title: A common binding site for substrates and protons in EmrE, an ion-coupled multidrug transporter.
abstract: EmrE is an Escherichia coli 12-kDa multidrug transporter, which confers resistance to a variety of toxic cations by removing them from the cell interior in exchange with two protons. EmrE has only one membrane-embedded charged residue, Glu-14, that is conserved in more than 50 homologous proteins and it is a simple model system to study the role of carboxylic residues in ion-coupled transporters. We have used mutagenesis and chemical modification to show that Glu-14 is part of the substrate binding site. Its role in proton binding and translocation was shown by a study of the effect of pH on ligand binding, uptake, efflux and exchange reactions. We conclude that Glu-14 is an essential part of a binding site, common to substrates and protons. The occupancy of this site is mutually exclusive and provides the basis of the simplest coupling of two fluxes.
authors.affiliation: Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yerushalmi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schuldiner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017920:Antiporters / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001665:Binding Sites; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation
chemical_list: D017920:Antiporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C075436:EmrE protein, E coli