Lack of conventional ATPase properties in CFTR chloride channel gating

CFTR shares structural homology with the ABC transporter superfamily of proteins which hydrolyze ATP to effect the transport of compounds across cell membranes. Some superfamily members are characterized as P-type ATPases because ATP-dependent transport is sensitive to the presence of vanadate. It has been widely postulated that CFTR hydrolyzes ATP to gate its chloride channel. However, direct evidence of CFTR hydrolytic activity in channel gating is lacking and existing circumstantial evidence is contradictory. Therefore, we evaluated CFTR chloride channel activity under conditions known to inhibit the activity of ATPases; i.e., in the absence of divalent cations and in the presence of a variety of ATPase inhibitors. Removal of the cytosolic cofactor, Mg2+, reduced both the opening and closing rates of CFTR suggesting that Mg2+ plays a modulatory role in channel gating. However, channels continued to both open and close showing that Mg2+ is not an absolute requirement for channel activity. The nonselective P-type ATPase inhibitor, vanadate, did not alter the gating of CFTR when used at concentrations which completely inhibit the activity of other ABC transporters (1 mM). Higher concentrations of vanadate (10 mM) blocked the closing of CFTR, but did not affect the opening of the channel. As expected, more selective P-type (Sch28080, ouabain), V-type (bafilomycin A1, SCN-) and F-type (oligomycin) ATPase inhibitors did not affect either the opening or closing of CFTR. Thus, CFTR does not share a pharmacological inhibition profile with other ATPases and channel gating occurs in the apparent absence of hydrolysis, although with altered kinetics. Vanadate inhibition of channel closure might suggest that a hydrolytic step is involved although the requirement for a high concentration raises the possibility of previously uncharacterized effects of this compound. Most conservatively, the requirement for high concentrations of vanadate demonstrates that the binding site for this transition state analogue is considerably different than that of other ABC transporters.