Binding and transport of D-aspartate by the glutamate transporter homolog GltTk.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Arkhipova V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6482001 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:It is well-established that the secondary active transporters GltTk and GltPh catalyze coupled uptake of aspartate and three sodium ions, but insight in the kinetic mechanism of transport is fragmentary. Here, we systematically measured aspartate uptake rates in proteoliposomes containing purified GltTk, and derived the rate equation for a mechanism in which two sodium ions bind before and another after aspartate. Re-analysis of existing data on GltPh using this equation allowed for determination of the turnover number (0.14 s-1), without the need for error-prone protein quantification. To overcome the complication that purified transporters may adopt right-side-out or inside-out membrane orientations upon reconstitution, thereby confounding the kinetic analysis, we employed a rapid method using synthetic nanobodies to inactivate one population. Oppositely oriented GltTk proteins showed the same transport kinetics, consistent with the use of an identical gating element on both sides of the membrane. Our work underlines the value of bona fide transport experiments to reveal mechanistic features of Na+-aspartate symport that cannot be observed in detergent solution. Combined with previous pre-equilibrium binding studies, a full kinetic mechanism of structurally characterized aspartate transporters of the SLC1A family is now emerging.
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Project description:Glutamate transporters catalyze concentrative uptake of the neurotransmitter into glial cells and neurons. Their transport cycle involves binding and release of the substrate on the extra- and intracellular sides of the plasma membranes and translocation of the substrate-binding site across the lipid bilayers. The energy of the ionic gradients, mainly sodium, fuels the cycle. Here, we used a cross-linking approach to trap a glutamate transporter homolog from Pyrococcus horikoshii in key conformational states with the substrate-binding site facing either the extracellular or the intracellular side of the membrane to study binding thermodynamics. We show that the chemical potential of sodium ions in solution is exclusively coupled to substrate binding and release, not to substrate translocation. Despite the transporter's structural symmetry, the binding mechanisms are distinct on the opposite sides of the membrane and more complex than the current models suggest.
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Project description:Historically, glutamate uptake in the CNS was mainly attributed to glial cells for three reasons: 1) none of the glutamate transporters were found to be located in presynaptic terminals of excitatory synapses; 2) the putative glial transporters, GLT-1 and GLAST are expressed at high levels in astrocytes; 3) studies of the constitutive GLT-1 knockout as well as pharmacological studies demonstrated that >90% of glutamate uptake into forebrain synaptosomes is mediated by the operation of GLT-1. Here we summarize the history leading up to the recognition of GLT-1a as a presynaptic glutamate transporter. A major issue now is understanding the physiological and pathophysiological significance of the expression of GLT-1 in presynaptic terminals. To elucidate the cell-type specific functions of GLT-1, a conditional knockout was generated with which to inactivate the GLT-1 gene in different cell types using Cre/lox technology. Astrocytic knockout led to an 80% reduction of GLT-1 expression, resulting in intractable seizures and early mortality as seen also in the constitutive knockout. Neuronal knockout was associated with no obvious phenotype. Surprisingly, synaptosomal uptake capacity (Vmax) was found to be significantly reduced, by 40%, in the neuronal knockout, indicating that the contribution of neuronal GLT-1 to synaptosomal uptake is disproportionate to its protein expression (5-10%). Conversely, the contribution of astrocytic GLT-1 to synaptosomal uptake was much lower than expected. In contrast, the loss of uptake into liposomes prepared from brain protein from astrocyte and neuronal knockouts was proportionate with the loss of GLT-1 protein, suggesting that a large portion of GLT-1 in astrocytic membranes in synaptosomal preparations is not functional, possibly because of a failure to reseal. These results suggest the need to reinterpret many previous studies using synaptosomal uptake to investigate glutamate transport itself as well as changes in glutamate homeostasis associated with normal functions, neurodegeneration, and response to drugs.
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Project description:Excitatory amino acid transporter 2 (EAAT2), also known as glial glutamate transporter type 1 (GLT-1), plays an important role in maintaining the extracellular glutamate concentrations below neurotoxic levels. The highly conserved TM2 transmembrane domain of GLT-1 maintains a stable position during the transport cycle; however, the effect of the transport cycle on the topology of TM4 in not well established. To further reveal the function of TM4, two cysteine pairs between TM2 and TM4 were introduced using site-directed mutagenesis. A significant decrease of transport activity was observed in the I93C/V241C and I97C/V241C mutants upon application of the oxidative cross-linking reagent, copper (II) (1,10-phenanthroline)3 (CuPh), which suggests that a conformational shift is essential for transporter activity. Furthermore, the decrease in activity by CuPh crosslinking was enhanced in external media with glutamate or potassium, which suggests that TM2 and TM4 assume closer proximity in the inward-facing conformation of the transporter. Our results suggest that the TM4 domain of GLT-1, and potentially other glutamate transporters, undergoes a complex conformational shift during substrate translocation, which involves an increase in the proximity of the TM2 and TM4 domains in the inward-facing conformation.
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Project description:Kinetic properties of membrane transporters are typically poorly defined because high-resolution functional assays analogous to single-channel recordings are lacking. Here, we measure single-molecule transport kinetics of a glutamate transporter homolog from Pyrococcus horikoshii, GltPh, using fluorescently labeled periplasmic amino acid binding protein as a fluorescence resonance energy transfer-based sensor. We show that individual transporters can function at rates varying by at least two orders of magnitude that persist for multiple turnovers. A gain-of-function mutant shows increased population of the fast-acting transporters, leading to a 10-fold increase in the mean transport rate. These findings, which are broadly consistent with earlier single-molecule measurements of GltPh conformational dynamics, suggest that GltPh transport is defined by kinetically distinct populations that exhibit long-lasting "molecular memory."
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Project description:Efficient excitatory transmission depends on a family of transporters that use the Na(+)-electrochemical gradient to maintain low synaptic concentrations of glutamate. These transporters consume substantial energy in the spatially restricted space of fine astrocytic processes. GLT-1 (EAAT2) mediates the bulk of this activity in forebrain. To date, relatively few proteins have been identified that associate with GLT-1. In the present study, GLT-1 immunoaffinity isolates were prepared from rat cortex using three strategies and analyzed by liquid chromatography-coupled tandem mass spectrometry. In addition to known interacting proteins, the analysis identified glycolytic enzymes and outer mitochondrial proteins. Using double-label immunofluorescence, GLT-1 was shown to colocalize with the mitochondrial matrix protein, ubiquinol-cytochrome c reductase core protein 2 or the inner mitochondrial membrane protein, ADP/ATP translocase, in rat cortex. In biolistically transduced hippocampal slices, fluorescently tagged GLT-1 puncta overlapped with fluorescently tagged mitochondria along fine astrocytic processes. In a Monte Carlo-type computer simulation, this overlap was significantly more frequent than would occur by chance. Furthermore, fluorescently tagged hexokinase-1 overlapped with mitochondria or GLT-1, strongly suggesting that GLT-1, mitochondria, and the first step in glycolysis are cocompartmentalized in astrocytic processes. Acute inhibition of glycolysis or oxidative phosphorylation had no effect on glutamate uptake in hippocampal slices, but simultaneous inhibition of both processes significantly reduced transport. Together with previous results, these studies show that GLT-1 cocompartmentalizes with Na(+)/K(+) ATPase, glycolytic enzymes, and mitochondria, providing a mechanism to spatially match energy and buffering capacity to the demands imposed by transport.
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