A non-helical region in transmembrane helix 6 of hydrophobic amino acid transporter MhsT mediates substrate recognition.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Focht D
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7780149 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:Helicobacter pylori VacA is a secreted protein toxin that forms channels in lipid bilayers and induces multiple structural and functional alterations in eukaryotic cells. A unique hydrophobic segment at the amino terminus of VacA contains three tandem repeats of a GxxxG motif that is characteristic of transmembrane dimerization sequences. To examine functional properties of this region, we expressed and analyzed ToxR-VacA-maltose binding protein fusions using the TOXCAT system, which was recently developed by W. P. Russ and D. M. Engelman (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:863-868, 1999) to study transmembrane helix-helix associations in a natural membrane environment. A wild-type VacA hydrophobic region mediated insertion of the fusion protein into the inner membrane of Escherichia coli and mediated protein dimerization. A fusion protein containing a mutant VacA hydrophobic region (in which glycine 14 of VacA was replaced by alanine) also inserted into the inner membrane but dimerized significantly less efficiently than the fusion protein containing the wild-type VacA sequence. Based on these results, we speculate that the wild-type VacA amino-terminal hydrophobic region contributes to oligomerization of the toxin within membranes of eukaryotic cells.
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Project description:BACKGROUND: Few high-resolution structures of integral membranes proteins are available, as crystallization of such proteins needs yet to overcome too many technical limitations. Nevertheless, prediction of their transmembrane (TM) structure by bioinformatics tools provides interesting insights on the topology of these proteins. METHODS: We describe here how to extract new information from the analysis of hydrophobicity variations or hydrophobic pulses (HPulses) in the sequence of integral membrane proteins using the Hydrophobic Pulse Predictor, a new tool we developed for this purpose. To analyze the primary sequence of 70 integral membrane proteins we defined two levels of analysis: G1-HPulses for sliding windows of n = 2 to 6 and G2-HPulses for sliding windows of n = 12 to 16. RESULTS: The G2-HPulse analysis of 541 transmembrane helices allowed the definition of the new concept of transmembrane unit (TMU) that groups together transmembrane helices and segments with potential adjacent structures. In addition, the G1-HPulse analysis identified helix irregularities that corresponded to kinks, partial helices or unannotated structural events. These irregularities could represent key dynamic elements that are alternatively activated depending on the channel status as illustrated by the crystal structures of the lactose permease in different conformations. CONCLUSIONS: Our results open a new way in the understanding of transmembrane secondary structures: hydrophobicity through hydrophobic pulses strongly impacts on such embedded structures and is not confined to define the transmembrane status of amino acids.
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Project description:Folding and packing of membrane proteins are highly influenced by the lipidic component of the membrane. Here, we explore how the hydrophobic mismatch (the difference between the hydrophobic span of a transmembrane protein region and the hydrophobic thickness of the lipid membrane around the protein) influences transmembrane helix packing in a cellular environment. Using a ToxRED assay in Escherichia coli and a Bimolecular Fluorescent Complementation approach in human-derived cells complemented by atomistic molecular dynamics simulations we analyzed the dimerization of Glycophorin A derived transmembrane segments. We concluded that, biological membranes can accommodate transmembrane homo-dimers with a wide range of hydrophobic lengths. Hydrophobic mismatch and its effects on dimerization are found to be considerably weaker than those previously observed in model membranes, or under in vitro conditions, indicating that biological membranes (particularly eukaryotic membranes) can adapt to structural deformations through compensatory mechanisms that emerge from their complex structure and composition to alleviate membrane stress. Results based on atomistic simulations support this view, as they revealed that Glycophorin A dimers remain stable, despite of poor hydrophobic match, using mechanisms based on dimer tilting or local membrane thickness perturbations. Furthermore, hetero-dimers with large length disparity between their monomers are also tolerated in cells, and the conclusions that one can draw are essentially similar to those found with homo-dimers. However, large differences between transmembrane helices length hinder the monomer/dimer equilibrium, confirming that, the hydrophobic mismatch has, nonetheless, biologically relevant effects on helix packing in vivo.
