The mechanism of substrate release by the aspartate transporter GltPh: insights from simulations.

ABSTRACT: Glutamate transporters regulate excitatory amino acid neurotransmission across neuronal and glial cell membranes by coupling the translocation of their substrate (aspartate or glutamate) into the intracellular (IC) medium to the energetically favorable transport of sodium ions or other cations. The first crystallographically resolved structure of this family, the archaeal aspartate transporter, Glt(Ph), has served as a structural paradigm for elucidating the mechanism of substrate translocation by these transporters. Two helical hairpins, HP2 and HP1, at the core domains of the three subunits that form this membrane protein have been proposed to act as the respective extracellular and IC gates for substrate intake and release. Molecular dynamics simulations using the outward-facing structu

SUBMITTER: DeChancie J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3227142 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature