title: Molecular determinants of the functional interaction between syntaxin and N-type Ca2+ channel gating.
abstract: Syntaxin is a key presynaptic protein that binds to N- and P/Q-type Ca(2+) channels in biochemical studies and affects gating of these Ca(2+) channels in expression systems and in synaptosomes. The present study was aimed at understanding the molecular basis of syntaxin modulation of N-type channel gating. Mutagenesis of either syntaxin 1A or the pore-forming alpha(1B) subunit of N-type Ca(2+) channels was combined with functional assays of N-type channel gating in a Xenopus oocyte coexpression system and in biochemical binding experiments in vitro. Our analysis showed that the transmembrane region of syntaxin and a short region within the H3 helical cytoplasmic domain of syntaxin, containing residues Ala-240 and Val-244, appeared critical for the channel modulation but not for biochemical association with the "synprint site" in the II/III loop of alpha(1B). These results suggest that syntaxin and the alpha(1B) subunit engage in two kinds of interactions: an anchoring interaction via the II/III loop synprint site and a modulatory interaction via another site located elsewhere in the channel sequence. The segment of syntaxin H3 found to be involved in the modulatory interaction would lie hidden within the four-helix structure of the SNARE complex, supporting the hypothesis that syntaxin's ability to regulate N-type Ca(2+) channels would be enabled after SNARE complex disassembly after synaptic vesicle exocytosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75235, USA.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bezprozvanny
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Scheller
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Tsien
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type / Q000378:metabolism*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism; D015640:Ion Channel Gating; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011485:Protein Binding; D050765:Qa-SNARE Proteins; D051381:Rats; D050827:Syntaxin 1; D014981:Xenopus
chemical_list: D020864:Calcium Channels, N-Type; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D050765:Qa-SNARE Proteins; C494213:Stx1a protein, rat; D050827:Syntaxin 1