GATED PORES IN THE FERRITIN PROTEIN NANOCAGE

Synopsis and pictogram: Gated pores in the ferritin family of protein nanocages, illustrated in the pictogram, control transfer of ferrous iron into and out of the cages by regulating contact between hydrated ferric oxide mineral inside the protein cage, and reductants such as FMNH(2) on the outside. The structural and functional homology between the gated ion channel proteins in inaccessible membranes and gated ferritin pores in the stable, water soluble nanoprotein, make studies of ferritin pores models for gated pores in many ion channel proteins.Properties of ferritin gated pores, which control rates of FMNH(2) reduction of ferric iron in hydrated oxide minerals inside the protein nanocage, are discussed in terms of the conserved pore gate residues (arginine 72-apspartate 122 and leucine 110-leucine 134), of pore sensitivity to heat at temperatures 30 °C below that of the nanocage itself, and of pore sensitivity to physiological changes in urea (1-10 mM). Conditions which alter ferritin pore structure/function in solution, coupled with the high evolutionary conservation of the pore gates, suggest the presence of molecular regulators in vivo that recognize the pore gates and hold them either closed or open, depending on biological iron need. The apparent homology between ferrous ion transport through gated pores in the ferritin nanocage and ion transport through gated pores in ion channel proteins embedded in cell membranes, make studies of water soluble ferritin and the pore gating folding/unfolding a useful model for other gated pores.