Karin Abarca-Heidemann

Glutamic acid-rich proteins of rod photoreceptors are natively unfolded

The outer segment of vertebrate photoreceptors is a specialized compartment that hosts all the signaling components required for visual transduction. Specific to rod photoreceptors is an unusual set of three glutamic acid-rich proteins (GARPs) as follows: two soluble forms, GARP1 and GARP2, and the N-terminal cytoplasmic domain (GARP′ part) of the B1 subunit of the cyclic GMP-gated channel. GARPs have been shown to interact with proteins at the rim of the disc membrane. Here we characterized native GARP1 and GARP2 purified from bovine rod photoreceptors. Amino acid sequence analysis of GARPs revealed structural features typical of “natively unfolded” proteins. By using biophysical techniques, including size-exclusion chromatography, dynamic light scattering, NMR spectroscopy, and circular dichroism, we showed that GARPs indeed exhibit a large degree of intrinsic disorder. Analytical ultracentrifugation and chemical cross-linking showed that GARPs exist in a monomer/multimer equilibrium. The results suggested that the function of GARP proteins is linked to their structural disorder. They may provide flexible spacers or linkers tethering the cyclic GMP-gated channel in the plasma membrane to peripherin at the disc rim to produce a stack of rings of these protein complexes along the long axis of the outer segment. GARP proteins could then provide the environment needed for protein interactions in the rim region of discs.

Bimane Fluorescence Scanning Suggests Secondary Structure near the S3-S4 Linker of BK Channels

Gating of large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channels (BK or maxi-K channels) is controlled by a Ca2+-sensor, formed by the channel cytoplasmic C-terminal domain, and a voltage sensor, formed by its S0-S4 transmembrane helices. Here we analyze structural properties of a portion of the BK channel voltage sensing domain, the S3-S4 linker, using fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy. Single residues in the S3-S4 linker region were substituted with cysteine, and the cysteine-substituted mutants were expressed in CHO cells and covalently labeled with the sulfhydryl-reactive fluorophore monobromo-trimethylammonio-bimane (qBBr). qBBr fluorescence is quenched by tryptophan and, to a lesser extent, tyrosine side chains. We found that qBBr fluorescence in several of the labeled cysteine-substituted channels shows position-specific quenching, as indicated by increase of the brief lifetime component of the qBBr fluorescence decay. Quenching was reduced with the mutation W203F (in the S4 segment), suggesting that Trp-203 acts as a quenching group. Our results suggest a working hypothesis for the secondary structure of the BK channel S3-S4 region, and places residues Leu-204, Gly-205, and Leu-206 within the extracellular end of the S4 helix.

Structure and Function of Multiple Ca2+-binding Sites in a K+ Channel Regulator of K+ Conductance (RCK) Domain

Regulator of K+ conductance (RCK) domains control the activity of a variety of K+ transporters and channels, including the human large conductance Ca2+-activated K+ channel that is important for blood pressure regulation and control of neuronal firing, and MthK, a prokaryotic Ca2+-gated K+ channel that has yielded structural insight toward mechanisms of RCK domain-controlled channel gating. In MthK, a gating ring of eight RCK domains regulates channel activation by Ca2+. Here, using electrophysiology and X-ray crystallography, we show that each RCK domain contributes to three different regulatory Ca2+-binding sites, two of which are located at the interfaces between adjacent RCK domains. The additional Ca2+-binding sites, resulting in a stoichiometry of 24 Ca2+ ions per channel, is consistent with the steep relation between [Ca2+] and MthK channel activity. Comparison of Ca2+-bound and unliganded RCK domains suggests a physical mechanism for Ca2+-dependent conformational changes that underlie gating in this class of channels.

