Here we characterized this conformation using pure mouse MDR3 P-glycoprotein and natural MgATP and MgADP. Mutants E552A/E1197A, E552Q/E1197Q, E552D/ E1197D, and E552K/E1197K had low but real ATPase activity in the order Ala > Gln > Asp > Lys, emphasizing the requirement for Glu stereochemistry. Mutant E552A/ E1197A bound MgATP and MgADP (1 mol/mol) with K d 9.2 and 92 M, showed strong temperature sensitivity of MgATP binding and equal dissociation rates for MgATP and MgADP. With MgATP as the added ligand, 80% of bound nucleotide was in the form of ATP. None of these parameters was vanadate-sensitive. The other mutants showed lower stoichiometry of MgATP and MgADP binding, in the order Ala > Gln > Asp > Lys. We conclude that the E552A/E1197A mutation arrests the enzyme in a conformation, likely a stabilized NBD dimer, which occludes nucleotide, shows preferential binding of ATP, does not progress to a normal vanadate-sensitive transition state, but hydrolyzes ATP and releases ADP slowly. Impairment of turnover is primarily due to inability to form the normal transition state rather than to slow ADP release. The Gln, Asp, and Lys mutants are less effective at stabilizing the occluded nucleotide, putative dimeric NBD, conformation. We envisage that in wild-type the occluded nucleotide conformation occurs transiently after MgATP binds to both NBDs with associated dimerization, and before progression to the transition state.P-glycoprotein (Pgp) 1 is a plasma membrane protein that confers multidrug resistance by virtue of its ability to exclude hydrophobic compounds from cells in an ATP-dependent fashion. Anticancer drugs and AIDS protease inhibitors are among the numerous compounds transported by Pgp, and there is the realization that a substantial number of future new drug candidates will similarly be transport substrates, so much current interest centers on strategies aimed at disabling or circumventing Pgp. Consisting of two transmembrane domains and two nucleotide binding domains (NBDs), Pgp displays the typical architecture of the ABC transporter family of membrane transporters. There is as yet no reported high resolution structure of Pgp, but structures of several homologous ABC transporters, and of isolated NBDs, have been published recently. For recent reviews of Pgp structure and function see Refs. 1-6.Our laboratory has focused on the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis and ATP hydrolysis-driven transport. Procedures for large scale preparation of pure human MDR1 (7) and mouse MDR3 2 protein (8) have recently facilitated such studies. Earlier work had established that Pgp showed drug-stimulated ATPase activity (9, 10) and that hydrolysis of ATP occurred in both NBDs (11). It was clear from studies with inhibitors N-ethylmaleimide and 7-chloro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (10, 12-14), mutations in the catalytic sites (15, 16), and vanadate-trapping experiments (17) that the two NBDs cooperated strongly and mandatorily for hydrolysis, and an alternating sites mechanism was proposed in 1995 (18). This mechanism envi...

It is known from earlier work that two conserved Glu residues, designated "catalytic carboxylates," are critical for function in P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Here the role of these residues (Glu-552 and Glu-1197 in mouse MDR3 Pgp) was studied further. Mutation E552Q or E1197Q reduced Pgp-ATPase to low but still measurable rates. Two explanations previously offered for effects of these mutations, namely that ADP release is slowed or that a second (drug site-resetting) round of ATP hydrolysis is blocked, were evaluated and appeared unsatisfactory. Thus the study was extended to include E552A, -D, and -K and E1197A, -D, and -K mutants. All reduced ATPase to similar low but measurable rates. Orthovanadate-trapping experiments showed that mutation to Gln, Ala, Asp, or Lys altered characteristics of the transition state but did not eliminate its formation in contrast e.g. with mutation of the analogous catalytic Glu in F 1 -ATPase. Retention of ATP as well as ADP was seen in Ala, Asp, and Lys mutants. Mutation E552A in nucleotide binding domain 1 (NBD1) was combined with mutation S528A or S1173A in the LSGGQ sequence of NBD1 or NBD2, respectively. Synergistic effects were seen. E552A/S1173A had extremely low turnover rate for ATPase, while E552A/S528A showed zero or close to zero ATPase. Both showed orthovanadate-independent retention of ATP and ADP. We propose that mutations of the catalytic Glu residues interfere with formation and characteristics of a closed conformation, involving an interdigitated NBD dimer interface, which normally occurs immediately following ATP binding and progresses to the transition state.

