title: Molecular design of PhoE porin and its functional consequences.
abstract: The three-dimensional structure of PhoE porin from Escherichia coli, negatively stained with uranyl acetate, has been determined by electron crystallographic techniques to a resolution of about 18 A. The structure shows that PhoE porin consists of trimeric stain-filled channels as the basic unit. The trimeric channels converge as they transverse the membrane but they do not merge. Our three-dimensional structure of PhoE porin indicates that there is a short, narrower segment of channel, which extends beyond the visible strain-filled portion of the channel. The map of glucose-embedded PhoE porin in projection normal to the membrane has also been determined to a resolution of 6.5 A. The projected map shows trimeric ring-like structures, which are presumably cylindrical domains of beta-sheet. At the 3-fold symmetry axis of the trimer, there is a low density region, which is suggested to be a site of lipopolysaccharide that is required for channel and bacteriophage receptor activities. The structural model of the PhoE monomer consists of a flattened cylinder with a large water-filled vestibule about 35 A long with an elliptically shaped opening that is 27 A along the major axis and 18 A along the minor axis. The vestibule has a narrower extension about 10 A long with an average diameter of about 10 A. The vestibule wall is formed by beta-sheet, which may have a large fraction of the beta-strands oriented normal to membrane. Our structural model provides a clue as to how the surface charges on the outer membrane may regulate the permeation of ionic solutes through the channel.
authors.affiliation: Donner Laboratory, Lawrence Berkely Laboratory, University of California 94720.
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jap
mesh_terms: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D003461:Crystallography; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005947:Glucose; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008961:Models, Structural; D018272:Porins; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D018272:Porins; D005947:Glucose