: 09/24/2020] [Accepted: 09/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The membrane environment, including specific lipid characteristics, plays important roles in the folding, stability, and gating of the prokaryotic potassium channel KcsA. Here we study the effect of membrane composition on the population of various functional states of KcsA. The spectra provide support for the previous observation of copurifying phospholipids with phosphoglycerol headgroups. Additional, exogenously added anionic lipids do not appear to be required to stabilize the open conductive conformation of KcsA, which was previously thought to be the case. On the contrary, NMR-based binding studies indicate that including anionic lipids in proteoliposomes at acidic pH leads to a weaker potassium ion affinity at the selectivity filter. Since K+ ion loss leads to channel inactivation, these results suggest that anionic lipids promote channel inactivation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dongyu Zhang
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, United States of America
| | - Gary S Howarth
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, United States of America
| | - Lia A Parkin
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, United States of America
| | - Ann E McDermott
- Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, United States of America.
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2
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Giudici AM, Renart ML, Díaz-García C, Morales A, Poveda JA, González-Ros JM. Accessibility of Cations to the Selectivity Filter of KcsA in the Inactivated State: An Equilibrium Binding Study. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20030689. [PMID: 30764559 PMCID: PMC6387330 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20030689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2018] [Revised: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Cation binding under equilibrium conditions has been used as a tool to explore the accessibility of permeant and nonpermeant cations to the selectivity filter in three different inactivated models of the potassium channel KcsA. The results show that the stack of ion binding sites (S1 to S4) in the inactivated filter models remain accessible to cations as they are in the resting channel state. The inactivated state of the selectivity filter is therefore “resting-like” under such equilibrium conditions. Nonetheless, quantitative differences in the apparent KD’s of the binding processes reveal that the affinity for the binding of permeant cations to the inactivated channel models, mainly K+, decreases considerably with respect to the resting channel. This is likely to cause a loss of K+ from the inactivated filter and consequently, to promote nonconductive conformations. The most affected site by the affinity loss seems to be S4, which is interesting because S4 is the first site to accommodate K+ coming from the channel vestibule when K+ exits the cell. Moreover, binding of the nonpermeant species, Na+, is not substantially affected by inactivation, meaning that the inactivated channels are also less selective for permeant versus nonpermeant cations under equilibrium conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Marcela Giudici
- Instituto de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Biotecnología Sanitaria de Elche (IDiBE), and Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, E-03202 Alicante, Spain.
| | - Maria Lourdes Renart
- Instituto de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Biotecnología Sanitaria de Elche (IDiBE), and Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, E-03202 Alicante, Spain.
| | - Clara Díaz-García
- CQFM-IN and IBB-Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
| | - Andrés Morales
- Departamento de Fisiología, Genética y Microbiología, Universidad de Alicante, E-03080 Alicante, Spain.
| | - José Antonio Poveda
- Instituto de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Biotecnología Sanitaria de Elche (IDiBE), and Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, E-03202 Alicante, Spain.
| | - José Manuel González-Ros
- Instituto de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación en Biotecnología Sanitaria de Elche (IDiBE), and Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular (IBMC), Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, E-03202 Alicante, Spain.
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3
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Abstract
Diazo groups are found in a range of natural products that possess potent biological activities. Despite longstanding interest in these metabolites, diazo group biosynthesis is not well understood, in part because of difficulties in identifying specific genes linked to diazo formation. Here we describe the discovery of the gene cluster that produces the o-diazoquinone natural product cremeomycin and its heterologous expression in Streptomyces lividans. We used stable isotope feeding experiments and in vitro characterization of biosynthetic enzymes to decipher the order of events in this pathway and establish that diazo construction involves late-stage N-N bond formation. This work represents the first successful production of a diazo-containing metabolite in a heterologous host, experimentally linking a set of genes with diazo formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abraham J Waldman
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Yakov Pechersky
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Peng Wang
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Jennifer X Wang
- Small Molecule Mass Spectrometry Facility, Faculty of Arts and Sciences Division of Science, Harvard University, 52 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA
| | - Emily P Balskus
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA.
