Time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer shows that the bacterial multidrug ABC half-transporter BmrA functions as a homodimer

Biochemistry. 2005 Mar 22;44(11):4312-21. doi: 10.1021/bi0482809.

Abstract

Members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters share the same basic architecture, with a four-core domain made of two transmembrane plus two nucleotide-binding domains. However, a supramolecular organization has been detected in some ABC transporters, which might be relevant to physiological regulation of substrate transport. Here, the oligomerization status of a bacterial half-ABC multidrug transporter, BmrA, was investigated. Each BmrA monomer containing a single cysteine residue introduced close to either the Walker A or the ABC signature motifs was labeled using two probes, 2-(4-maleimidoanilino)naphthalene-6-sulfonic acid (fluorescence donor) or 4-dimethylaminophenylazophenyl-4'-maleimide (fluorescence acceptor). Reconstitution into proteoliposomes of BmrA monomers labeled separately with either the fluorescence donor or the fluorescence acceptor allowed measurement of time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer between the two probes, showing that efficient reassociation of the singly labeled BmrA monomers occurred upon reconstitution. The efficiency of energy transfer studied as a function of increasing concentration of BmrA-labeled with the fluorescence acceptor argues for a dimeric association of BmrA instead of a tetrameric one. Furthermore, the efficiency of energy transfer allowed estimation of the distances between the two bound probes. Results suggest that, in the resting state, BmrA in a lipid bilayer environment preferentially adopts a closed conformation similar to that found in the BtuCD crystal structure and that the presence of different effectors does not substantially modify its global conformation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / chemistry*
  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / metabolism*
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Dimerization
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial*
  • Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer / methods*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / chemistry*
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / genetics
  • Membrane Transport Proteins / metabolism*
  • Models, Chemical
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutagenesis, Site-Directed
  • Protein Binding / genetics
  • Protein Conformation
  • Proteolipids / chemistry
  • Proteolipids / metabolism
  • p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene / analogs & derivatives*
  • p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene / metabolism

Substances

  • ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Membrane Transport Proteins
  • Proteolipids
  • proteoliposomes
  • Bmr protein, Bacillus subtilis
  • 4-dimethylaminophenylazophenyl-4'-maleimide
  • p-Dimethylaminoazobenzene