Cys-loop receptors are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) that mediate fast synaptic transmission. Here functional pentameric assembly of truncated fragments comprising the ligand-binding N-terminal ectodomains and the first three transmembrane helices, M1-M3, of both the inhibitory glycine receptor (GlyR) alpha1 and the 5HT(3)A receptor subunits was found to be rescued by coexpressing the complementary fourth transmembrane helix, M4. Alanine scanning identified multiple aromatic residues in M1, M3 and M4 as key determinants of GlyR assembly. Homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations revealed that these residues define an interhelical aromatic network, which we propose determines the geometry of M1-M4 tetrahelical packing such that nascent pLGIC subunits must adopt a closed fivefold symmetry. Because pLGIC ectodomains form random nonstoichiometric oligomers, proper pentameric assembly apparently depends on intersubunit interactions between extracellular domains and intrasubunit interactions between transmembrane segments.
Cys-loop receptors (CLR) are pentameric ligand-gated ion channels that mediate fast excitatory or inhibitory transmission in the nervous system. Strychnine and d-tubocurarine (d-TC) are neurotoxins that have been highly instrumental in decades of research on glycine receptors (GlyR) and nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), respectively. In this study we addressed the question how the molecular recognition of strychnine and d-TC occurs with high affinity and yet low specificity towards diverse CLR family members. X-ray crystal structures of the complexes with AChBP, a well-described structural homolog of the extracellular domain of the nAChRs, revealed that strychnine and d-TC adopt multiple occupancies and different ligand orientations, stabilizing the homopentameric protein in an asymmetric state. This introduces a new level of structural diversity in CLRs. Unlike protein and peptide neurotoxins, strychnine and d-TC form a limited number of contacts in the binding pocket of AChBP, offering an explanation for their low selectivity. Based on the ligand interactions observed in strychnine- and d-TC-AChBP complexes we performed alanine-scanning mutagenesis in the binding pocket of the human α1 GlyR and α7 nAChR and showed the functional relevance of these residues in conferring high potency of strychnine and d-TC, respectively. Our results demonstrate that a limited number of ligand interactions in the binding pocket together with an energetic stabilization of the extracellular domain are key to the poor selective recognition of strychnine and d-TC by CLRs as diverse as the GlyR, nAChR, and 5-HT3R.
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