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4
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Dörr JM, Koorengevel MC, Schäfer M, Prokofyev AV, Scheidelaar S, van der Cruijsen EAW, Dafforn TR, Baldus M, Killian JA. Detergent-free isolation, characterization, and functional reconstitution of a tetrameric K+ channel: the power of native nanodiscs. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:18607-12. [PMID: 25512535 PMCID: PMC4284610 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1416205112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 241] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
A major obstacle in the study of membrane proteins is their solubilization in a stable and active conformation when using detergents. Here, we explored a detergent-free approach to isolating the tetrameric potassium channel KcsA directly from the membrane of Escherichia coli, using a styrene-maleic acid copolymer. This polymer self-inserts into membranes and is capable of extracting membrane patches in the form of nanosize discoidal proteolipid particles or "native nanodiscs." Using circular dichroism and tryptophan fluorescence spectroscopy, we show that the conformation of KcsA in native nanodiscs is very similar to that in detergent micelles, but that the thermal stability of the protein is higher in the nanodiscs. Furthermore, as a promising new application, we show that quantitative analysis of the co-isolated lipids in purified KcsA-containing nanodiscs allows determination of preferential lipid-protein interactions. Thin-layer chromatography experiments revealed an enrichment of the anionic lipids cardiolipin and phosphatidylglycerol, indicating their close proximity to the channel in biological membranes and supporting their functional relevance. Finally, we demonstrate that KcsA can be reconstituted into planar lipid bilayers directly from native nanodiscs, which enables functional characterization of the channel by electrophysiology without first depriving the protein of its native environment. Together, these findings highlight the potential of the use of native nanodiscs as a tool in the study of ion channels, and of membrane proteins in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas M Dörr
- Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands;
| | - Martijn C Koorengevel
- Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Marre Schäfer
- Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Alexander V Prokofyev
- NMR Spectroscopy, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands; and
| | - Stefan Scheidelaar
- Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Elwin A W van der Cruijsen
- NMR Spectroscopy, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands; and
| | - Timothy R Dafforn
- School of Bio Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom
| | - Marc Baldus
- NMR Spectroscopy, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands; and
| | - J Antoinette Killian
- Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
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5
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Xie C, Han W, Wang PG, Cheng J. Probing the role of highly conserved residues forming the acceptor binding pocket of the promiscuous glycosyltransferase MGT in defining the specificity towards a panel of flavonoids. Biochemistry (Mosc) 2013; 78:536-541. [PMID: 23848156 DOI: 10.1134/s000629791305012x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
MGT, a macrolide UDP-glycosyltransferase from Streptomyces lividans, has been employed as a synthetic "tool kit" to synthesize a series of modified antibiotics owing to its broad substrate plasticity. Other than MGT, a number of UDP-glycosyltransferases with substrate promiscuity were also used to alter glycosylation patterns of secondary metabolites in an emerging method called "chemoenzymatic glycorandomization". However, the structural basis of tolerating variant acceptors for these glycosyltransferases is still not clear. In this study, the relationship between the amino acid residues forming the acceptor binding pocket and the specificity of an MGT was investigated in evolutionary and structural aspects. Interestingly, alterations of the volume and hydrophobic environment of the binding pocket by replacing Ile127 or Val151 with a bulky Phe conferred on the MGT novel activities for glycosylating flavonoids that are not accepted by the wild-type MGT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chenying Xie
- College of Pharmacy, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Drug Research and State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, PR China
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6
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Heo GY, Kim WC, Joo GJ, Kwak YY, Shin JH, Roh DH, Park HD, Rhee IK. Deletion of xylR gene enhances expression of xylose isomerase in Streptomyces lividans TK24. J Microbiol Biotechnol 2008; 18:837-844. [PMID: 18633279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Glucose (xylose) isomerases from Streptomyces sp. have been used for the production of high fructose corn syrup for industrial purposes. An 11-kb DNA fragment containing the xyl gene cluster was isolated from Streptomyces lividans TK24 and its nucleotide sequences were analyzed. It was found that the xyl gene cluster contained a putative transcriptional repressor (xylR), xylulokinase (xylB), and xylose isomerase (xylA) genes. The transcriptional directions of the xylB and xylA genes were divergent, which is consistent to those found in other streptomycetes. A gene encoding XylR was located downstream of the xylB gene in the same direction, and its mutant strain produced xylose isomerase regardless of xylose in the media. The enzyme expression level in the mutant was 4.6 times higher than that in the parent strain under xylose-induced condition. Even in the absence of xylose, the mutant strain produce over 60% of enzyme compared with the xylose-induced condition. Gel mobility shift assay showed that XylR was able to bind to the putative xyl promoter, and its binding was inhibited by the addition of xylose in vitro. This result suggested that XylR acts as a repressor in the S. lividans xylose operon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gun-Young Heo
- Department of Agricultural Chemistry, Kyungpook National University, Daegu 702-701, Korea
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7
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Schenk A, Xu Z, Pfeiffer C, Steinbeck C, Hertweck C. Geminal bismethylation prevents polyketide oxidation and dimerization in the benastatin pathway. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2008; 46:7035-8. [PMID: 17691088 DOI: 10.1002/anie.200702033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Angéla Schenk
- Dept. of Biomolecular Chemistry, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (HKI), Beutenbergstrasse 11a, 07745 Jena, Germany
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8
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De Keersmaeker S, Vrancken K, Van Mellaert L, Anné J, Geukens N. The Tat pathway in Streptomyces lividans: interaction of Tat subunits and their role in translocation. Microbiology (Reading) 2007; 153:1087-1094. [PMID: 17379717 DOI: 10.1099/mic.0.2006/003053-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The twin-arginine translocation (Tat) pathway transports folded proteins across bacterial cytoplasmic membranes. The Tat system of Streptomyces lividans consists of TatA, TatB and TatC, unlike most Gram-positive bacteria, which only have TatA and TatC subunits. Interestingly, in S. lividans TatA and TatB are localized in both the cytoplasm and the membrane. In the cytoplasm soluble TatA and TatB were found as monomers or as part of a hetero-oligomeric complex. Further analysis showed that specific information for recognition of the precursor by the soluble Tat components is mainly present in the twin-arginine signal peptide. Study of the role of the Tat subunits in complex assembly and stability in the membrane and cytoplasm showed that TatB stabilizes TatC whereas a key role in driving Tat complex assembly is suggested for TatC. Finally, by analysis of the oligomeric properties of TatA in the membrane of S. lividans and study of the affinity of membrane-embedded TatA for Tat/Sec precursors, a role for TatA as a translocator is postulated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie De Keersmaeker
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Kristof Vrancken
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Lieve Van Mellaert
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Jozef Anné
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
| | - Nick Geukens
- Laboratory of Bacteriology, Rega Institute for Medical Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Minderbroedersstraat 10, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
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9
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Kraszewski S, Boiteux C, Langner M, Ramseyer C. Insight into the origins of the barrier-less knock-on conduction in the KcsA channel: molecular dynamics simulations and ab initio calculations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2007; 9:1219-25. [PMID: 17325768 DOI: 10.1039/b613668k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Since the pioneering work of Zhou et al. (Y. Zhou, J. H. Morais-Cabral, A. Kaufman and R. MacKinnon, Nature, 2001, 414, 43-48) it is now well established that the streptomyces lividans potassium channel (KcsA) can accommodate more than one ion, namely between 2 and 3. As a result, it is usually assumed that the conduction of ions proceeds through a barrier-less knock-on mechanism. This one is an alternation of two sequences containing either 2 or 3 ions which have nearly the same energies. However, the origin of such knock-on mechanism is not clearly known. The entry and the exit of ion in or out of the selectivity filter are suspected to be due to the repulsive interactions between ions. In this work, molecular dynamics simulations running over nanoseconds have been done in order to identify such events. Two specific situations, namely (S(1), S(3)) containing 2 ions and (S(2), S(4)) containing 3 ions, have been investigated regarding the different locations that ions can occupy during their diffusion through the selectivity filter of KcsA. We show that contractions of the (S(1), S(3)) file and dilation of the (S(2), S(4)) file are at the origin of the passage from one sequence to the other. The comparison between the experimentally observed diffusion rate and the occurrence's frequency of such contractions or dilation confirm the importance of such events. Ab initio calculations have also been conducted in order to examine the effect of ion polarization in the filter of KcsA. During the contraction of the ion/water file, one charge at the extra-cellular mouth of the channel strongly deviates from the others. This behavior could guide the diffusion direction to a certain extent since the contraction of the (S(1), S(3)) is favored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Kraszewski
- Department of Physics, Wyb. Wyspiańskiego 27, Wrocław University of Technology, 50-370 Wrocław, Poland
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10
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Abstract
Hydroxyethylphosphonate is a required intermediate in fosfomycin biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan D Woodyer
- Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 600 S Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
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11
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Renart ML, Barrera FN, Molina ML, Encinar JA, Poveda JA, Fernández AM, Gómez J, González-Ros JM. Effects of conducting and blocking ions on the structure and stability of the potassium channel KcsA. J Biol Chem 2006; 281:29905-15. [PMID: 16815844 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m602636200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
This article reports on the interaction of conducting (K(+)) and blocking (Na(+)) monovalent metal ions with detergent-solubilized and lipid-reconstituted forms of the K(+) channel KcsA. Monitoring of the protein intrinsic fluorescence reveals that the two ions bind competitively to KcsA with distinct affinities (dissociation constants for the KcsA.K(+) and KcsA.Na(+) complexes of approximately 8 and 190 mm, respectively) and induce different conformations of the ion-bound protein. The differences in binding affinity as well as the higher K(+) concentration bathing the intracellular mouth of the channel, through which the cations gain access to the protein binding sites, should favor that only KcsA.K(+) complexes are formed under physiological-like conditions. Nevertheless, despite such prediction, it was also found that concentrations of Na(+) well below its dissociation constant and even in the presence of higher K(+) concentrations, cause a remarkable decrease in the protein thermal stability and facilitate thermal dissociation into subunits of the tetrameric KcsA, as concluded from the temperature dependence of the protein infrared spectra and from gel electrophoresis, respectively. These latter observations cannot be explained based on the occupancy of the binding sites from above and suggest that there must be additional ion binding sites, whose occupancy could not be detected by fluorescence and in which the affinity for Na(+) must be higher or at least similar to that of K(+). Moreover, cation binding as reported by means of fluorescence does not suffice to explain the large differences in free energy of stabilization involved in the formation of the KcsA.Na(+) and KcsA.K(+) complexes, which for the most part should arise from synergistic effects of the ion-mediated intersubunit interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- María L Renart
