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ReviewPharmacology of ORAI channels
STIM proteinsIn humans, the ER Ca 2+ -sensor STIM has two homologs: STIM1 and STIM2. Whereas STIM1 is activated in IP 3 -induced signaling pathways, STIM2 seems to play a role for Ca 2+ entry under resting conditions. Both, STIM1 and STIM2 have one transmembrane segment and span mainly the ER membrane, although a portion of the protein is also found in the plasma membrane (Figure 1). The luminal N-terminal domain features an EF hand as a Ca 2+ binding pocket and a sterile a-motif (SAM) domain. The C-terminal domain contains an ezrin-radixin-myosin-like domain, including two coiled-coil regions, a serine/proline-rich region and a polylysine-rich region [26,33,34].The IP 3 -induced decrease in luminal Ca 2+ concentration leads to a dissociation of Ca 2+ bound to the EF hand of STIM1 (EC 50 = 200-600 µM) [35]. Subsequently, STIM1 molecules oligomerize and then aggregate in clusters (puncta), localized 10-25 nm beneath the plasma membrane, and activate CRAC channels [31,36,37]. Recent studies started to assign structural features of STIM1 to distinct actions during CRAC channel activation [38,39]. Baba et al. stated that puncta formation requires the N-terminal SAM domain and that the coiled-coil region and a serine/threonine-rich region mediate the constitutive movement of STIM. In another study, the C-terminal coiled-coil region was found to be crucial for puncta formation and the serine/ proline-rich region was found to be important for the correct targeting of the STIM1 cluster to the plasma membrane, whereas the polylysine-rich region is characterized by a supportive but not essential function for the targeting [39]. Smyth et al. reported that I CRAC suppression during mitosis is based on phosphorylation of Ser486 and Ser668 and, possibly, other sites in STIM1 [40].In contrast to STIM1, STIM2 does not seem to redistribute within the ER after store depletion but may rather be precoupled to plasma membrane CRAC channels [25]. One cytosolic inhibitor of precoupling STIM2/ORAI1 is Ca 2+ calmodulin [25]. STIM2 activates CRAC ion channels already at smaller decreases of Ca 2+ concentration in the ER (EC 50 of the EF hand for Ca 2+ is 500 µM), which leads to a basal Ca 2+ influx into the cell [27,28]. STIM1 and STIM2 appear to have distinct properties; whereas STIM2-mediated Ca 2+ influx seems to sustain the basal intracellular Ca 2+ concentration, IP 3 -induced STIM1-mediated Ca 2+ elevations lead to the activation of a plethora of cellular responses. A recent study utilizing STIM2-knockout mice demonstrated that STIM2 is also a key player for Ca 2+ signal transduction during hypoxic neurological damage [41].Before being described as a major component of the SOCE machinery [16,18,42], STIM1 was identified as a tumor suppressor [43][44][45] located at the plasma membrane (PM) [46]. The latter finding is rather controversial. Several studies failed to confirm cell surface expression of N-terminally tagged STIM1 when rather bulky tags were...