Many physiological events require transient increases in cytosolic Ca(2+) concentrations. Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) are ion channels that govern the release of Ca(2+) from the endoplasmic and sarcoplasmic reticulum. Mutations in RyRs can lead to severe genetic conditions that affect both cardiac and skeletal muscle, but locating the mutated residues in the full-length channel structure has been difficult. Here we show the 2.5 Å resolution crystal structure of a region spanning three domains of RyR type 1 (RyR1), encompassing amino acid residues 1-559. The domains interact with each other through a predominantly hydrophilic interface. Docking in RyR1 electron microscopy maps unambiguously places the domains in the cytoplasmic portion of the channel, forming a 240-kDa cytoplasmic vestibule around the four-fold symmetry axis. We pinpoint the exact locations of more than 50 disease-associated mutations in full-length RyR1 and RyR2. The mutations can be classified into three groups: those that destabilize the interfaces between the three amino-terminal domains, disturb the folding of individual domains or affect one of six interfaces with other parts of the receptor. We propose a model whereby the opening of a RyR coincides with allosterically coupled motions within the N-terminal domains. This process can be affected by mutations that target various interfaces within and across subunits. The crystal structure provides a framework to understand the many disease-associated mutations in RyRs that have been studied using functional methods, and will be useful for developing new strategies to modulate RyR function in disease states.

Ryanodine receptors are large channels that release Ca2+ from the endoplasmic and sarcoplasmic reticulum. Hundreds of RyR mutations can cause cardiac and skeletal muscle disorders, yet detailed mechanisms explaining their effects have been lacking. Here we compare pseudo-atomic models and propose that channel opening coincides with widening of a cytoplasmic vestibule formed by the N-terminal region, thus altering an interface targeted by 20 disease mutations. We solve crystal structures of several disease mutants that affect intrasubunit domain–domain interfaces. Mutations affecting intrasubunit ionic pairs alter relative domain orientations, and thus couple to surrounding interfaces. Buried disease mutations cause structural changes that also connect to the intersubunit contact area. These results suggest that the intersubunit contact region between N-terminal domains is a prime target for disease mutations, direct or indirect, and we present a model whereby ryanodine receptors and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors are activated by altering domain arrangements in the N-terminal region.

Voltage-gated sodium channels underlie the rapid regenerative upstroke of action potentials and are modulated by cytoplasmic calcium ions through a poorly understood mechanism. We describe the 1.35 Å crystal structure of Ca 2+ -bound calmodulin (Ca 2+ /CaM) in complex with the inactivation gate (DIII-IV linker) of the cardiac sodium channel (Na V 1.5). The complex harbors the positions of five disease mutations involved with long Q-T type 3 and Brugada syndromes. In conjunction with isothermal titration calorimetry, we identify unique inactivation-gate mutations that enhance or diminish Ca 2+ /CaM binding, which, in turn, sensitize or abolish Ca 2+ regulation of full-length channels in electrophysiological experiments. Additional biochemical experiments support a model whereby a single Ca 2+ /CaM bridges the C-terminal IQ motif to the DIII-IV linker via individual N and C lobes, respectively. The data suggest that Ca 2+ /CaM destabilizes binding of the inactivation gate to its receptor, thus biasing inactivation toward more depolarized potentials.crystallography | patch-clamp electrophysiology | structural biology | cardiac arrhythmia V oltage-gated sodium channels (Na V s) support excitability in the cardiovascular and nervous systems, where they contribute to the rhythm and rate of action potentials. These large (∼220-kDa) transmembrane protein complexes are expressed at a high density in excitable cells, where they conduct large macroscopic inward sodium currents. These channels are exquisitely sensitive to subtle changes in the transmembrane potential, and modest alterations in channel gating can fine-tune or disorder electrical signaling at the organ and systemic level. The α-subunit of the channel contains cytoplasmic amino and carboxyl termini and is composed of four homologous transmembrane domains (DI-DIV) that are connected by intracellular linkers. Each domain contains voltage-sensing (S1-S4) and pore-forming (S5 and S6) domains that form the selectivity filter and putative activation gates. A crystal structure of a bacterial Na V was recently described (1) showing a similar overall fold compared with potassium channels. However, this bacterial variant is homotetrameric, and seems to lack a conserved fast-inactivation mechanism. As such, it has no homology with several relevant domains in mammalian Na V channels, and no crystal structure of any eukaryotic Na V region has yet been reported.Calcium ions (Ca 2+ ) are universal second messengers, and in the heart they form the electrochemical link between plasma membrane depolarization and myocyte contraction. Consequently, their cytoplasmic levels oscillate between nanomolar and micromolar levels with each excitation-contraction cycle (2). Sodium channel steady-state inactivation, a process that controls channel availability at a given transmembrane potential, is modulated through interactions with Ca 2+ and calmodulin (CaM) (3-10). The mechanistic details of Ca 2+ modulation of sodium channel inactivation are sparse, but the C-terminal region of the cha...

SignificanceSkeletal muscle contraction is a tightly orchestrated event that starts with the depolarization of the T-tubular membrane. At the center is a functional and mechanical coupling between two membrane proteins: L-type voltage-gated calcium channels, located in the plasma membrane, and ryanodine receptors, located in the membrane of the sarcoplasmic reticulum. How exactly these proteins associate has remained a mystery, but recent reports have highlighted a key role for the STAC3 adaptor protein in this process. Here, we provide structural snapshots of the three STAC isoforms and identify a cytosolic loop of two CaV isoforms as a functional interaction site. A mutation linked to Native American myopathy is at the interface and abolishes the interaction.

SUMMARY The xyloglucan endo-transglycosylase/hydrolase (XTH) gene family encodes enzymes of central importance to plant cell wall remodelling. The evolutionary history of plant XTH gene products is incompletely understood vis-à-vis the larger body of bacterial endo-glycanases in Glycoside Hydrolase Family 16 (GH16). To provide molecular insight into this issue, high-resolution X-ray crystal structures and detailed enzyme kinetics of an extant transitional plant endo-glucanase (EG) were determined. Functionally intermediate between plant XTH gene products and bacterial licheninases of GH16, Vitis vinifera EG16 (VvEG16) effectively catalyzes the hydrolysis of the backbones of two dominant plant cell wall matrix glycans, xyloglucan (XyG) and β(1,3)/β(1,4)-mixed-linkage glucan (MLG). Crystallographic complexes with extended oligosaccharide substrates reveal the structural basis for the accommodation of both unbranched, mixed-linked (MLG) and highly decorated, linear (XyG) polysaccharide chains in a broad, extended active-site cleft. Structural comparison with representative bacterial licheninases, a xyloglucan endo-tranglycosylase (XET), and a xyloglucan endo-hydrolase (XEH) outline the functional ramifications of key sequence deletions and insertions across the phylogenetic landscape of GH16. Although the biological role(s) of EG16 orthologs remains to be fully resolved, the present biochemical and tertiary structural characterization provides key insight into plant cell wall enzyme evolution, which will continue to inform genomic analyses and functional studies across species.