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202 Alicante, Spain
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Abstract
Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of large membrane-associated proteins are limited by the difficulties in preparation of stable protein-detergent mixed micelles and by line broadening, which is typical of these macroassemblies. We have used the 68-kDa homotetrameric KcsA, a thermostable N-terminal deletion mutant of a bacterial potassium channel from Streptomyces lividans, as a model system for applying NMR methods to membrane proteins. Optimization of measurement conditions enabled us to perform the backbone assignment of KcsA in SDS micelles and establish its secondary structure, which was found to closely agree with the KcsA crystal structure. The C-terminal cytoplasmic domain, absent in the original structure, contains a 14-residue helix that could participate in tetramerization by forming an intersubunit four-helix bundle. A quantitative estimate of cross- relaxation between detergent and KcsA backbone amide protons, together with relaxation and light scattering data, suggests SDS-KcsA mixed micelles form an oblate spheroid with approximately 180 SDS molecules per channel. K(+) ions bind to the micelle-solubilized channel with a K(D) of 3 +/- 0.5 mM, resulting in chemical shift changes in the selectivity filter. Related pH-induced changes in chemical shift along the "outer" transmembrane helix and the cytoplasmic membrane interface hint at a possible structural explanation for the observed pH-gating of the potassium channel.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan H Chill
- Laboratory of Chemical Physics, NIDDK, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
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Bronson J, Lee OS, Saven JG. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of WSK-3, a Computationally Designed, Water-Soluble Variant of the Integral Membrane Protein KcsA. Biophys J 2005; 90:1156-63. [PMID: 16299086 PMCID: PMC1367267 DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.105.068965] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Poor solubility and low expression levels often make membrane proteins difficult to study. An alternative to the use of detergents to solubilize these aggregation-prone proteins is the partial redesign of the sequence so as to confer water solubility. Recently, computationally assisted membrane protein solubilization (CAMPS) has been reported, where exposed hydrophobic residues on a protein's surface are computationally redesigned. Herein, the structure and fluctuations of a designed, water-soluble variant of KcsA (WSK-3) were studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The root mean square deviation of the protein from its starting structure, where the backbone coordinates are those of KcsA, was 1.8 angstroms. The structure of salt bridges involved in structural specificity and solubility were examined. The preferred configuration of ions and water in the selectivity filter of WSK-3 was consistent with the reported preferences for KcsA. The structure of the selectivity filter was maintained, which is consistent with WSK-3 having an affinity for agitoxin2 comparable to that of wild-type KcsA. In contrast to KcsA, the central cavity's side chains were observed to reorient, allowing water diffusion through the side of the cavity wall. These simulations provide an atomistic analysis of the CAMPS strategy and its implications for further investigations of membrane proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Bronson
- Makineni Theoretical Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA
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14
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Encinar JA, Molina ML, Poveda JA, Barrera FN, Renart ML, Fernández AM, González-Ros JM. The influence of a membrane environment on the structure and stability of a prokaryotic potassium channel, KcsA. FEBS Lett 2005; 579:5199-204. [PMID: 16150445 DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2005.08.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2005] [Revised: 08/22/2005] [Accepted: 08/22/2005] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The lack of a membrane environment in membrane protein crystals is considered one of the major limiting factors to fully imply X-ray structural data to explain functional properties of ion channels [Gulbis, J.M. and Doyle, D. (2004) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 14, 440-446]. Here, we provide infrared spectroscopic evidence that the structure and stability of the potassium channel KcsA and its chymotryptic derivative 1-125 KcsA reconstituted into native-like membranes differ from those exhibited by these proteins in detergent solution, the latter taken as an approximation of the mixed detergent-protein crystal conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Encinar
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202 Alicante, Spain
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15
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Abstract
The ability of an ion channel to open in response to a defined stimulus is central to its function. In ligand-gated channels, pore opening is conferred through transduction of a conformational change in a gating domain to the helices of the pore. Here, we present the construction of a designed cyclic nucleotide-gated (CNG) channel, named KcsA-CNG, by addition of a prokaryotic cyclic nucleotide-binding domain to a KcsA-derived K+ channel. This channel is functional in lipid bilayers at physiological pH and has the combined properties of both of its parent-derived components. It conducts K+ and is blocked by the K+ channel inhibitors Na+ and agitoxin-2. Channel open times are increased by about two orders of magnitude compared to wild-type KcsA. The average number of open channels increases by approximately 50% upon addition of cAMP. Although the absolute open probabilities are somewhat variable from one channel to the next, the property of cyclic nucleotide sensitivity is very reproducible. An apparent Kd value of approximately 90 nM was estimated. The successful construction of a cyclic nucleotide-gated KcsA K+ channel suggests that it should be possible to produce channels that will respond to novel ligands.
