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Insights into how nucleotide-binding domains power ABC transport.

ABSTRACT: The mechanism by which nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) of ABC transporters power the transport of substrates across cell membranes is currently unclear. Here we report the crystal structure of an NBD, FbpC, from the Neisseria gonorrhoeae ferric iron uptake transporter with an unusual and substantial domain swap in the C-terminal regulatory domain. This entanglement suggests that FbpC is unable to open to the same extent as the homologous protein MalK. Using molecular dynamics we demonstrate that this is not the case: both NBDs open rapidly once ATP is removed. We conclude from this result that the closed structures of FbpC and MalK have higher free energies than their respective open states. This result has important implications for our understanding of the mechanism of power generation in ABC transporters, because the unwinding of this free energy ensures that the opening of these two NBDs is also powered.

SUBMITTER: Newstead S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2896483 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Insights into how nucleotide-binding domains power ABC transport.

Newstead Simon S Fowler Philip W PW Bilton Paul P Carpenter Elisabeth P EP Sadler Peter J PJ Campopiano Dominic J DJ Sansom Mark S P MS Iwata So S

Structure (London, England : 1993) 20090901 9

The mechanism by which nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) of ABC transporters power the transport of substrates across cell membranes is currently unclear. Here we report the crystal structure of an NBD, FbpC, from the Neisseria gonorrhoeae ferric iron uptake transporter with an unusual and substantial domain swap in the C-terminal regulatory domain. This entanglement suggests that FbpC is unable to open to the same extent as the homologous protein MalK. Using molecular dynamics we demonstrate th ...[more]

PMID: 19748342

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Project description:Basic architecture of ABC transporters includes two transmembrane domains (TMDs) and two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). Although the transport process takes place in the TMDs, which provide the substrate translocation pathway across the cell membrane and control its accessibility between the two sides of the membrane, the energy required for the process is provided by conformational changes induced in the NBDs by binding and hydrolysis of ATP. Nucleotide-dependent conformational changes in the NBDs, therefore, need to be coupled to structural changes in the TMDs. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we have investigated the structural elements involved in the conformational coupling between the NBDs and the TMDs in the Escherichia coli maltose transporter, an ABC importer for which an intact structure is available both in inward-facing and outward-facing conformations. The prevailing model of coupling is primarily based on a single structural motif, known as the coupling helices, as the main structural element for the NBD-TMD coupling. Surprisingly, we find that in the absence of the NBDs the coupling helices can be conformationally decoupled from the rest of the TMDs, despite their covalent connection. That is, the structural integrity of the coupling helices and their tight coupling to the core of the TMDs rely on the contacts provided by the NBDs. Based on the conformational and dynamical analysis of the simulation trajectories, we propose that the core coupling elements in the maltose transporter involve contributions from several structural motifs located at the NBD-TMD interface, namely, the EAA loops from the TMDs, and the Q-loop and the ENI motifs from the NBDs. These three structural motifs in small ABC importers show a high degree of correlation in motion and mediate the necessary conformational coupling between the core of TMDs and the helical subdomains of NBDs. A comprehensive analysis of the structurally known ABC transporters shows a high degree of conservation of the identified 3-motif coupling elements only in the subfamily of small ABC importers, suggesting a distinct mode of NBD-TMD coupling from the other two major ABC transporter folds, namely large ABC importers and ABC exporters.

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Insights into how nucleotide-binding domains power ABC transport.

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Insights into how nucleotide-binding domains power ABC transport.

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