Dissecting the Role of a Conserved Motif (the Second Region of Homology) in the AAA Family of ATPases

146

Torsins are membrane-associated ATPases whose activity is dependent on two activating cofactors, lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1) and luminal domain-like LAP1 (LULL1). The mechanism by which these cofactors regulate Torsin activity has so far remained elusive. In this study, we identify a conserved domain in these activators that is predicted to adopt a fold resembling an AAA+ (ATPase associated with a variety of cellular activities) domain. Within these domains, a strictly conserved Arg residue present in both activating cofactors, but notably missing in Torsins, aligns with a key catalytic Arg found in AAA+ proteins. We demonstrate that cofactors and Torsins associate to form heterooligomeric assemblies with a defined Torsin-activator interface. In this arrangement, the highly conserved Arg residue present in either cofactor comes into close proximity with the nucleotide bound in the neighboring Torsin subunit. Because this invariant Arg is strictly required to stimulate Torsin ATPase activity but is dispensable for Torsin binding, we propose that LAP1 and LULL1 regulate Torsin ATPase activity through an active site complementation mechanism.DYT1 dystonia | nuclear envelope | ATPase | Torsin T orsin ATPases belong to the AAA+ (ATPase associated with a variety of cellular activities) superfamily of ATPases (1) but are unusual in that they lack conserved catalytic residues that are typically found in related ATPases (2, 3). Accordingly, Torsins do not display ATPase activity unless they are engaged by their regulatory cofactors lamina-associated polypeptide 1 (LAP1) or luminal domain-like LAP1 (LULL1) (4), which are type II transmembrane proteins residing in the nuclear envelope and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) (5, 6). This property stands in sharp contrast to the behavior of closely related Clp/Hsp100 ATPases, which display considerable basal ATPase activities that are moderately stimulated by their substrates (7,8). Although a number of Clp/Hsp100 proteins use distinct cofactors that confer substrate specificity to the typically hexameric ATPase ring, they operate via similar principles (9). Substrates ultimately engage the pore at the center of the oligomeric assembly. This narrow annulus is defined by pore loops that emanate from each subunit and harbor a conserved aromatic residue that defines the center of the pore (10). The energy of ATP hydrolysis is invested in threading the substrate through this axial channel, and the substrate is unfolded in the process (11).Much less is known about the mode of action of Torsin ATPases, although it is clear that regulation of Torsin activity is of vital importance in an organismal context. A mutation in TorsinA (TorA) causing the movement disorder primary dystonia (12) renders TorA unresponsive to its binding partners LAP1 and LULL1 (4), and a homozygous "knock-in" of this disease allele in mice causes a lethal phenotype, as does a TorA KO (13). A conditional deletion of TorA from the CNS in mice accurately replicates the symptoms of primary dystonia (14). In add...

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

The mechanism of Torsin ATPase activation

Brown

Zhao

Chase

et al. 2014

146

“…A prominent and conserved residue R325 from the adjacent subunits, homologous to R315 in FtsH, is essential for activity in FtsH (20). The R325E mutant exhibited a complete loss of all protease and ATPase activities, but the crystal structure of the mutant complex was nearly identical to the native complex (data not shown).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Mutational studies on HslU and its docking mode with HslV

