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Structural mechanism of voltage-dependent gating in an isolated voltage-sensing domain.

ABSTRACT: The transduction of transmembrane electric fields into protein motion has an essential role in the generation and propagation of cellular signals. Voltage-sensing domains (VSDs) carry out these functions through reorientations of positive charges in the S4 helix. Here, we determined crystal structures of the Ciona intestinalis VSD (Ci-VSD) in putatively active and resting conformations. S4 undergoes an ~5-Å displacement along its main axis, accompanied by an ~60° rotation. This movement is stabilized by an exchange in countercharge partners in helices S1 and S3 that generates an estimated net charge transfer of ~1 eo. Gating charges move relative to a ''hydrophobic gasket' that electrically divides intra- and extracellular compartments. EPR spectroscopy confirms the limited nature of S4 movement in a membrane environment. These results provide an explicit mechanism for voltage sensing and set the basis for electromechanical coupling in voltage-dependent enzymes and ion channels.

SUBMITTER: Li Q

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4116111 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Structural mechanism of voltage-dependent gating in an isolated voltage-sensing domain.

Li Qufei Q Wanderling Sherry S Paduch Marcin M Medovoy David D Singharoy Abhishek A McGreevy Ryan R Villalba-Galea Carlos A CA Hulse Raymond E RE Roux Benoît B Schulten Klaus K Kossiakoff Anthony A Perozo Eduardo E

Nature structural & molecular biology 20140202 3

The transduction of transmembrane electric fields into protein motion has an essential role in the generation and propagation of cellular signals. Voltage-sensing domains (VSDs) carry out these functions through reorientations of positive charges in the S4 helix. Here, we determined crystal structures of the Ciona intestinalis VSD (Ci-VSD) in putatively active and resting conformations. S4 undergoes an ~5-Å displacement along its main axis, accompanied by an ~60° rotation. This movement is stabi ...[more]

PMID: 24487958

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Project description:The voltage-gated calcium channel CaV1.1 belongs to the family of pseudo-heterotetrameric cation channels, which are built of four structurally and functionally distinct voltage-sensing domains (VSDs) arranged around a common channel pore. Upon depolarization, positive gating charges in the S4 helices of each VSD are moved across the membrane electric field, thus generating the conformational change that prompts channel opening. This sliding helix mechanism is aided by the transient formation of ion-pair interactions with countercharges located in the S2 and S3 helices within the VSDs. Recently, we identified a domain-specific ion-pair partner of R1 and R2 in VSD IV of CaV1.1 that stabilizes the activated state of this VSD and regulates the voltage dependence of current activation in a splicing-dependent manner. Structure modeling of the entire CaV1.1 in a membrane environment now revealed the participation in this process of an additional putative ion-pair partner (E216) located outside VSD IV, in the pore domain of the first repeat (IS5). This interdomain interaction is specific for CaV1.1 and CaV1.2 L-type calcium channels. Moreover, in CaV1.1 it is sensitive to insertion of the 19 amino acid peptide encoded by exon 29. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in dysgenic myotubes reconstituted with wild-type or E216 mutants of GFP-CaV1.1e (lacking exon 29) showed that charge neutralization (E216Q) or removal of the side chain (E216A) significantly shifted the voltage dependence of activation (V1/2) to more positive potentials, suggesting that E216 stabilizes the activated state. Insertion of exon 29 in the GFP-CaV1.1a splice variant strongly reduced the ionic interactions with R1 and R2 and caused a substantial right shift of V1/2, whereas no further shift of V1/2 was observed on substitution of E216 with A or Q. Together with our previous findings, these results demonstrate that inter- and intradomain ion-pair interactions cooperate in the molecular mechanism regulating VSD function and channel gating in CaV1.1.

Dataset Information

Structural mechanism of voltage-dependent gating in an isolated voltage-sensing domain.

Publications

Structural mechanism of voltage-dependent gating in an isolated voltage-sensing domain.

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