![]() |
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland.
Recent evidence implicating transmembrane (TM) segment 7 of the apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter (ASBT) in substrate interaction warranted examination of its aqueous accessibility. Therefore, cysteine substitution of 22 consecutive amino acids was performed against a methanethiosulfonate (MTS)-resistant background (C270A). Activity and susceptibility to polar MTS derivatives [(2-aminoethyl)-methanethiosulfonate (MTSEA), [2-(trimethylammonium)ethyl]methanethiosulfonate (MTSET), and methanethiosulfonate ethylsulfonate (MTSES)] of mutants were evaluated in COS-1 cells. Thr289, Tyr293, Gln297, Ala301, Phe307, and Tyr308 represented loss-of-function mutants; furthermore, the measurable residual activities for T289C, Y293C, and A301C (
20% control) proved insensitive to MTS treatment. MTSES and MTSET inhibition was confined to residues lining the extracellular half of TM7; amino acids situated deeper within the membrane were unaffected. In contrast, the entire length of TM7 was susceptible to the relatively smaller MTSEA; moreover, MTSEA sensitivity was significantly amended by coapplication with substrates. This selective pattern of modification suggests that the highly conserved lower half of TM7 lies within a water-filled cavity easily accessible from the extracellular milieu, whereas residues approaching the cytosolic/membrane interface reside in pores for which accessibility is modulated by molecular volume. Functionally inactive and MTS-inaccessible residues (T289C, Y293C, Q297C, and A301C) within TM7 may play a structural role critical to transporter function; conversely, MTS-sensitive residues are spatially distinct and may demarcate a face of the TM involved in substrate translocation. In addition, computational analysis of solvent-accessible domains identified five key solvent pockets that predominantly line the hydrophilic face of TM7. Combined, our data suggest that TM7 plays a dominant role in the hASBT translocation process.
Address correspondence to: Peter W Swaan. Ph.D, University of Maryland, HSF-II, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. E-mail: pswaan{at}rx.umaryland.edu
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
N. Hussainzada, T. C. Da Silva, E. Y. Zhang, and P. W. Swaan Conserved Aspartic Acid Residues Lining the Extracellular Loop I of Sodium-coupled Bile Acid Transporter ASBT Interact with Na+ and 7{alpha}-OH Moieties on the Ligand Cholestane Skeleton J. Biol. Chem., July 25, 2008; 283(30): 20653 - 20663. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
N. Hussainzada, A. Khandewal, and P. W. Swaan Conformational Flexibility of Helix VI Is Essential for Substrate Permeation of the Human Apical Sodium-Dependent Bile Acid Transporter Mol. Pharmacol., February 1, 2008; 73(2): 305 - 313. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||