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Project description:The tertiary interactions between amide-I vibrators on the separate helices of transmembrane helix dimers were probed by ultrafast 2D vibrational photon echo spectroscopy. The 2D IR approach proves to be a useful structural method for the study of membrane-bound structures. The 27-residue human erythrocyte protein Glycophorin A transmembrane peptide sequence: KKITLIIFG(79)VMAGVIGTILLISWG(94)IKK was labeled at G(79) and G(94) with (13)C=(16)O or (13)C=(18)O. The isotopomers and their 50:50 mixtures formed helical dimers in SDS micelles whose 2D IR spectra showed components from homodimers when both helices had either (13)C=(16)O or (13)C=(18)O substitution and a heterodimer when one had (13)C=(16)O substitution and the other had (13)C=(18)O substitution. The cross-peaks in the pure heterodimer 2D IR difference spectrum and the splitting of the homodimer peaks in the linear IR spectrum show that the amide-I mode is delocalized across a pair of helices. The excitation exchange coupling in the range 4.3-6.3 cm(-1) arises from through-space interactions between amide units on different helices. The angle between the two Gly(79) amide-I transition dipoles, estimated at 103 degrees from linear IR spectroscopy and 110 degrees from 2D IR spectroscopy, combined with the coupling led to a structural picture of the hydrophobic interface that is remarkably consistent with results from NMR on helix dimers. The helix crossing angle in SDS is estimated at 45 degrees. Two-dimensional IR spectroscopy also sets limits on the range of geometrical parameters for the helix dimers from an analysis of the coupling constant distribution.
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Project description:Intramembrane-cleaving proteases (I-CLiPs) activate pools of single-pass helical membrane protein signaling precursors that are key in the physiology of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Proteases typically cleave peptide bonds within extended or flexible regions of their substrates, and thus the mechanism underlying the ability of I-CLiPs to hydrolyze the presumably α-helical transmembrane domain (TMD) of these membrane proteins is unclear. Using deep-ultraviolet resonance Raman spectroscopy in combination with isotopic labeling, we show that although predominantly in canonical α-helical conformation, the TMD of the established I-CLiP substrate Gurken displays 310-helical geometry. As measured by microscale thermophoresis, this substrate binds with high affinity to the I-CLiPs GlpG rhomboid and MCMJR1 presenilin homolog in detergent micelles. Binding results in deep-ultraviolet resonance Raman spectra, indicating conformational changes consistent with unwinding of the 310-helical region of the substrate's TMD. This 310-helical conformation is key for intramembrane proteolysis, as the substitution of a single proline residue in the TMD of Gurken by alanine suppresses 310-helical content in favor of α-helical geometry and abolishes cleavage without affecting binding to the I-CLiP. Complemented by molecular dynamics simulations of the TMD of Gurken, our vibrational spectroscopy data provide biophysical evidence in support of a model in which the transmembrane region of cleavable I-CLiP substrates displays local deviations in canonical α-helical conformation characterized by chain flexibility, and binding to the enzyme results in conformational changes that facilitate local unwinding of the transmembrane helix for cleavage.
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Project description:Protein-lipid interaction and bilayer regulation of membrane protein functions are largely controlled by the hydrophobic match between the transmembrane (TM) domain of membrane proteins and the surrounding lipid bilayer. To systematically characterize responses of a TM helix and lipid adaptations to a hydrophobic mismatch, we have performed a total of 5.8-mus umbrella sampling simulations and calculated the potentials of mean force (PMFs) as a function of TM helix tilt angle under various mismatch conditions. Single-pass TM peptides called WALPn (n = 16, 19, 23, and 27) were used in two lipid bilayers with different hydrophobic thicknesses to consider hydrophobic mismatch caused by either the TM length or the bilayer thickness. In addition, different flanking residues, such as alanine, lysine, and arginine, instead of tryptophan in WALP23 were used to examine their influence. The PMFs, their decomposition, and trajectory analysis demonstrate that 1), tilting of a single-pass TM helix is the major response to a hydrophobic mismatch; 2), TM helix tilting up to approximately 10 degrees is inherent due to the intrinsic entropic contribution arising from helix precession around the membrane normal even under a negative mismatch; 3), the favorable helix-lipid interaction provides additional driving forces for TM helix tilting under a positive mismatch; 4), the minimum-PMF tilt angle is generally located where there is the hydrophobic match and little lipid perturbation; 5), TM helix rotation is dependent on the specific helix-lipid interaction; and 6), anchoring residues at the hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface can be an important determinant of TM helix orientation.
