Functionally additive fixed positive and negative charges in the CFTR channel pore control anion binding and conductance.

Ion channels use charged amino-acid residues to attract oppositely charged permeant ions into the channel pore. In the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl- channel, a number of arginine and lysine residues have been shown to be important for Cl- permeation. Among these, two in close proximity in the pore-Lys95 and Arg134-are indispensable for anion binding and high Cl- conductance, suggesting that high positive charge density is required for pore function. Here we used mutagenesis and functional characterization to show that a nearby pore-lining negatively charged residue (Glu92) plays a functionally additive role with these two positive charges. While neutralization of this negative charge had little effect on anion binding or Cl- conductance, such neutralization was able to reverse the detrimental effects of removing the positive charge at either Lys95 or Arg134, as well as the similar effects of introducing a negative charge at a neighboring residue (Ser1141). Furthermore, neutralization of Glu92 greatly increased the susceptibility of the channel to blockage by divalent S2O32- anions, mimicking the effect of introducing additional positive charge in this region; this effect was reversed by concurrent neutralization of either Lys95 or Arg134. Across a panel of mutant channels that introduced or removed fixed charges at these four positions, we found that many pore properties are dependent on the overall charge or charge density. We propose that the CFTR pore uses a combination of positively and negatively charged residues to optimize the anion binding and Cl- conductance properties of the channel.

Two positively charged amino acid side-chains in the inner vestibule of the CFTR channel pore play analogous roles in controlling anion binding and anion conductance.

Positively charged amino acid side-chains play important roles in anion binding and permeation through the CFTR chloride channel. One pore-lining lysine residue in particular (K95) has been shown to be indispensable for anion binding, conductance, and selectivity. Here, we use functional investigation of CFTR to show that a nearby arginine (R134) plays a functionally analogous role. Removal of this positive charge (in the R134Q mutant) drastically reduces single-channel conductance, weakens binding of both permeant and blocking anions, and abolishes the normal anion conductance selectivity pattern. Each of these functional effects was reversed by a second-site mutation (S1141K) that introduces an ectopic positive charge to a nearby pore-lining residue. Substituted cysteine accessibility experiments confirm that R134-but not nearby residues in the same transmembrane helix-is accessible within the pore lumen. These results suggest that K95 and R134, which are very close together within the inner vestibule of the pore, play analogous, important roles, and that both are required for the normal anion binding and anion conductance properties of the pore. Nevertheless, that fact that both positive charges can be "transplanted" to other sites in the inner vestibule with little effect on channel permeation properties indicates that it is the overall number of charges-rather than their exact locations-that controls pore function.