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Affiliation(s)
- Uta-Maria Ohndorf
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Laboratory of Molecular Neurobiology and Biophysics, Box 47, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021, USA
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16
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Molina ML, Encinar JA, Barrera FN, Fernández-Ballester G, Riquelme G, González-Ros JM. Influence of C-terminal protein domains and protein-lipid interactions on tetramerization and stability of the potassium channel KcsA. Biochemistry 2005; 43:14924-31. [PMID: 15554699 DOI: 10.1021/bi048889+] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
KcsA is a prokaryotic potassium channel formed by the assembly of four identical subunits around a central aqueous pore. Although the high-resolution X-ray structure of the transmembrane portion of KcsA is known [Doyle, D. A., Morais, C. J., Pfuetzner, R. A., Kuo, A., Gulbis, J. M., Cohen, S. L., Chait, B. T., and MacKinnon, R. (1998) Science 280, 69-77], the identification of the molecular determinant(s) involved in promoting subunit tetramerization remains to be determined. Here, C-terminal deletion channel mutants, KcsA Delta125-160 and Delta120-160, as well as 1-125 KcsA obtained from chymotrypsin cleavage of full-length 1-160 KcsA, have been used to evaluate the role of the C-terminal segment on the stability and tetrameric assembly of the channel protein. We found that the lack of the cytoplasmic C-terminal domain of KcsA, and most critically the 120-124 sequence stretch, impairs tetrameric assembly of channel subunits in a heterologous E. coli expression system. Molecular modeling of KcsA predicts that, indeed, such sequence stretch provides intersubunit interaction sites by hydrogen bonding to amino acid residues in N- and C-terminal segments of adjacent subunits. However, once the KcsA tetramer is assembled, its remarkable in vitro stability to detergent or to heat-induced dissociation into subunits is not greatly influenced by whether the entire C-terminal domain continues being part of the protein. Finally and most interestingly, it is observed that, even in the absence of the C-terminal domain involved in tetramerization, reconstitution into membrane lipids promotes in vitro KcsA tetramerization very efficiently, an event which is likely mediated by allowing proper hydrophobic interactions involving intramembrane protein domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Molina
- Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, 03202 Alicante, Spain
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Compoint M, Boiteux C, Huetz P, Ramseyer C, Girardet C. Role of water molecules in the KcsA protein channel by molecular dynamics calculations. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2005; 7:4138-45. [PMID: 16474879 DOI: 10.1039/b508281a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Molecular dynamics simulations supported by electrostatic calculations have been conducted on the KcsA channel to determine the role of water molecules in the pore. Starting from the X-ray structure of the KcsA channel in its closed state at 2.0 angstroms resolution, the opening of the pore towards a conformation built on the basis of EPR results is studied. We show that water molecules act as a structural element for the K+ ions inside the filter and the hydrophobic cavity of the channel. In the filter, water tends to enhance the depth of the wells occupied by the K+ ions, while in the cavity there is a strong correlation between the water molecules and the cavity ion. As a consequence, the protein remains very stable in the presence of three K+ ions in the selectivity filter and one in the cavity. The analysis of the dynamics of water molecules in the cavity reveals preferred orientations of the dipoles along the pore axis, and a correlated behavior between this dipole orientation and the displacement of the K+ ion during the gating process.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Compoint
- Laboratoire de Physique Moléculaire, UMR CNRS 6624, Université de Franche-Comté, F-25030 Besançon Cedex, France
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