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A half-zippered SNARE complex represents a functional intermediate in membrane fusion.

ABSTRACT: SNARE (soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor) proteins mediate fusion by pulling biological membranes together via a zippering mechanism. Recent biophysical studies have shown that t- and v-SNAREs can assemble in multiple stages from the N-termini toward the C-termini. Here we show that functionally, membrane fusion requires a sequential, two-step folding pathway and assign specific and distinct functions for each step. First, the N-terminal domain (NTD) of the v-SNARE docks to the t-SNARE, which leads to a conformational rearrangement into an activated half-zippered SNARE complex. This partially assembled SNARE complex locks the C-terminal (CTD) portion of the t-SNARE into the same structure as in the postfusion 4-helix bundle, thereby creating the binding site for the CTD of the v-SNARE and enabling fusion. Then zippering of the remaining CTD, the membrane-proximal linker (LD), and transmembrane (TMD) domains is required and sufficient to trigger fusion. This intrinsic property of the SNAREs fits well with the action of physiologically vital regulators such as complexin. We also report that NTD assembly is the rate-limiting step. Our findings provide a refined framework for delineating the molecular mechanism of SNARE-mediated membrane fusion and action of regulatory proteins.

SUBMITTER: Li F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3985920 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:The assembly of the three neuronal soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein (SNAP) receptor (SNARE) proteins synaptobrevin 2, syntaxin-1A, and SNAP-25 is the key step that leads to exocytotic fusion of synaptic vesicles. In the fully assembled SNARE complex, these three proteins form a coiled-coil four-helix bundle structure by interaction of their respective SNARE motifs. Although biochemical and mutational analyses strongly suggest that the heptad-repeat SNARE motifs zipper into the final structure, little is known about the prefusion state of individual membrane-bound SNAREs and how they change conformation from the unzippered prefusion to the zippered postfusion state in a membrane environment. We have solved the solution NMR structure of micelle-bound syntaxin-1A in its prefusion conformation. In addition to the transmembrane helix, the SNARE motif consists of two well-ordered, membrane-bound helices separated by the "0-layer" residue Gln226. This unexpected structural order of the N- and C-terminal halves of the uncomplexed SNARE motif suggests the formation of partially zippered SNARE complex intermediates, with the 0-layer serving as a proofreading site for correct SNARE assembly. Interferometric fluorescence measurements in lipid bilayers confirm that the open SNARE motif helices of syntaxin interact with lipid bilayers and that association with the other target-membrane SNARE SNAP-25 lifts the SNARE motif off the membrane as a critical prerequisite for SNARE complex assembly and membrane fusion.

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Project description:The soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptor (SNARE) complex drives the majority of intracellular and exocytic membrane fusion events. Whether and how SNAREs cooperate to mediate fusion has been a subject of intense study, with estimates ranging from a single SNARE complex to 15. Here we show that there is no universally conserved number of SNARE complexes involved as revealed by our observation that this varies greatly depending on membrane curvature. When docking rates of small (∼40 nm) and large (∼100 nm) liposomes reconstituted with different synaptobrevin (the SNARE present in synaptic vesicles) densities are taken into account, the lipid mixing efficiency was maximal with small liposomes with only one synaptobrevin, whereas 23-30 synaptobrevins were necessary for efficient lipid mixing in large liposomes. Our results can be rationalized in terms of strong and weak cooperative coupling of SNARE complex assembly where each mode implicates different intermediate states of fusion that have been recently identified by electron microscopy. We predict that even higher variability in cooperativity is present in different physiological scenarios of fusion, and we further hypothesize that plasticity of SNAREs to engage in different coupling modes is an important feature of the biologically ubiquitous SNARE-mediated fusion reactions.

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