title: Structural determinants of selective alpha-conotoxin binding to a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor homolog AChBP.
abstract: The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) is the prototype member of the superfamily of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels. How the extracellular ligand-binding domain coordinates selective binding of ligand molecules to different subtypes of the receptor is unknown at the structural level. Here, we present the 2.2-A crystal structure of a homolog of the ligand-binding domain of the nAChR, Aplysia californica AChBP (Ac-AChBP), in complex with alpha-conotoxin ImI. This conotoxin is unique in its selectivity toward the neuronal alpha3beta2 and alpha7 nAChR, a feature that is reflected in its selective binding to Ac-AChBP compared with other AChBP homologs. We observe a network of interactions between the residues of the ligand-binding site and the toxin, in which ImI Arg-7 and Trp-10 play a key role. The toxin also forms interactions in the ligand-binding site that were not seen in the complex of Ac-AChBP with PnIA(A10L D14K), a conotoxin variant that lacks binding selectivity to AChBP homologs. In combination with electrophysiological recordings obtained by using the wild-type alpha7 nAChR and L247T mutant, we show that conotoxin ImI inhibits ion conduction by stabilizing the receptor in a desensitized conformation. Comparison of the Ac-AChBP-ImI crystal structure with existing AChBP structures offers structural insight into the extent of flexibility of the interface loops and how their movement may couple ligand binding to channel gating in the context of a nAChR.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Plesmanlaan 121, 1066 CX, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ulens
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Hogg
authors.forename: Patrick H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Celie
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bertrand
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Tsetlin
authors.forename: August B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Smit
authors.forename: Titia K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Sixma
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001048:Aplysia; D001665:Binding Sites; D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D001703:Biophysics; D020916:Conotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D020916:Conotoxins; D008024:Ligands; D046912:Multiprotein Complexes; D011978:Receptors, Nicotinic; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C087686:alpha-conotoxin ImI