Allosteric mechanism of Ca2+ activation and H+-inhibited gating of the MthK K+ channel

MthK is a Ca2+-gated K+ channel whose activity is inhibited by cytoplasmic H+. To determine possible mechanisms underlying the channel’s proton sensitivity and the relation between H+ inhibition and Ca2+-dependent gating, we recorded current through MthK channels incorporated into planar lipid bilayers. Each bilayer recording was obtained at up to six different [Ca2+] (ranging from nominally 0 to 30 mM) at a given [H+], in which the solutions bathing the cytoplasmic side of the channels were changed via a perfusion system to ensure complete solution exchanges. We observed a steep relation between [Ca2+] and open probability (Po), with a mean Hill coefficient (nH) of 9.9 ± 0.9. Neither the maximal Po (0.93 ± 0.005) nor nH changed significantly as a function of [H+] over pH ranging from 6.5 to 9.0. In addition, MthK channel activation in the nominal absence of Ca2+ was not H+ sensitive over pH ranging from 7.3 to 9.0. However, increasing [H+] raised the EC50 for Ca2+ activation by ∼4.7-fold per tenfold increase in [H+], displaying a linear relation between log(EC50) and log([H+]) (i.e., pH) over pH ranging from 6.5 to 9.0. Collectively, these results suggest that H+ binding does not directly modulate either the channel’s closed–open equilibrium or the allosteric coupling between Ca2+ binding and channel opening. We can account for the Ca2+ activation and proton sensitivity of MthK gating quantitatively by assuming that Ca2+ allosterically activates MthK, whereas H+ opposes activation by destabilizing the binding of Ca2+.

Molecular architecture and divalent cation activation of TvoK, a prokaryotic potassium channel

RCK (regulator of conductance of potassium) domains form a family of ligand-binding domains found in many prokaryotic K+ channels and transport proteins. Although many RCK domains contain an apparent nucleotide binding motif, some are known instead to bind Ca2+, which can then facilitate channel opening. Here we report on the molecular architecture and ligand activation properties of an RCK-containing potassium channel cloned from the prokaryote Thermoplasma volcanium. This channel, called TvoK, is of an apparent molecular mass and subunit composition that is consistent with the hetero-octameric configuration hypothesized for the related MthK (Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum potassium) channel, in which four channel-tethered RCK domains coassemble with four soluble (untethered) RCK domains. The expression of soluble TvoK RCK subunits arises from an unconventional UUG start codon within the TvoK gene; silent mutagenesis of this alternative start codon abolishes expression of the soluble form of the TvoK RCK domain. Using single channel recording of purified, reconstituted TvoK, we found that the channel is activated by Ca2+ as well as Mg2+, Mn2+, and Ni2+. This non-selective divalent activation is in contrast with the activation properties of MthK, which is selectively activated by Ca2+. Transplantation of the TvoK RCK domain into MthK generates a channel that can be activated by Mg2+, illustrating that the Mg2+ binding site is likely contained within the RCK domain. We present a working hypothesis for TvoK gating in which the binding of either Ca2+ or Mg2+ can contribute ∼5 kcal/mol toward stabilization of the open conformation of the channel.

Mechanism Underlying pH-Modulation of Ca2+-Dependent Gating in the MthK Channel

MthK is a Ca2+-gated K+ channel whose activity is modulated by cytoplasmic pH. To determine possible mechanisms underlying the channels pH sensitivity, we recorded current through MthK channels, which were purified from E.coli membranes, reconstituted into liposomes and then incorporated into planar lipid bilayers. Each bilayer recording was obtained at up to six different [Ca2+] (ranging from nominally 0 to 30 mM) at a given pH, in which the solution bathing the cytoplasmic side of the channels was replaced via a perfusion system to ensure complete solution exchanges. We observed a steep relation between [Ca2+] and open probability (Po), with a mean Hill coefficient (nH) of 9.9 ± 0.9. Neither the maximal Po (0.93 ± 0.005) nor nH changed significantly as a function of pH over pH ranging from 6.5 to 9.0, suggesting that H+ does not alter either functional coupling or cooperativity in Ca2+-dependent gating. In addition, channel openings were not observed in the nominal absence of Ca2+ at pH up to 9.0. However, increasing pH decreased the EC50 for Ca2+ activation by ∼4.7-fold per 10-fold increase in [H+], displaying a linear relation between log(EC50) and pH over the entire range of pH studied (6.5 to 9.0). Together, these results suggest that H+-binding does not directly modulate either the allosteric coupling between Ca2+-binding and channel opening or the channels closed-open equibrium. We may account for the pH modulation by assuming that increasing pH yields a relative energetic stabilization of the Ca2+-bound states over unliganded states of the channel.