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Byrne KL, Szeligowski RV, Shen H. Phylogenetic Analysis Guides Transporter Protein Deorphanization: A Case Study of the SLC25 Family of Mitochondrial Metabolite Transporters. Biomolecules 2023; 13:1314. [PMID: 37759714 PMCID: PMC10526428 DOI: 10.3390/biom13091314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 08/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Homology search and phylogenetic analysis have commonly been used to annotate gene function, although they are prone to error. We hypothesize that the power of homology search in functional annotation depends on the coupling of sequence variation to functional diversification, and we herein focus on the SoLute Carrier (SLC25) family of mitochondrial metabolite transporters to survey this coupling in a family-wide manner. The SLC25 family is the largest family of mitochondrial metabolite transporters in eukaryotes that translocate ligands of different chemical properties, ranging from nucleotides, amino acids, carboxylic acids and cofactors, presenting adequate experimentally validated functional diversification in ligand transport. Here, we combine phylogenetic analysis to profile SLC25 transporters across common eukaryotic model organisms, from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Caenorhabditis elegans, Drosophila melanogaster, Danio rerio, to Homo sapiens, and assess their sequence adaptations to the transported ligands within individual subfamilies. Using several recently studied and poorly characterized SLC25 transporters, we discuss the potentials and limitations of phylogenetic analysis in guiding functional characterization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katie L. Byrne
- Cellular and Molecular Physiology Department, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Systems Biology Institute, Yale West Campus, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
- Yale College, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
| | - Richard V. Szeligowski
- Cellular and Molecular Physiology Department, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Systems Biology Institute, Yale West Campus, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
| | - Hongying Shen
- Cellular and Molecular Physiology Department, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
- Systems Biology Institute, Yale West Campus, West Haven, CT 06516, USA
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Giangregorio N, Pierri CL, Tonazzi A, Incampo G, Tragni V, De Grassi A, Indiveri C. Proline/Glycine residues of the PG-levels guide conformational changes along the transport cycle in the mitochondrial carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (SLC25A20). Int J Biol Macromol 2022; 221:1453-1465. [PMID: 36122779 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2022.09.135] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2022] [Revised: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondrial carnitine/acylcarnitine carrier (CAC) is a member of the mitochondrial carrier (MC) family and imports acylcarnitine into the mitochondrial matrix in exchange for carnitine, playing a pivotal role in carnitine shuttle, crucial for fatty acid oxidation. The crystallized structure of CAC has not been solved yet, however, the availability of several in vitro/in silico studies, also based on the crystallized structures of the ADP/ATP carrier in the cytosolic-conformation and in the matrix-conformation, has made possible to confirm the hypothesis of the single-binding centered-gated pore mechanism for all the members of the MC family. In addition, our recent bioinformatics analyses allowed quantifying in silico the importance of protein residues of MC substrate binding region, of those involved in the formation of the matrix and cytosolic gates, and of those belonging to the Pro/Gly (PG) levels, proposed to be crucial for the tilting/kinking/bending of the six MC transmembrane helices, funneling the substrate translocation pathway. Here we present a combined in silico/in vitro analysis employed for investigating the role played by a group of 6 proline residues and 6 glycine residues, highly conserved in CAC, belonging to MC PG-levels. Residues of the PG-levels surround the similarly located MC common substrate binding region, and were proposed to lead conformational changes and substrate translocation, following substrate binding. For our analysis, we employed 3D molecular modeling approaches, alanine scanning site-directed mutagenesis and in vitro transport assays. Our analysis reveals that P130 (H3), G268 (H6) and G220 (H5), mutated in alanine, affect severely CAC transport activity (mutant catalytic efficiency lower than 5 % compared to the wild type CAC), most likely due to their major role in triggering CAC conformational changes, following carnitine binding. Notably, P30A (H1) and G121A (H3) CAC mutants, increase the carnitine uptake up to 217 % and 112 %, respectively, compared to the wild type CAC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Giangregorio
- CNR Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy.
| | - Ciro Leonardo Pierri
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Italy, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy.
