α-Latrotoxin Tetramers Spontaneously Form Two-Dimensional Crystals in Solution and Coordinated Multi-Pore Assemblies in Biological Membranes.

ABSTRACT: α-Latrotoxin (α-LTX) was found to form two-dimensional (2D) monolayer arrays in solution at relatively low concentrations (0.1 mg/mL), with the toxin tetramer constituting a unit cell. The crystals were imaged using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM), and image analysis yielded a ~12 Å projection map. At this resolution, no major conformational changes between the crystalline and solution states of α-LTX tetramers were observed. Electrophysiological studies showed that, under the conditions of crystallization, α-LTX simultaneously formed multiple channels in biological membranes that displayed coordinated gating. Two types of channels with conductance levels of 120 and 208 pS were identified. Furthermore, we observed two distinct tetramer conformations of tetramers both when observed a

SUBMITTER: Rohou A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11209280 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature