Li Fei, Liu Jian, Zheng Yi, Garavito R Michael, Ferguson-Miller Shelagh
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
Science. 2015 Jan 30;347(6221):555-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1260590.
The 18-kilodalton translocator protein (TSPO), proposed to be a key player in cholesterol transport into mitochondria, is highly expressed in steroidogenic tissues, metastatic cancer, and inflammatory and neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. TSPO ligands, including benzodiazepine drugs, are implicated in regulating apoptosis and are extensively used in diagnostic imaging. We report crystal structures (at 1.8, 2.4, and 2.5 angstrom resolution) of TSPO from Rhodobacter sphaeroides and a mutant that mimics the human Ala(147)→Thr(147) polymorphism associated with psychiatric disorders and reduced pregnenolone production. Crystals obtained in the lipidic cubic phase reveal the binding site of an endogenous porphyrin ligand and conformational effects of the mutation. The three crystal structures show the same tightly interacting dimer and provide insights into the controversial physiological role of TSPO and how the mutation affects cholesterol binding.
18千道尔顿转位蛋白(TSPO)被认为是胆固醇转运至线粒体过程中的关键因子,在类固醇生成组织、转移性癌症以及诸如阿尔茨海默病和帕金森病等炎症性和神经性疾病中高度表达。TSPO配体,包括苯二氮䓬类药物,与细胞凋亡调节有关,并广泛应用于诊断成像。我们报道了来自球形红细菌的TSPO及其一个模拟与精神疾病和孕烯醇酮生成减少相关的人类丙氨酸(147)→苏氨酸(147)多态性的突变体的晶体结构(分辨率分别为1.8、2.4和2.5埃)。在脂质立方相中获得的晶体揭示了内源性卟啉配体的结合位点以及该突变的构象效应。这三种晶体结构显示出相同的紧密相互作用二聚体,并为TSPO存在争议的生理作用以及该突变如何影响胆固醇结合提供了见解。