Origami in outer membrane mimetics: correlating the first detailed images of refolded VDAC with over 20 years of biochemical data

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A.T. Summers ◽  
Deborah A. Court

Mitochondrial porin forms an aqueous pore in the outer membrane, through which selective passage of small metabolites and ions occurs, thereby regulating both mitochondrial function and cellular respiration. Investigations of the structure and function of porin have been performed with whole mitochondria, membrane vesicles, artificial membranes, and in detergent solutions, resulting in numerous models of porin structure. The mechanisms by which this protein functions are undoubtedly linked to its structure, which remained elusive until 2008, with reports of 3 high-resolution structures of this voltage-dependent, anion-selective channel (VDAC). The barrel structure is relatively simple yet unique: it is arranged as 19 anti-parallel β-strands, with β-strands 1 and 19 aligned parallel to each other to close the barrel. The N-terminal helical component is located within the lumen of the channel, although its precise structure and location in the lumen varies. With the basic barrel structure in hand, the data obtained in attempts to model the structure and understand porin over the past 20 years can be re-evaluated. Herein, using the mammalian VDAC structures as templates, the amassed electrophysiological and biochemical information has been reassessed with respect to the functional mechanisms of VDAC activity, with a focus on voltage-dependent gating.


2002 ◽  
Vol 80 (5) ◽  
pp. 551-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denice C Bay ◽  
Deborah A Court

Voltage-dependent anion-selective channels (VDAC), also known as mitochondrial porins, are key regulators of metabolite flow across the mitochondrial outer membrane. Porins from a wide variety of organisms share remarkably similar electrophysiological properties, in spite of considerable sequence dissimilarity, indicating that they share a common structure. Based on primary sequence considerations, analogy with bacterial porins, and circular dichroism analysis, it is agreed that VDAC spans the outer membrane as a β-barrel. However, the residues that form the antiparallel β-strands comprising this barrel remain unknown. Various predictive methods, largely based on the known structures of bacterial β-barrels, have been applied to the primary sequences of VDAC. Refinement and confirmation of these predictions have developed through numerous investigations of wild-type and variant porins, both in mitochondria and in artificial membranes. These experiments have involved VDAC from several sources, precluding the generation of a unified model. Herein, using the Neurospora VDAC sequence as a template, the published structural information and predictions have been reassessed to delineate a model that satisfies most of the available data.Key words: VDAC, mitochondrial porin, β-barrel.



2007 ◽  
Vol 292 (4) ◽  
pp. C1388-C1397 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenzhi Tan ◽  
Johnathan C. Lai ◽  
Paul Miller ◽  
C. A. Stein ◽  
Marco Colombini

G3139, an antisense Bcl-2 phosphorothioate oligodeoxyribonucleotide, induces apoptosis in melanoma and other cancer cells. This apoptosis happens before and in the absence of the downregulation of Bcl-2 and thus seems to be Bcl-2-independent. Binding of G3139 to mitochondria and its ability to close voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) have led to the hypothesis that G3139 acts, in part, by interacting with VDAC channels in the mitochondrial outer membrane ( 21 ). In this study, we demonstrate that G3139 is able to reduce the mitochondrial outer membrane permeability to ADP by a factor of 6 or 7 with a Ki between 0.2 and 0.5 μM. Because VDAC is responsible for this permeability, this result strengthens the aforesaid hypothesis. Other mitochondrial respiration components are not affected by [G3139] up to 1 μM. Higher levels begin to inhibit respiration rates, decrease light scattering and increase uncoupled respiration. These results agree with accumulating evidence that VDAC closure favors cytochrome c release. The speed of this effect (within 10 min) places it early in the apoptotic cascade with cytochrome c release occurring at later times. Other phosphorothioate oligonucleotides are also able to induce VDAC closure, and there is some length dependence. The phosphorothioate linkages are required to induce the reduction of outer membrane permeability. At levels below 1 μM, phosphorothioate oligonucleotides are the first specific tools to restrict mitochondrial outer membrane permeability.



Author(s):  
Armaity Nasarabadi ◽  
James E. Berleman ◽  
Manfred Auer


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fraser G. Ferens ◽  
William A. T. Summers ◽  
Ameet Bharaj ◽  
Jörg Stetefeld ◽  
Deborah A. Court

The voltage-dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) is a porin in the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). Unlike bacterial porins, several mitochondrial β-barrels comprise an odd number of β-strands, as is the case for the 19-β-stranded VDAC. Previously, a variant of a VDAC from Neurospora crassa, VDAC-ΔC, lacking the predicted 19th β-strand, was found to form gated, anion-selective channels in artificial membranes. In vivo, the two C-terminal β-strands (β18 and β19) in VDAC form a β-hairpin necessary for import from the cytoplasm into mitochondria and the β-signal required for assembly in the mitochondrial outer membrane resides in β19. The current study demonstrated that the putative 18-stranded β-barrel formed by VDAC-ΔC can be imported and assembled in the MOM in vivo and can also partially rescue the phenotype associated with the deletion of VDAC from a strain of N. crassa. Furthermore, when expressed and purified from Escherichia coli, VDAC-ΔC can be folded into a β-strand-rich form in decyl-maltoside. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) alone or combined with multi-angle light scattering (SEC-MALS) and analytical ultracentrifugation revealed that, unlike full-length VDACs, VDAC-ΔC can self-organize into dimers and higher order oligomers in the absence of sterol.



2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anasuya Moitra ◽  
Doron Rapaport

Voltage dependent anion-selective channel (VDAC) is the most abundant protein in the mitochondrial outer membrane. It is a membrane embedded β-barrel protein composed of 19 mostly anti-parallel β-strands that form a hydrophilic pore. Similar to the vast majority of mitochondrial proteins, VDAC is encoded by nuclear DNA, and synthesized on cytosolic ribosomes. The protein is then targeted to the mitochondria while being maintained in an import competent conformation by specific cytosolic factors. Recent studies, using yeast cells as a model system, have unearthed the long searched for mitochondrial targeting signal for VDAC and the role of cytosolic chaperones and mitochondrial import machineries in its proper biogenesis. In this review, we summarize our current knowledge regarding the early cytosolic stages of the biogenesis of VDAC molecules, the specific targeting of VDAC to the mitochondrial surface, and the subsequent integration of VDAC into the mitochondrial outer membrane by the TOM and TOB/SAM complexes.



eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Kaplan ◽  
Georges Chreifi ◽  
Lauren Ann Metskas ◽  
Janine Liedtke ◽  
Cecily R Wood ◽  
...  

The ability to produce outer membrane projections in the form of tubular membrane extensions (MEs) and membrane vesicles (MVs) is a widespread phenomenon among diderm bacteria. Despite this, our knowledge of the ultrastructure of these extensions and their associated protein complexes remains limited. Here, we surveyed the ultrastructure and formation of MEs and MVs, and their associated protein complexes, in tens of thousands of electron cryo-tomograms of ~90 bacterial species that we have collected for various projects over the past 15 years (Jensen lab database), in addition to data generated in the Briegel lab. We identified outer MEs and MVs in 13 diderm bacterial species and classified several major ultrastructures: (1) tubes with a uniform diameter (with or without an internal scaffold), (2) tubes with irregular diameter, (3) tubes with a vesicular dilation at their tip, (4) pearling tubes, (5) connected chains of vesicles (with or without neck-like connectors), (6) budding vesicles and nanopods. We also identified several protein complexes associated with these MEs and MVs which were distributed either randomly or exclusively at the tip. These complexes include a secretin-like structure and a novel crown-shaped structure observed primarily in vesicles from lysed cells. In total, this work helps to characterize the diversity of bacterial membrane projections and lays the groundwork for future research in this field.



1999 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 991-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
H Kmita ◽  
O Stobienia ◽  
J Michejda

Since yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae mutants depleted of the voltage dependent anion selective channel (YVDAC1) are still able to grow on a non-fermentable carbon source, a functional transport system in the outer mitochondrial membrane must exist to support the access of metabolites into mitochondria. It was assumed that the properties of the system could be inferred from the differences in the results observed between wild type and mutant mitochondria since no crucial differences in this respect between the two types of mitoplasts were observed. YVDAC1-depleted mitochondria displayed a highly reduced permeability of the outer membrane, which was reflected in increased values of K0.5(NADH) for respiration and K0.5(ADP) for triggering phosphorylating state as well as in delayed action of carboxyatractylate (CATR) in inhibition of phosphorylating state. The parameters were chosen to express the accessibility of the applied species to the intermembrane space. The passage of the molecules through the outer membrane depleted of YVDAC1 could be partially improved in the presence of bivalent cations (Mg2+, Ca2+), as in their presence lower values of the calculated parameters were obtained. The restrictions imposed on the transport of molecules through the YVDAC1-depleted outer membrane resulted in a competition between them for the access to the intermembrane space as measured by changes in parameters observed for a given species in the presence of another one. The competition was stronger in the absence of Mg2+ and depended on charge and size of transported molecules, as the strongest competitor was CATR and the weakest one--NADH. Thus, it can be concluded that the transport system functioning in the absence of YVDAC1 is modulated by bivalent cations and charge as well as size of transported molecules. Since an increased level of respiration due to the dissipation of delta psi causes an increase of K0.5(NADH) in both wild type and YVDAC1-depleted mitochondria it is concluded that a common property of YVDAC1 and the system functioning in YVDAC1-depleted mitochondria seems to be the dependence of the capacity on the level of mitochondrial respiration.



2006 ◽  
Vol 281 (25) ◽  
pp. 17347-17358 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Báthori ◽  
György Csordás ◽  
Cecilia Garcia-Perez ◽  
Erika Davies ◽  
György Hajnóczky


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