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In Escherichia coli , FtsLB plays a central role in the initiation of cell division, possibly transducing a signal that will eventually lead to the activation of peptidoglycan remodeling at the forming septum. The molecular mechanisms by which FtsLB operates in the divisome, however, are not understood. Here, we present a structural analysis of the FtsLB complex, performed with biophysical, computational, and in vivo methods, that establishes the organization of the transmembrane region and proximal coiled coil of the complex. FRET analysis in vitro is consistent with formation of a tetramer composed of two FtsL and two FtsB subunits. We predicted subunit contacts through co-evolutionary analysis and used them to compute a structural model of the complex. The transmembrane region of FtsLB is stabilized by hydrophobic packing and by a complex network of hydrogen bonds. The coiled coil domain probably terminates near the critical constriction control domain, which might correspond to a structural transition. The presence of strongly polar amino acids within the core of the tetrameric coiled coil suggests that the coil may split into two independent FtsQ-binding domains. The helix of FtsB is interrupted between the transmembrane and coiled coil regions by a flexible Gly-rich linker. Conversely, the data suggest that FtsL forms an uninterrupted helix across the two regions and that the integrity of this helix is indispensable for the function of the complex. The FtsL helix is thus a candidate for acting as a potential mechanical connection to communicate conformational changes between periplasmic, membrane, and cytoplasmic regions., (© 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.)

Channels and transporters of the ClC family cause the transmembrane movement of inorganic anions in service of a variety of biological tasks, from the unusual-the generation of the kilowatt pulses with which electric fish stun their prey-to the quotidian-the acidification of endosomes, vacuoles and lysosomes. The homodimeric architecture of ClC proteins, initially inferred from single-molecule studies of an elasmobranch Cl(-) channel and later confirmed by crystal structures of bacterial Cl(-)/H(+) antiporters, is apparently universal. Moreover, the basic machinery that enables ion movement through these proteins-the aqueous pores for anion diffusion in the channels and the ion-coupling chambers that coordinate Cl(-) and H(+) antiport in the transporters-are contained wholly within each subunit of the homodimer. The near-normal function of a bacterial ClC transporter straitjacketed by covalent crosslinks across the dimer interface and the behaviour of a concatemeric human homologue argue that the transport cycle resides within each subunit and does not require rigid-body rearrangements between subunits. However, this evidence is only inferential, and because examples are known in which quaternary rearrangements of extramembrane ClC domains that contribute to dimerization modulate transport activity, we cannot declare as definitive a 'parallel-pathways' picture in which the homodimer consists of two single-subunit transporters operating independently. A strong prediction of such a view is that it should in principle be possible to obtain a monomeric ClC. Here we exploit the known structure of a ClC Cl(-)/H(+) exchanger, ClC-ec1 from Escherichia coli, to design mutants that destabilize the dimer interface while preserving both the structure and the transport function of individual subunits. The results demonstrate that the ClC subunit alone is the basic functional unit for transport and that cross-subunit interaction is not required for Cl(-)/H(+) exchange in ClC transporters.

X-ray crystal structures have been previously determined for three CLC-type transporter homologues, but the absolute unitary transport rate is known for only one of these. The Escherichia coli Cl-/H+ antiporter (EC) moves ~2000 Cl- ions/s, an exceptionally high rate among membrane-transport proteins. It is not known whether such rapid turnover is characteristic of ClCs in general or if the E. coli homologue represents a functional outlier. Here, we characterize a CLC Cl-/H+ antiporter from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 (SY) and determine its crystal structure at 3.2 Å resolution. The structure of SY is nearly identical to that of EC, with all residues involved in Cl- binding and proton coupling structurally similar to their equivalents in EC. SY actively pumps protons into liposomes against a gradient and moves Cl- at 20 s-1, 1% of the EC rate. Electrostatic calculations, used to identify residues contributing to ion binding energetics in SY and EC, highlight two residues flanking the external binding site that are destabilizing for Cl- binding in SY and stabilizing in EC. Mutation of these two residues in SY to their counterparts in EC accelerates transport to 150 s-1, allowing measurement of Cl-/H+ stoichiometry of 2/1. SY thus shares a similar structure and a common transport mechanism to EC, but it is by comparison slow, a result that refutes the idea that the transport mechanism of CLCs leads to intrinsically high rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]