2abm
From Proteopedia
Crystal Structure of Aquaporin Z Tetramer Reveals both Open and Closed Water-conducting Channels
Structural highlights
FunctionAQPZ_ECOLI Channel that permits osmotically driven movement of water in both directions. It is involved in the osmoregulation and in the maintenance of cell turgor during volume expansion in rapidly growing cells. It mediates rapid entry or exit of water in response to abrupt changes in osmolarity.[1] [2] [3] Evolutionary ConservationCheck, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf. Publication Abstract from PubMedAqpZ is a homotetramer of four water-conducting channels that facilitate rapid water movements across the plasma membrane of Escherichia coli. Here we report a 3.2 angstroms crystal structure of the tetrameric AqpZ (tAqpZ). All channel-lining residues in the four monomeric channels are found orientated in nearly identical positions with one marked exception at the narrowest channel constriction, where the side chain of a highly conserved Arg-189 adopts two distinct conformational orientations. In one of the four monomers, the guanidino group of Arg-189 points toward the periplasmic vestibule, opening up the constriction to accommodate the binding of a water molecule through a tridentate H-bond. In the other three monomers, the Arg-189 guanidino group bends over to form an H-bond with carbonyl oxygen of the Thr-183, thus occluding the channel. Therefore, the tAqpZ structure reveals two distinct Arg-189 confirmations associated with water permeation through the channel constrictions. Alternation between the two Arg-189 conformations disrupts continuous flow of water, thus regulating the open probability of the water pore. Further, the difference in Arg-189 displacements is correlated with a strong electron density found between the first transmembrane helices of two open channels, suggesting that the observed Arg-189 conformations are stabilized by asymmetrical subunit interactions in tAqpZ. Crystal structure of AqpZ tetramer reveals two distinct Arg-189 conformations associated with water permeation through the narrowest constriction of the water-conducting channel.,Jiang J, Daniels BV, Fu D J Biol Chem. 2006 Jan 6;281(1):454-60. Epub 2005 Oct 20. PMID:16239219[4] From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. See AlsoReferences
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