An aqueous H+ permeation pathway in the voltage-gated proton channel Hv1.
Hv1 voltage-gated proton channels mediate rapid and selective transmembrane H(+) flux and are gated by both voltage and pH gradients. Selective H(+) transfer in membrane proteins is commonly achieved by Grotthuss proton 'hopping' in chains of ionizable amino acid side chains and intraprotein water molecules. To identify whether ionizable residues are required for proton permeation in Hv1, we neutralized candidate residues and measured expressed voltage-gated H(+) currents. Unexpectedly, charge neutralization was insufficient to abrogate either the Hv1 conductance or coupling of pH gradient and voltage-dependent activation. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed water molecules in the central crevice of Hv1 model structures but not in homologous voltage-sensor domain (VSD) structures. Our results indicate that Hv1 most likely forms an internal water wire for selective proton transfer and that interactions between water molecules and S4 arginines may underlie coupling between voltage- and pH-gradient sensing.
Ramsey
I Scott
IS
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cardiology and Manton Center for Orphan Disease, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Mokrab
Younes
Y
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Carvacho
Ingrid
I
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cardiology and Manton Center for Orphan Disease, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Sands
Zara A
ZA
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Sansom
Mark S P
MSP
Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Clapham
David E
DE
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Cardiology and Manton Center for Orphan Disease, Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D007473:Ion Channels / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011522:Protons; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry*
C510235:HVCN1 protein, human; D007473:Ion Channels; D011522:Protons; D014867:Water