title: Transmembrane signaling in the maltose ABC transporter MalFGK2-E: periplasmic MalF-P2 loop communicates substrate availability to the ATP-bound MalK dimer.
abstract: ABC transporters are ubiquitous membrane proteins that translocate solutes across biological membranes at the expense of ATP. In prokaryotic ABC importers, the extracytoplasmic anchoring of the substrate-binding protein (receptor) is emerging as a key determinant for the structural rearrangements in the cytoplasmically exposed ATP-binding cassette domains and in the transmembrane gates during the nucleotide cycle. Here the molecular mechanism of such signaling events was addressed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy of spin-labeled ATP-binding cassette maltose transporter variants (MalFGK2-E). A series of doubly spin-labeled mutants in the MalF-P2 domain involving positions 92, 205, 239, 252, and 273 and one triple mutant labeled at positions 205/252 in P2 and 83 in the Q-loop of MalK were assayed. The EPR data revealed that the substrate-binding protein MalE is bound to the transporter throughout the transport cycle. Concomitantly with the three conformations of the ATP-binding cassette MalK2, three functionally relevant conformations are found also in the periplasmic MalF-P2 loop, strictly dependent on cytoplasmic nucleotide binding and periplasmic docking of liganded MalE to MalFG. The reciprocal communication across the membrane unveiled here gives first insights into the stimulatory effect of MalE on the ATPase activity, and it is suggested to be an important mechanistic feature of receptor-coupled ABC transporters.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biologie/Bakterienphysiologie, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Chausseestrasse 117, D-10115 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grote
authors.forename: Yevhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Polyhach
authors.forename: Gunnar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jeschke
authors.forename: Heinz-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Steinhoff
authors.forename: Erwin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bordignon
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000378:metabolism*; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D019281:Dimerization; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008320:Maltose / Q000378:metabolism; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D019897:Periplasm; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C461639:MalF protein, E coli; C079123:MalG protein, E coli; C489398:MalK protein, E coli; D009004:Monosaccharide Transport Proteins; C461599:maltose transport system, E coli; D008320:Maltose; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate