Download MendeleyTuning activation of the AMPA-sensitive GluR2 ion channel by genetic adjustment of agonist-induced conformational changes.
Armstrong, N., Mayer, M., Gouaux, E.(2003) Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100: 5736-5741
- PubMed: 12730367
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1037393100
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
1P1N, 1P1O, 1P1Q, 1P1U, 1P1W - PubMed Abstract:
The (S)-2-amino-3-(3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole) propionic acid (AMPA) receptor discriminates between agonists in terms of binding and channel gating; AMPA is a high-affinity full agonist, whereas kainate is a low-affinity partial agonist. Although there is extensive literature on the functional characterization of partial agonist activity in ion channels, structure-based mechanisms are scarce. Here we investigate the role of Leu-650, a binding cleft residue conserved among AMPA receptors, in maintaining agonist specificity and regulating agonist binding and channel gating by using physiological, x-ray crystallographic, and biochemical techniques. Changing Leu-650 to Thr yields a receptor that responds more potently and efficaciously to kainate and less potently and efficaciously to AMPA relative to the WT receptor. Crystal structures of the Leu-650 to Thr mutant reveal an increase in domain closure in the kainate-bound state and a partially closed and a fully closed conformation in the AMPA-bound form. Our results indicate that agonists can induce a range of conformations in the GluR2 ligand-binding core and that domain closure is directly correlated to channel activation. The partially closed, AMPA-bound conformation of the L650T mutant likely captures the structure of an agonist-bound, inactive state of the receptor. Together with previously solved structures, we have determined a mechanism of agonist binding and subsequent conformational rearrangements.
Organizational Affiliation:
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
