Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET

Cyclic nucleotide-binding domain (CNBD) ion channels play crucial roles in cellular-signaling and excitability and are regulated by the direct binding of cyclic adenosine- or guanosine-monophosphate (cAMP, cGMP). However, the precise allosteric mechanism governing channel activation upon ligand bind...

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Main Authors: Pierce Eggan, Sharona E Gordon, William N Zagotta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2024-12-01
Series:eLife
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Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/99854
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author Pierce Eggan
Sharona E Gordon
William N Zagotta
author_facet Pierce Eggan
Sharona E Gordon
William N Zagotta
author_sort Pierce Eggan
collection DOAJ
description Cyclic nucleotide-binding domain (CNBD) ion channels play crucial roles in cellular-signaling and excitability and are regulated by the direct binding of cyclic adenosine- or guanosine-monophosphate (cAMP, cGMP). However, the precise allosteric mechanism governing channel activation upon ligand binding, particularly the energetic changes within domains, remains poorly understood. The prokaryotic CNBD channel SthK offers a valuable model for investigating this allosteric mechanism. In this study, we investigated the conformational dynamics and energetics of the SthK C-terminal region using a combination of steady-state and time-resolved transition metal ion Förster resonance energy transfer (tmFRET) experiments. We engineered donor-acceptor pairs at specific sites within a SthK C-terminal fragment by incorporating a fluorescent noncanonical amino acid donor and metal ion acceptors. Measuring tmFRET with fluorescence lifetimes, we determined intramolecular distance distributions in the absence and presence of cAMP or cGMP. The probability distributions between conformational states without and with ligand were used to calculate the changes in free energy (ΔG) and differences in free energy change (ΔΔG) in the context of a simple four-state model. Our findings reveal that cAMP binding produces large structural changes, with a very favorable ΔΔG. In contrast to cAMP, cGMP behaved as a partial agonist and only weakly promoted the active state. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of protein oligomerization and ionic strength on the structure and energetics of the conformational states. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of time-resolved tmFRET in determining the conformational states and the ligand-dependent energetics of the SthK C-terminal region.
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spelling doaj-art-91687f82a3da4a84895babe9c209a18e2024-12-10T15:08:51ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2024-12-011310.7554/eLife.99854Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRETPierce Eggan0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6134-4569Sharona E Gordon1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0914-3361William N Zagotta2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7631-8168Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, United StatesDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, United StatesDepartment of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle, United StatesCyclic nucleotide-binding domain (CNBD) ion channels play crucial roles in cellular-signaling and excitability and are regulated by the direct binding of cyclic adenosine- or guanosine-monophosphate (cAMP, cGMP). However, the precise allosteric mechanism governing channel activation upon ligand binding, particularly the energetic changes within domains, remains poorly understood. The prokaryotic CNBD channel SthK offers a valuable model for investigating this allosteric mechanism. In this study, we investigated the conformational dynamics and energetics of the SthK C-terminal region using a combination of steady-state and time-resolved transition metal ion Förster resonance energy transfer (tmFRET) experiments. We engineered donor-acceptor pairs at specific sites within a SthK C-terminal fragment by incorporating a fluorescent noncanonical amino acid donor and metal ion acceptors. Measuring tmFRET with fluorescence lifetimes, we determined intramolecular distance distributions in the absence and presence of cAMP or cGMP. The probability distributions between conformational states without and with ligand were used to calculate the changes in free energy (ΔG) and differences in free energy change (ΔΔG) in the context of a simple four-state model. Our findings reveal that cAMP binding produces large structural changes, with a very favorable ΔΔG. In contrast to cAMP, cGMP behaved as a partial agonist and only weakly promoted the active state. Furthermore, we assessed the impact of protein oligomerization and ionic strength on the structure and energetics of the conformational states. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of time-resolved tmFRET in determining the conformational states and the ligand-dependent energetics of the SthK C-terminal region.https://elifesciences.org/articles/99854CNG channelallosteryconformational dynamics
spellingShingle Pierce Eggan
Sharona E Gordon
William N Zagotta
Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
eLife
CNG channel
allostery
conformational dynamics
title Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
title_full Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
title_fullStr Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
title_full_unstemmed Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
title_short Ligand-coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide-gated ion channel revealed by time-resolved transition metal ion FRET
title_sort ligand coupled conformational changes in a cyclic nucleotide gated ion channel revealed by time resolved transition metal ion fret
topic CNG channel
allostery
conformational dynamics
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/99854
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AT sharonaegordon ligandcoupledconformationalchangesinacyclicnucleotidegatedionchannelrevealedbytimeresolvedtransitionmetalionfret
AT williamnzagotta ligandcoupledconformationalchangesinacyclicnucleotidegatedionchannelrevealedbytimeresolvedtransitionmetalionfret