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An Interfacial Sodium Ion is an Essential Structural Feature of Fluc Family Fluoride Channels.Abstract
Highlights
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- Fluc family fluoride channels are assembled as primitive antiparallel homodimers.
- A sodium ion is stably bound at the dimer interface.
- This bound Na+ is essential for channels to adopt an open, conducting conformation.
- Examples of similar Na+-binding sites exist in other transporters.
Abstract
Fluc family fluoride channels are assembled as primitive antiparallel homodimers. Crystallographic studies revealed a cation bound at the center of the protein, where it is coordinated at the dimer interface by main chain carbonyl oxygen atoms from the midmembrane breaks in two corresponding transmembrane helices. Here, we show that this cation is a stably bound sodium ion, and although it is not a transported substrate, its presence is required for the channel to adopt an open, fluoride-conducting conformation. The interfacial site is selective for sodium over other cations, except for Li+, which competes with Na+ for binding, but does not support channel activity. The strictly structural role fulfilled by this sodium provides new context to understand the structures, mechanisms, and evolutionary origins of widespread Na+-coupled transporters.
Graphical abstract
*Original abstract online at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022283620300309?via%3Dihub