| 1. |
- Hedin, Linnea E., et al.
(författare)
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Membrane Insertion of Marginally Hydrophobic Transmembrane Helices Depends on Sequence Context
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-2836 .- 1089-8638. ; 396:1, s. 221-229
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In mammalian cells, most integral membrane proteins are initially inserted into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane by the so-called Sec61 translocon. However, recent predictions suggest that many transmembrane helices (TMHs) in multispanning membrane proteins are not sufficiently hydrophobic to be recognized as such by the translocon. In this study, we have screened 16 marginally hydrophobic TMHs from membrane proteins of known three-dimensional structure. Indeed, most of these TMHs do not insert efficiently into the endoplasmic reticulum membrane by themselves. To test if loops or TMHs immediately upstream or downstream of a marginally hydrophobic helix might influence the insertion efficiency, insertion of marginally hydrophobic helices was also studied in the presence of their neighboring loops and helices. The results show that flanking loops and nearest-neighbor TMHs are sufficient to ensure the insertion of many marginally hydrophobic helices. However, for at least two of the marginally hydrophobic helices, the local interactions are not enough, indicating that post-insertional rearrangements are involved in the folding of these proteins.
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| 2. |
- Illergård, Kristoffer, et al.
(författare)
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Why are polar residues within the membrane core evolutionary conserved?
- 2011
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Ingår i: Proteins. - : Wiley. - 0887-3585 .- 1097-0134. ; 79:1, s. 79-91
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Here, we present a study of polar residues within the membrane core of alpha-helical membrane proteins. As expected, polar residues are less frequent in the membrane than expected. Further, most of these residues are buried within the interior of the protein and are only rarely exposed to lipids. However, the polar groups often border internal water filled cavities, even if the rest of the sidechain is buried. A survey of their functional roles in known structures showed that the polar residues are often directly involved in binding of small compounds, especially in channels and transporters, but other functions including proton transfer, catalysis, and selectivity have also been attributed to these proteins. Among the polar residues histidines often interact with prosthetic groups in photosynthetic-and oxidoreductase-related proteins, whereas pro-lines often are required for conformational changes of the proteins. Indeed, the polar residues in the membrane core are more conserved than other residues in the core, as well as more conserved than polar residues outside the membrane. The reason is twofold; they are often (i) buried in the interior of the protein and (ii) directly involved in the function of the proteins. Finally, a method to identify which polar residues are present within the membrane core directly from protein sequences was developed. Applying the method to the set of all human membrane proteins the prediction indicates that polar residues were most frequent among active transporter proteins and GPCRs, whereas infrequent in families with few transmembrane regions, such as non-GPCR receptors. Proteins 2011; 79: 79-91.
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| 3. |
- Kauko, Anni, et al.
(författare)
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Repositioning of transmembrane alpha-helices during membrane protein folding
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-2836 .- 1089-8638. ; 397:1, s. 190-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have determined the optimal placement of individual transmembrane helices in the Pyrococcus horikoshii Glt(Ph) glutamate transporter homolog in the membrane. The results are in close agreement with theoretical predictions based on hydrophobicity, but do not, in general, match the known three-dimensional structure, suggesting that transmembrane helices can be repositioned relative to the membrane during folding and oligomerization. Theoretical analysis of a database of membrane protein structures provides additional support for this idea. These observations raise new challenges for the structure prediction of membrane proteins and suggest that the classical two-stage model often used to describe membrane protein folding needs to be modified.
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| 4. |
- Virkki, Minttu T., et al.
(författare)
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Folding of Aquaporin 1 : Multiple evidence that helix 3 can shift out of the membrane core
- 2014
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Ingår i: Protein Science. - : Wiley. - 0961-8368 .- 1469-896X. ; 23:7, s. 981-992
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The folding of most integral membrane proteins follows a two-step process: initially, individual transmembrane helices are inserted into the membrane by the Sec translocon. Thereafter, these helices fold to shape the final conformation of the protein. However, for some proteins, including Aquaporin 1 (AQP1), the folding appears to follow a more complicated path. AQP1 has been reported to first insert as a four-helical intermediate, where helix 2 and 4 are not inserted into the membrane. In a second step, this intermediate is folded into a six-helical topology. During this process, the orientation of the third helix is inverted. Here, we propose a mechanism for how this reorientation could be initiated: first, helix 3 slides out from the membrane core resulting in that the preceding loop enters the membrane. The final conformation could then be formed as helix 2, 3, and 4 are inserted into the membrane and the reentrant regions come together. We find support for the first step in this process by showing that the loop preceding helix 3 can insert into the membrane. Further, hydrophobicity curves, experimentally measured insertion efficiencies and MD-simulations suggest that the barrier between these two hydrophobic regions is relatively low, supporting the idea that helix 3 can slide out of the membrane core, initiating the rearrangement process.
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