title: Transmembrane helix orientation and dynamics: insights from ensemble dynamics with solid-state NMR observables.
abstract: As the major component of membrane proteins, transmembrane helices embedded in anisotropic bilayer environments adopt preferential orientations that are characteristic or related to their functional states. Recent developments in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) spectroscopy have made it possible to measure NMR observables that can be used to determine such orientations in a native bilayer environment. A quasistatic single conformer model is frequently used to interpret the SSNMR observables, but important motional information can be missing or misinterpreted in the model. In this work, we have investigated the orientation of the single-pass transmembrane domain of viral protein "u" (VpuTM) from HIV-1 by determining an ensemble of structures using multiple conformer models based on the SSNMR ensemble dynamics technique. The resulting structure ensemble shows significantly larger orientational fluctuations while the ensemble-averaged orientation is compatible with the orientation based on the quasistatic model. This observation is further corroborated by comparison with the VpuTM orientation from comparative molecular dynamics simulations in explicit bilayer membranes. SSNMR ensemble dynamics not only reveals the importance of transmembrane helix dynamics in interpretation of SSNMR observables, but also provides a means to simultaneously extract both transmembrane helix orientation and dynamics information from the SSNMR measurements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biosciences, Center for Bioinformatics, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Sunhwan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Wonpil
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Im
mesh_terms: D054298:Human Immunodeficiency Virus Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D056004:Molecular Dynamics Simulation; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012399:Rotation; D013997:Time Factors; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D000086082:Viroporin Proteins
chemical_list: D054298:Human Immunodeficiency Virus Proteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D054334:Viral Regulatory and Accessory Proteins; C514859:vpu protein, Human immunodeficiency virus 1; D000086082:Viroporin Proteins