Nucleotide binding domains of human CFTR: a structural classification of critical residues and disease-causing mutations.

Defective function of the cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) causes CF, the most frequent lethal inherited disease among the Caucasian population. The structure of this chloride ion channel includes two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs), whose ATPase activity controls channel gating. Recently, the experimental structures of mouse and human CFTR NBD1 and our model of the human CFTR NBD1/NBD2 heterodimer have provided new insights into specific structural features of the CFTR NBD dimer. In the present work, we provide a structural classification of CF-causing mutations which may complement the existing functional classification. Our analysis also identified amino acid residues which may play a critical role in interdomain interaction and are located at the NBD1-NBD2 interface or on the surface of the dimer. In particular, a cluster of aromatic amino acids, which includes F508 and straddles the two NBDs, might be directly involved in the interaction of the NBD1/NBD2 heterodimer with the channel-forming membrane-spanning domains.

Nucleotide-binding domains of human cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator: detailed sequence analysis and three-dimensional modeling of the heterodimer.

The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein is encoded by the gene that is defective in cystic fibrosis, the most common lethal inherited disease among the Caucasian population. CFTR belongs to the ABC transporter superfamily, whose members form macromolecular architectures composed of two membrane-spanning domains and two nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs). The experimental structures of NBDs from several ABC transporters have recently been solved, opening new avenues for understanding the structure/function relationships and the consequences of some disease-causing mutations of CFTR. Based on a detailed sequence/structure analysis, we propose here a three-dimensional model of the human CFTR NBD heterodimer. This model, which is in agreement with recent experimental data, highlights the specific features of the CFTR asymmetric active sites located at the interface between the two NBDs. Moreover, additional CFTR-specific features can be identified at the subunit interface, which may play critical roles in active site interdependence and are uncommon in other NBD dimers.