Membrane protein porin

This enigma was resolved in 1990 when the x-ray structure of an outer membrane protein, porin, showed that the transmembrane regions were p... 

Figure 17.31 shows a model of porin from the outer membrane of the bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus. Unlike most integral membrane proteins, porins have a j8-stranded secondary structure. The R. capsulatus protein appears to form a 16-stranded /3 barrel that crosses the membrane as a tube. The tubular molecules aggregate as trimers with three parallel pores. 

A steady flow of metabolites both in and out of the mitochondrial matrix space is necessary for mitochondria to perform functions which involve the participation of enzymes inside the membrane permeability barrier. These functions include oxidative phosphorylation and therefore O2, ADP, phosphate and electron-rich substrates such as pyruvate, fatty acids and ketone bodies must enter the mitochondria, and the products, HjO, CO2 and ATP must leave. Although Oj, HjO and CO2 are permeable to the inner mitochondrial membrane [1,2], most metabolites are not, because of their highly hydrophiUc nature. The outer mitochondrial membrane does not present a significant barrier to hydrophilic metabolites because of the presence of large unregulated channels composed of the membrane protein, porin [3]. The inner mitochondrial membrane has a much larger surface area [4] than the outer membrane and a much higher ratio of protein to lipid [5]. It is composed not only of proteins involved in electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation but also specialized proteins which facilitate, and in many cases provide, directionality to the transport of metabolites [6]. 

Many small molecules can penetrate the outer ced membrane by diffusion through channels created by outer-membrane proteins caded porins. 

Despite considerable efforts very few membrane proteins have yielded crystals that diffract x-rays to high resolution. In fact, only about a dozen such proteins are currently known, among which are porins (which are outer membrane proteins from bacteria), the enzymes cytochrome c oxidase and prostaglandin synthase, and the light-harvesting complexes and photosynthetic reaction centers involved in photosynthesis. In contrast, many other membrane proteins have yielded small crystals that diffract poorly, or not at all, using conventional x-ray sources. However, using the most advanced synchrotron sources (see Chapter 18) it is now possible to determine x-ray structures from protein crystals as small as 20 pm wide which will permit more membrane protein structures to be elucidated. 

Garavito, R. M., et al., 1983. X-ray diffraction analysis of matrix porin, an integral membrane protein from Escherichia coli outer membrane. Journal of Nlolecular Biology 164 313—327. 

The mitochondrion has an outer and an inner membrane (Figure 1). The outer membrane contains pores formed from a protein, porin, which allow exchange of molecules with molecular weights up to about 2,000 between the cytosol and the intermembrane space. The inner membrane is extensively invaginated to increase its surface area. It has a different lipid composition from the outer membrane and is rich in the acidic phospholipid cardiolipin (diphosphatidyl-glycerol) which is only found in animal cells in mitochondria. Cardiolipin confers good electrical insulating properties on the inner membrane which is impermeable... 

There are several hypotheses for a specific mechanism by which ONOO- can control the open state of the PTPC. Briefly the PTPC is regulated by primary constituents of the pore, including the inner membrane adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT) and the outer membrane protein voltage-dependent anion channel (VDAC or porin). The VDAC-ANT complex can bind to signaling proteins that modulate permeability transition, such as pro-apoptotic Bax (which opens the pore) and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2... 

The structure in question is the membrane protein Omp F porin [9] from a set of two-dimensional electron diffraction data at ca. 6k resolution. It follows the method outlined by Gilmore, Nicholson Dorset [10]... 

Both mitochondrial membranes are very rich in proteins. Porins (see p. 214) in the outer membrane allow small molecules (< 10 kDa) to be exchanged between the cytoplasm and the intermembrane space. By contrast, the inner mitochondrial membrane is completely impermeable even to small molecules (with the exception of O2, CO2, and H2O). Numerous transporters in the inner membrane ensure the import and export of important metabolites (see p. 212). The inner membrane also transports respiratory chain complexes, ATP synthase, and other enzymes. The matrix is also rich in enzymes (see B). 

Type i and ii membrane proteins only contain one transmembrane helix of this type, while type ill proteins contain several. Rarely, type i and ii polypeptides can aggregate to form a type iV transmembrane protein. Several groups of integral membrane proteins—e.g., the porins (see p. 212)—penetrate the membrane with antiparallel (3-sheet structures. Due to its shape, this tertiary structure is known as a P-barrel. ... 

Thus, the important question of the secondary structure of the transmembrane elements can only be addressed with models and by structural comparison with other transmembrane proteins for which the structure has been resolved. Detailed information on the structure of transmembrane elements is available for the photoreaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis (review Deisenhofer and Michel, 1989), cytochrome c oxidase (Iwata et al., 1995) and the OmpF porin of E. coli (Cowan et al., 1992 Fig. 5.3), amongst others. In addition, high resolution electron microscopic investigations and X-ray studies of bacteriorhodopsin, a light-driven ion pump with seven transmembrane elements, have yielded valuable information on the structure and configuration of membrane-spaiming elements (Henderson et al., 1990 Kimura et al., 1997 Pebay-Peyrula et al., 1997 Fig. 5.4). With the successful crystallization of the photoreaction center of Rhodopseudomonas viridis, a membrane protein was displayed at atomic resolution for the first time (Deisenhofer et al., 1985). The membrane-... 

Fig. 5.3. Structure of the OmpF porin of E. coli. The porin is a bacterial membrane protein with P-sheet structures as transmembrane elements. The structure of a monomer of the OmpF porin is shown. In total, 16 P-bands are configured in the form of a cylinder and form the waUs of a pore through which selective passage of ions takes place. LI—L8 are long loops, Tl,2,3 and T7,8 are short bends (T turn) that fink the P-sheets. According to Cowan et al. (1992), with per-...

Benz, R., Janko, K., and Langer, P., Pore formation by the matrix protein (porin) to Escherichia coli in planar bilayer membranes, Ann. N.Y. Acad. Set, 358, 13-24, 1980. 

Schulz, G. E. (1992). Structure-function relationships in the membrane channel porin as based on a 1.8 A resolution crystal structure. In Membrane Proteins Structures, Interactions and Models (A. Pullman, J. Jortner, and B. Pullman, Eds.), pp. 403-412. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht. 

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