Search

YiiP is a dimeric Zn2+/H+ antiporter from Eacherichia coil belonging to the cation diffusion facilitator family. We used cryoelectron microscopy to determine a 13-Å resolution structure of a YiiP homolog from Shewaneiia oneidensis within a lipid bilayer in the absence of Zn2+ Starting from the X-ray structure in the presence of Zn2+, we used molecular dynamics flexible fitting to build a model consistent with our map. Comparison of the structures suggests a conforma- tional change that involves pivoting of a transmembrane, four-helix bundle (M1, M2, M4, and M5) relative to the M3-M6 helix pair. Although accessibility of transport sites in the X-ray model indicates that it represents an outward-facing state, our model is consistent with an inward-facing state, suggesting that the conformational change is relevant to the alternating access mechanism for transport. Molecular dynamics simulation of YiiP in a lipid environment was used to address the feasibility of this conformational change. Association of the C-terminal domains is the same in both states, and we speculate that this association is responsible for stabilizing the dimer that in turn. may coordinate the rearrangement of the trans- membrane helices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biological membrane is conceptualized as a system in which membrane proteins are naturally matched to the equilibrium thickness of the lipid bilayer. Cholesterol, in addition to lipid composition, has been suggested to be a major regulator of bilayer thickness in vivo because measurements in vitro have shown that cholesterol can increase the thickness of simple phospholipid/cholesterol bilayers. Using solution x-ray scattering, we have directly measured the average bilayer thickness of exocytic pathway membranes, which contain increasing amounts of cholesterol. The bilayer thickness of membranes of the endoplasmic reticulum, the Golgi, and the basolateral and apical plasma membranes, purified from rat hepatocytes, were determined to be 37.5 ± 0.4 Å, 39.5 ± 0.4 Å, 35.6 ± 0.6 Å, and 42.5 ± 0.3 Å. respectively. After cholesterol depletion using cyclodextrins, Golgi and apical plasma membranes retained their respective bilayer thicknesses whereas the bilayer thickness of the endoplasmic reticulum and the basolateral plasma membrane decreased by 1.0 Å. Because cholesterol was shown to have a marginal effect on the thickness of these membranes, we measured whether membrane proteins could modulate thickness. Protein-depleted membranes demonstrated changes in thickness of up to 5 Å, suggesting that (i) membrane proteins rather than cholesterol modulate the average bilayer thickness of eukaryotic cell membranes, and (ii) proteins and lipids are not naturally hydrophobically matched in some biological membranes. A marked effect of membrane proteins on the thickness of Escherichia coil cytoplasmic membranes, which do not contain cholesterol, was also observed, emphasizing the generality of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]