The C-terminal helical bundle of the tetrameric prokaryotic sodium channel accelerates the inactivation rate

Nat Commun. 2012 Apr 24:3:793. doi: 10.1038/ncomms1797.

Abstract

Most tetrameric channels have cytosolic domains to regulate their functions, including channel inactivation. Here we show that the cytosolic C-terminal region of NavSulP, a prokaryotic voltage-gated sodium channel cloned from Sulfitobacter pontiacus, accelerates channel inactivation. The crystal structure of the C-terminal region of NavSulP grafted into the C-terminus of a NaK channel revealed that the NavSulP C-terminal region forms a four-helix bundle. Point mutations of the residues involved in the intersubunit interactions of the four-helix bundle destabilized the tetramer of the channel and reduced the inactivation rate. The four-helix bundle was directly connected to the inner helix of the pore domain, and a mutation increasing the rigidity of the inner helix also reduced the inactivation rate. These findings suggest that the NavSulP four-helix bundle has important roles not only in stabilizing the tetramer, but also in accelerating the inactivation rate, through promotion of the conformational change of the inner helix.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Kinetics
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • Point Mutation
  • Protein Multimerization
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Rhodobacteraceae / chemistry
  • Rhodobacteraceae / classification
  • Rhodobacteraceae / genetics
  • Rhodobacteraceae / metabolism*
  • Sodium Channels / chemistry*
  • Sodium Channels / genetics
  • Sodium Channels / metabolism*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Sodium Channels

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AB617621
  • GENBANK/AB617622
  • PDB/3VOU