Rate constants of sugar transport through two LamB mutants of Escherichia coli: comparison with wild-type maltoporin and LamB of Salmonella typhimurium.

Two LamB (maltoporin) point mutants of Escherichia coli (R8H and Y118F) and wild-type LamB of Salmonella typhimurium were reconstituted into artificial lipid bilayer membranes. Ion transport through wild-type LamB of S. typhimurium and the LamB mutants was inhibited by the addition of carbohydrates of maltose and maltooligosaccharide type in a dose-dependent fashion. The sugar-induced block of the channel function could be used for the study of current noise through the different wild-type and mutant LamB-channels. The analysis of the power density spectra allowed the evaluation of the on and off-reactions (k1 and k-1) of sugar-binding to the binding site inside the channels. Wild-type LamB of S. typhimurium had approximately the same sugar-binding kinetics as has been observed for LamB of E. coli. The results suggest that the binding site inside the channel interacts with a maximum of three glucose residues within the maltooligosaccharides. The LamB mutants R8H and Y118F showed kinetics for sugar binding substantially different from that of wild-type LamB. In particular, the on-rate, k1, for the binding of different sugars of the maltooligosaccharide series to the mutant R8H was approximately 500-times smaller than for wild-type LamB, which resulted in substantially smaller stability constant of sugar binding to the channel. Similarly, the off-rate constant, k-1, for sugar binding to the mutant Y118F decreased about 20-fold, which led to a strong increase of the affinity of carbohydrates to the site. The role of the amino residues acid R8 and Y118 in the transport of maltose and maltooligosaccharides through LamB-channels is discussed on the basis of the net flux of sugars through the channels.