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Quantifying Spontaneous Ca2+ Fluxes and their Downstream Effects in Primary Mouse Midbrain Neurons
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A glutamate switch controls voltage-sensitive phosphatase function.

Lijun Liu1, Susy C Kohout, Qiang Xu

  • 1Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA.

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology
|May 8, 2012
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The Ciona intestinalis voltage-sensing phosphatase (Ci-VSP) enzyme

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Area of Science:

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Structural Biology

Background:

  • The Ciona intestinalis voltage-sensing phosphatase (Ci-VSP) integrates a voltage-sensing domain (VSD) with a lipid phosphatase domain, akin to PTEN.
  • The precise mechanism by which the VSD regulates the enzymatic activity of Ci-VSP remains largely undetermined.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the structural basis for voltage-dependent regulation of Ci-VSP enzymatic activity.
  • To investigate the role of the gating loop and its interaction with the linker in controlling enzyme function and substrate selectivity.

Main Methods:

  • High-resolution crystal structure determination of the Ci-VSP enzymatic domain.
  • Structure-based site-directed mutagenesis to probe the function of key residues and interactions.
  • Biochemical assays to assess catalytic activity and substrate selectivity.

Main Results:

  • Crystal structures reveal conformational dynamics in the gating loop, which directly influences active site accessibility.
  • The residue Glu411 was identified as a key player in substrate competition and selectivity, directly interacting with the active site.
  • Mutations affecting gating loop conformation or its interaction with the VSD-linker significantly impaired enzymatic function and voltage-dependent regulation.

Conclusions:

  • The gating loop undergoes conformational changes that regulate substrate access and catalytic activity.
  • Glu411 plays a critical role in both substrate competition and selectivity.
  • A functional interplay between the gating loop and the linker is essential for the voltage-dependent activation of Ci-VSP.