Song

Hartmann

Ramachandran

et al. 2000

134

124

HslVU is an ATP-dependent prokaryotic protease complex. Despite detailed crystal and molecular structure determinations of free HslV and HslU, the mechanism of ATP-dependent peptide and protein hydrolysis remained unclear, mainly because the productive complex of HslV and HslU could not be unambiguously identified from the crystal data. In the crystalline complex, the I domains of HslU interact with HslV. Observations based on electron microscopy data were interpreted in the light of the crystal structure to indicate an alternative mode of association with the intermediate domains away from HslV. By generation and analysis of two dozen HslU mutants, we find that the amidolytic and caseinolytic activities of HslVU are quite robust to mutations on both alternative docking surfaces on HslU. In contrast, HslVU activity against the maltose-binding protein-SulA fusion protein depends on the presence of the I domain and is also sensitive to mutations in the N-terminal and C-terminal domains of HslU. Mutational studies around the hexameric pore of HslU seem to show that it is involved in the recognition͞translocation of maltose-binding protein-SulA but not of chromogenic small substrates and casein. ATP-binding site mutations, among other things, confirm the essential role of the ''sensor arginine'' (R393) and the ''arginine finger'' (R325) in the ATPase action of HslU and demonstrate an important role for E321. Additionally, we report a better refined structure of the HslVU complex crystallized along with resorufin-labeled casein.

“…Experimental evidence for such a model is somewhat contradictory: on the one hand, mutation of Arg-325 in HslU (corresponding to Arg-318 in T. maritima FtsH) or Arg-359͞ 362 in p97͞VCP abolishes hexamerization (38,39), but this does not hold for other AAA proteins (40). Further experiments will be needed to establish the precise mechanism and the nature of the conformational change occurring upon ATP binding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The molecular architecture of the metalloprotease FtsH

Bieniossek

Schalch

Bumann

et al. 2006

152

136

The ATP-dependent integral membrane protease FtsH is universally conserved in bacteria. Orthologs exist in chloroplasts and mitochondria, where in humans the loss of a close FtsH-homolog causes a form of spastic paraplegia. FtsH plays a crucial role in quality control by degrading unneeded or damaged membrane proteins, but it also targets soluble signaling factors like 32 and -CII. We report here the crystal structure of a soluble FtsH construct that is functional in caseinolytic and ATPase assays. The molecular architecture of this hexameric molecule consists of two rings where the protease domains possess an all-helical fold and form a flat hexagon that is covered by a toroid built by the AAA domains. The active site of the protease classifies FtsH as an Asp-zincin, contrary to a previous report. The different symmetries of protease and AAA rings suggest a possible translocation mechanism of the target polypeptide chain into the interior of the molecule where the proteolytic sites are located.AAA ͉ protease ͉ protein degradation ͉ x-ray A TP-dependent proteases play crucial roles in protein quality control and regulation (for reviews, see refs. 1 and 2). One of these is FtsH, initially described as a temperature-sensitive and cell-division-defective mutant, which is also called HflB, named after a high-frequency of lysogenization locus of bacteriophage . FtsH is an integral membrane protease found in bacteria, chloroplasts, and mitochondria (reviewed in ref.3) (Fig. 6, which is published as supporting information on the PNAS web site). In bacteria, FtsH malfunction causes severe phenotypes like cell division defects and growth arrest (4, 5) (reviewed in ref.3). Deletion of the human mitochondrial homolog paraplegin, which shares 40% sequence identity with FtsH from Escherichia coli, is responsible for an autosomal recessive form of hereditary spastic paraplegia (6). The N terminus of FtsH contains two transmembrane helices followed by an AAA module (ATPases associated with various cellular activities), including the SRH (second region of homology) (3). The C-terminal part of the polypeptide chain bears the HEXXH motif that is characteristic for Zn-dependent metalloproteases, where the two histidines coordinate to the zinc ion and the glutamate serves as a catalytic base. In bacteria, the AAA and protease domains are located on the cytosolic side of the membrane. Of the five ATP-dependent proteases in E. coli, HslVU, Lon, ClpXP, ClpAP, and FtsH, the last is the only one that is essential and universally conserved in bacteria. It degrades membrane proteins like the uncomplexed SecY subunit of translocase (7), the a-subunit of F o F 1 -ATPase (8), and the photosystem in chloroplasts (9), therefore playing an important role in the quality control of membrane proteins. Further targets comprise regulatory soluble proteins such as 32 (10, 11) or -CII transcriptional activator protein (12). All these substrates are degraded in an ATP-dependent manner where the energy is used for pulling the proteins out of the membran...