Structural insights into the mechanisms of Mg2+ uptake, transport, and gating by CorA.

ABSTRACT: Despite the importance of Mg(2+) for numerous cellular activities, the mechanisms underlying its import and homeostasis are poorly understood. The CorA family is ubiquitous and is primarily responsible for Mg(2+) transport. However, the key questions-such as, the ion selectivity, the transport pathway, and the gating mechanism-have remained unanswered for this protein family. We present a 3.2 Å resolution structure of the archaeal CorA from Methanocaldococcus jannaschii, which is a unique complete structure of a CorA protein and reveals the organization of the selectivity filter, which is composed of the signature motif of this family. The structure reveals that polar residues facing the channel coordinate a partially hydrated Mg(2+) during the transport. Based on these findings, we propos

SUBMITTER: Guskov A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3494898 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature