Download MendeleyStructural dynamics of the MecA-ClpC complex: a type II AAA+ protein unfolding machine.
Liu, J., Mei, Z., Li, N., Qi, Y., Xu, Y., Shi, Y., Wang, F., Lei, J., Gao, N.(2013) J Biol Chem 288: 17597-17608
- PubMed: 23595989
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M113.458752
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
3J3R, 3J3S, 3J3T, 3J3U - PubMed Abstract:
The MecA-ClpC complex is a bacterial type II AAA(+) molecular machine responsible for regulated unfolding of substrates, such as transcription factors ComK and ComS, and targeting them to ClpP for degradation. The six subunits of the MecA-ClpC complex form a closed barrel-like structure, featured with three stacked rings and a hollow passage, where substrates are threaded and translocated through successive pores. Although the general concepts of how polypeptides are unfolded and translocated by internal pore loops of AAA(+) proteins have long been conceived, the detailed mechanistic model remains elusive. With cryoelectron microscopy, we captured four different structures of the MecA-ClpC complexes. These complexes differ in the nucleotide binding states of the two AAA(+) rings and therefore might presumably reflect distinctive, representative snapshots from a dynamic unfolding cycle of this hexameric complex. Structural analysis reveals that nucleotide binding and hydrolysis modulate the hexameric complex in a number of ways, including the opening of the N-terminal ring, the axial and radial positions of pore loops, the compactness of the C-terminal ring, as well as the relative rotation between the two nucleotide-binding domain rings. More importantly, our structural and biochemical data indicate there is an active allosteric communication between the two AAA(+) rings and suggest that concerted actions of the two AAA(+) rings are required for the efficiency of the substrate unfolding and translocation. These findings provide important mechanistic insights into the dynamic cycle of the MecA-ClpC unfoldase and especially lay a foundation toward the complete understanding of the structural dynamics of the general type II AAA(+) hexamers.
Organizational Affiliation:
Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Sciences, Center for Structural Biology, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China.
