No abstract

There are currently two prominent models for the utilization of the two NBDs in this process. In the first, ATP hydrolysis occurs alternatively and in a mutually exclusive fashion at each NBD, to drive solute export (6). In a second model, hydrolysis at one NBD drives transport whereas that at the second "resets" the protein for the subsequent step (7). In both of these models, the NBD at which the initial hydrolysis occurs is chosen randomly; the two domains are distinct only temporally. Indeed, in the P-glycoprotein multidrug transporter in which studies supporting each of these models have been performed, the amino acid sequences of the two domains are very similar and only minor functional asymmetry has been observed (8). However, in some other members of the large family, including the ABCC subfamily, this similarity is far less and distinctive properties have been observed in the case of SUR1 (9, 10), , and CFTR (15,16

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) epithelial anion channel is a large multi-domain membrane protein which matures inefficiently during biosynthesis. Its assembly is further perturbed by the deletion of F508 from the first nucleotide binding domain (NBD1) responsible for most cystic fibrosis. The mutant polypeptide is recognized by cellular quality control systems and is proteolyzed. CFTR NBD1 contains a 32 residue segment termed the regulatory insertion (RI) not present in other ABC transporters. We report here that RI deletion enabled ΔF508 CFTR to mature and traffic to the cell surface where it mediated regulated anion efflux and exhibited robust single chloride channel activity. Long term pulse-chase experiments showed that the mature ΔRI/ΔF508 had a T1/2 of ~14h in cells, similar to the wild-type. RI deletion restored ATP occlusion by NBD1 of ΔF508 CFTR and had a strong thermo-stabilizing influence on the channel with gating up to at least 40°C. None of these effects of RI removal were achieved by deletion of only portions of RI. Discrete molecular dynamics simulations of NBD1 indicated that RI might indirectly influence the interaction of NBD1 with the rest of the protein by attenuating the coupling of the F508 containing loop with the F1-like ATP-binding core subdomain so that RI removal overcame the perturbations caused by F508 deletion. Restriction of RI to a particular conformational state may ameliorate the impact of the disease-causing mutation.

Most cystic fibrosis is caused by a deletion of a single residue (F508) in CFTR that disrupts the folding and biosynthetic maturation of the ion channel protein. Progress towards understanding the underlying mechanisms and overcoming the defect remain incomplete. Here we show that the thermal instability of human ΔF508 CFTR channel activity evident in both cell-attached membrane patches and planar phospholipid bilayers is not observed in corresponding mutant CFTRs of several non-mammalian species. These more stable orthologs are distinguished from their mammalian counterparts by the substitution of proline residues at several key dynamic locations in the first nucleotide domain (NBD1), including the structurally diverse region (SDR), the gamma phosphate switch loop and the Regulatory Insertion (RI). Molecular Dynamic analyses revealed that addition of the prolines could reduce flexibility at these locations and increase the temperatures of unfolding transitions of ΔF508 NBD1 to that of the wild-type. Introduction of these prolines experimentally into full-length human ΔF508 CFTR together with the already recognized I539T suppressor mutation, also in the SDR, restored channel function and thermodynamic stability as well as its trafficking to and lifetime at the cell surface. Thus, while cellular manipulations that circumvent its culling by quality control systems leave ΔF508 CFTR dysfunctional at physiological temperature, restoration of the delicate balance between the dynamic protein’s inherent stability and channel activity returns a near-normal state.

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a membrane protein that is mutated in patients suffering from cystic fibrosis. Here we report the purification and first crystallization of wild-type human CFTR. Functional characterization of the material showed it to be highly active. Electron crystallography of negatively stained two-dimensional crystals of CFTR has revealed the overall architecture of this channel for two different conformational states. These show a strong structural homology to two conformational states of another eukaryotic ATP-binding cassette transporter, P-glycoprotein. In contrast to P-glycoprotein, however, both conformational states can be observed in the presence of a nucleotide, which may be related to the role of CFTR as an ion channel rather than a transporter. The hypothesis that the two conformations could represent the "open" and "closed" states of the channel is considered.