Structural bases for the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease induced by single amino acid substitutions of myelin protein zero.
Sakakura, M., Tanabe, M., Mori, M., Takahashi, H., Mio, K.(2023) Structure 31: 1452
- PubMed: 37699394 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.str.2023.08.016
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
8IIA - PubMed Abstract: 
Myelin protein zero (MPZ or P0) is a transmembrane protein which functions to glue membranes in peripheral myelin. Inter-membrane adhesion is mediated by homophilic interactions between the extracellular domains (ECDs) of MPZ. Single amino acid substitutions in an ECD cause demyelinating neuropathy, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (CMT), with unknown mechanisms. In this study, by using a novel assay system "nanomyelin," we revealed that a stacked-rings-like ECD-8-mer is responsible for membrane adhesion. Two inter-ECD interactions, cis and head-to-head, are essential to constituting the 8-mer and to gluing the membranes. This result was reinforced by the observation that the CMT-related N87H substitution at the cis interface abolished membrane-adhesion activity. In contrast, the CMT-related D32G and E68V variants retained membrane-stacking activity, whereas their thermal stability was lower than that of the WT. Reduced thermal stability may lead to impairment of the long-term stability of ECD and the layered membranes of myelin.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Graduate School of Medical Life Science, Yokohama City University, Yokohama 230-0045, Japan. Electronic address: sakakura@yokohama-cu.ac.jp.