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Project description:The second helix in lipoxygenases adapts to permit substrate access to the active site, but details of this process are varied and poorly understood. We therefore examined the dynamics of helix 2 in solutions of spin-labeled soybean lipoxygenase-1 and spin relaxation at 60 K of the spin-labels by catalytic iron. Helix 2 in soybean lipoxygenase structures is surface-exposed and contains one turn of ?-helix, centrally located. A site-directed spin-label scan of 18 of the 21 helix 2 residues, and electron paramagnetic resonance, showed that the ?-helical segment became unusually mobile, on a nanosecond time scale, under conditions favoring substrate binding (pH 9 and lipid addition), while segments before and after had relatively unchanged dynamics. Backbone dynamics of residues in the ?-helical segment appeared to be correlated, at pH 9. Samples also were frozen to examine the polarity and proticity of the local environments, the effect of the local environment on intrinsic relaxation, and dipolar relaxation by two symmetries of catalytic iron. The average hyperfine tensor component, Azz, of four ?-helix residues decreased by 1.75 G, with an increase in pH from 7 to 9, while it remained unaffected for nearby buried residues. Power saturation data suggested the change in polarity specific to the ?-helix altered the intrinsic relaxation rates. Different symmetries of iron contributed to distance-dependent magnetic relaxation. We interpret these data to mean that a ?-helix in the second helix of plant lipoxygenases is highly dynamic and is the site where lipid chains penetrate to inner helices that outline the substrate pocket.
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Project description:?-helical integral membrane proteins critically depend on the correct insertion of their transmembrane ? helices into the lipid bilayer for proper folding, yet a surprisingly large fraction of the transmembrane ? helices in multispanning integral membrane proteins are not sufficiently hydrophobic to insert into the target membrane by themselves. How can such marginally hydrophobic segments nevertheless form transmembrane helices in the folded structure? Here, we show that a transmembrane helix with a strong orientational preference (N(cyt)-C(lum) or N(lum)-C(cyt)) can both increase and decrease the hydrophobicity threshold for membrane insertion of a neighboring, marginally hydrophobic helix. This effect helps explain the "missing hydrophobicity" in polytopic membrane proteins.
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Project description:Myelocytomatosis proto-oncogene transcription factor (Myc) is an intrinsically disordered protein with critical roles in cellular homeostasis and neoplastic transformation. It is tightly regulated in the cell, with Myc phosphorylation playing a major role. In addition to the well-described tandem phosphorylation of Thr-52 and Ser-62 in the Myc transactivation domain linked to its degradation, P21 (RAC1)-activated kinase 2 (PAK2)-mediated phosphorylation of serine and threonine residues in the C-terminal basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper (bHLH-LZ) region regulates Myc transcriptional activity. Here we report that PAK2 preferentially phosphorylates Myc twice, at Thr-358 and Ser-373, with only a minor fraction being modified at the previously identified Thr-400 site. For transcriptional activity, Myc binds E-box DNA elements, requiring its heterodimerization with Myc-associated factor X (Max) via the bHLH-LZ regions. Using isothermal calorimetry (ITC), we found that Myc phosphorylation destabilizes this ternary protein-DNA complex by decreasing Myc's affinity for Max by 2 orders of magnitude, suggesting a major effect of phosphorylation on this complex. Phosphomimetic substitutions revealed that Ser-373 dominates the effect on Myc-Max heterodimerization. Moreover, a T400D substitution disrupted Myc's affinity for Max. ITC, NMR, and CD analyses of several Myc variants suggested that the effect of phosphorylation on the Myc-Max interaction is caused by secondary structure disruption during heterodimerization rather than by a change in the structurally disordered state of Myc or by phosphorylation-induced electrostatic repulsion in the heterodimer. Our findings provide critical insights into the effects of PAK2-catalyzed phosphorylation of Myc on its interactions with Max and DNA.
| S-EPMC6005445 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Hgt1p, a member of the oligopeptide transporter family, is a high affinity glutathione transporter from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have explored the role of polar or charged residues in the putative transmembrane domains of Hgt1p to obtain insights into the structural features of Hgt1p that govern its substrate specificity. A total of 22 charged and polar residues in the predicted transmembrane domains and other conserved regions were subjected to alanine mutagenesis. Functional characterization of these 22 mutants identified 11 mutants which exhibited significant loss in functional activity. All 11 mutants except T114A had protein expression levels comparable with wild type, and all except E744A were proficient in trafficking to the cell surface. Kinetic analyses revealed differential contributions toward the functional activity of Hgt1p by these residues and identified Asn-124 in transmembrane domain 1 (TMD1), Gln-222 in TMD4, Gln-526 in TMD9, and Glu-544, Arg-554, and Lys-562 in the intracellular loop region 537-568 containing the highly conserved proline-rich motif to be essential for the transport activity of the protein. Furthermore, mutants Q222A and Q526A exhibited a nearly 4- and 8-fold increase in the K(m) for glutathione. Interestingly, although Gln-222 is widely conserved among other functionally characterized oligopeptide transporter family members including those having a different substrate specificity, Gln-526 is present only in Hgt1p and Pgt1, the only two known high affinity glutathione transporters. These results provide the first insights into the substrate recognition residues of a high affinity glutathione transporter and on residues/helices involved in substrate translocation in the structurally uncharacterized oligopeptide transporter family.
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