Functional roles of the two ABC signature sequences ("LSGGQ") in the N-and C-terminal nucleotide binding domains of P-glycoprotein were studied by mutating the conserved Ser residues to Ala. The two single mutants (S528A; S1173A) each impaired ATPase activity mildly, and showed generally symmetrical effects on function, consistent with equivalent mechanistic roles of the two nucleotide sites. Synergy between the two mutations when combined was remarkable and resulted in strong catalytic impairment. P-glycoprotein (Pgp)1 is a plasma membrane-located efflux pump which confers multidrug resistance in human cancers by virtue of its ability to exclude chemotherapeutic drugs from cells in an ATP hydrolysis-dependent manner. In recent years it has been recognized as a general mechanism for protecting the body from hydrophobic toxins, playing a particularly important role in specific tissues such as the central nervous system. Its impact on therapy for other diseases, e.g. AIDS, and its potential impact on novel drug therapies in general, have generated significant interest in studies of its structure and mechanism, with the underlying aims of understanding its physiological function and development of new strategies for circumventing or disabling the protein (1-4).Pgp is a member of the ABC transporter superfamily (5), and consists of two six-helix membrane domains and two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs) contained in one continuous ϳ1280-residue polypeptide. The two NBDs are ϳ60% identical in sequence and each contain Walker A and B consensus sequences, both of which are known to be intimately involved in and required for the ATP hydrolysis reaction (6 -11). Inactivation of the ATP hydrolysis reaction by mutations in these sequences leads, as one would predict, to commensurate loss of ATP-driven drug efflux from cells. Between the Walker A and B sequences is found a third conserved sequence ("LSGGQ") which is named the ABC signature sequence, because it is the hallmark of the ABC transporter superfamily (5, 12). The very strong conservation of this sequence in evolution implies an important role, but what that role is has not yet been determined.New ideas about the role of the ABC signature sequence have come from x-ray crystallography studies and from photocleavage and cross-linking studies. At the time of writing no highresolution structure of Pgp is available, but structures of the dimeric NBD-containing subunits of Rad50, MalK, and thermophilic MJ0796 (13-15) and of the complete ABC transporter BtuCD (16) have been published, and show a most interesting feature, which is that in the dimeric NBD arrangement seen in these structures, the ABC signature sequence of NBD2 lies juxtaposed to the Walker A sequence of NBD1, and vice versa. The two bound nucleotides (where present) are sandwiched between the Walker A and ABC signature sequences, with the hydroxyl side-chain group of the Ser residue of the ABC signature sequence coming close enough to the ␥-phosphate of ATP to possibly form an H-bond with a ␥-phosphate oxy...

An in vivo rat model was used to evaluate the effects of Escherichia coli pneumonia on lung function and surfactant in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). Total extracellular surfactant was increased in infected rats compared with controls. BAL phospholipid content in infected rats correlated with the severity of alveolar-capillary leak as reflected in lavage protein levels (R(2) = 0.908, P < 0.0001). Western blotting showed that levels of surfactant protein (SP)-A and SP-D in BAL were significantly increased in both large and small aggregate fractions at 2 and 6 h postinstillation of E. coli. SP-B was also increased at these times in the large aggregate fraction of BAL, whereas SP-C levels were increased at 2 h and decreased at 6 h relative to controls. The small-to-large (S/L) aggregate ratio (a marker inversely proportional to surfactant function) was increased in infected rats with >50 mg total BAL protein. There was a significant correlation (R(2) = 0.885, P < 0.0001) between increasing S/L ratio in BAL and pulmonary damage assessed by total protein. Pulmonary volumes, compliance, and oxygen exchange were significantly decreased in infected rats with >50 mg of total BAL protein, consistent with surfactant dysfunction. In vitro surface cycling studies with calf lung surfactant extract suggested that bacterially derived factors may have contributed in part to the surfactant alterations seen in vivo.