| | - Annamaria Tonazzi
- CNR Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Giovanna Incampo
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Italy, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Tragni
- CNR Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy; Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Italy, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Anna De Grassi
- Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics, University of Bari, Italy, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70126 Bari, Italy
| | - Cesare Indiveri
- CNR Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM), Via Amendola 122/O, 70126 Bari, Italy; Department DiBEST (Biologia, Ecologia, Scienze della Terra) Unit of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Calabria, Via Bucci 4C, 87036 Arcavacata di Rende, Italy
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Gong M, Zhu Q, Tan Q. Evolutionary analyses of mitochondrial carrier family of dictyostelids. SPRINGERPLUS 2016; 5:1465. [PMID: 27652040 PMCID: PMC5007236 DOI: 10.1186/s40064-016-3146-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
The transportation of solutes across the inner membrane of the mitochondria is catalyzed by a nuclear-coded family of transport proteins called mitochondrial carriers (MCs). Sequences from dictyostelid genome projects have facilitated analysis of the evolution of the dictyostelid mitochondrial carrier family (MCF). The average evolutionary distances between various regions in the MCF shows that the transmembrane region (TR) and conical pit region (CPR) are the only two conserved structural regions. A phylogenetic tree built using the concatenated orthologous TR and CPR sequences of 7 MCs showed that dictyostelids are similar to metazoans in this way. A close evolutionary relationship was observed between dictyostelids and metazoans in 4 MCs known to be related to ADP/ATP transport (MAA). This was further evidenced by the fact that dictyostelids have undergone gene expansion similar to that of metazoans during the evolution of MAA. Sequence logo analysis of CPR in MAA showed that dictyostelids have motifs similar to those of Metazoa. Combined with the conserved substrate binding site of 7 MCs in eukaryotes, it is postulated that dictyostelids are closely related to Metazoa with respect to the evolution of MAA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ming Gong
- National Engineering Research Center of Edible Fungi; Key Laboratory of Edible Fungi Resources and Utilization (South), Ministry of Agriculture; Institute of Edible Fungi, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, 201403 People's Republic of China ; Department of Computer Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182 USA
| | - Qiuming Zhu
- Department of Computer Science, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE 68182 USA
| | - Qi Tan
- National Engineering Research Center of Edible Fungi; Key Laboratory of Edible Fungi Resources and Utilization (South), Ministry of Agriculture; Institute of Edible Fungi, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai, 201403 People's Republic of China
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A critical tyrosine residue determines the uncoupling protein-like activity of the yeast mitochondrial oxaloacetate carrier. Biochem J 2012; 443:317-25. [PMID: 22236206 DOI: 10.1042/bj20110992] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
The mitochondrial Oac (oxaloacetate carrier) found in some fungi and plants catalyses the uptake of oxaloacetate, malonate and sulfate. Despite their sequence similarity, transport specificity varies considerably between Oacs. Indeed, whereas ScOac (Saccharomyces cerevisiae Oac) is a specific anion-proton symporter, the YlOac (Yarrowia lipolytica Oac) has the added ability to transport protons, behaving as a UCP (uncoupling protein). Significantly, we identified two amino acid changes at the matrix gate of YlOac and ScOac, tyrosine to phenylalanine and methionine to leucine. We studied the role of these amino acids by expressing both wild-type and specifically mutated Oacs in an Oac-null S. cerevisiae strain. No phenotype could be associated with the methionine to leucine substitution, whereas UCP-like activity was dependent on the presence of the tyrosine residue normally expressed in the YlOac, i.e. Tyr-ScOac mediated proton transport, whereas Phe-YlOac lost its protonophoric activity. These findings indicate that the UCP-like activity of YlOac is determined by the tyrosine residue at position 146.
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Luévano-Martínez LA. Uncoupling proteins (UCP) in unicellular eukaryotes: true UCPs or UCP1-like acting proteins? FEBS Lett 2012; 586:1073-8. [PMID: 22569266 DOI: 10.1016/j.febslet.2012.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2012] [Revised: 02/24/2012] [Accepted: 03/06/2012] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
Abstract
Uncoupling proteins belong to the superfamily of mitochondrial anion carriers. They are apparently present throughout the Eukarya domain in which only some members have an established physiological function, i.e. UCP1 from brown adipose tissue is involved in non-shivering thermogenesis. However, the proteins responsible for the phenotype observed in unicellular organisms have not been characterized. In this report we analyzed functional evidence concerning unicellular UCPs and found that true UCPs are restricted to some taxonomical groups while proteins conferring a UCP1-like phenotype to fungi and most protists are the result of a promiscuous activity exerted by other mitochondrial anion carriers. We describe a possible evolutionary route followed by these proteins by which they acquire this promiscuous mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Alberto Luévano-Martínez
- Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, Cidade Universitária, Av Prof Lineu Prestes 748, 05508-000 São Paulo, Brazil.
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Haferkamp I, Schmitz-Esser S. The plant mitochondrial carrier family: functional and evolutionary aspects. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2012; 3:2. [PMID: 22639632 PMCID: PMC3355725 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2012.00002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2011] [Accepted: 01/03/2012] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Mitochondria play a key role in respiration and energy production and are involved in multiple eukaryotic but also in several plant specific metabolic pathways. Solute carriers in the inner mitochondrial membrane connect the internal metabolism with that of the surrounding cell. Because of their common basic structure, these transport proteins affiliate to the mitochondrial carrier family (MCF). Generally, MCF proteins consist of six membrane spanning helices, exhibit typical conserved domains and appear as homodimers in the native membrane. Although structurally related, MCF proteins catalyze the specific transport of various substrates, such as nucleotides, amino acids, dicarboxylates, cofactors, phosphate or H(+). Recent investigations identified MCF proteins also in several other cellular compartments and therefore their localization and physiological function is not only restricted to mitochondria. MCF proteins are a characteristic feature of eukaryotes and bacterial genomes lack corresponding sequences. Therefore, the evolutionary origin of MCF proteins is most likely associated with the establishment of mitochondria. It is not clear whether the host cell, the symbiont, or the chimerical organism invented the ancient MCF sequence. Here, we try to explain the establishment of different MCF proteins and focus on the characteristics of members from plants, in particular from Arabidopsis thaliana.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilka Haferkamp
- Zelluläre Physiologie/Membrantransport, Technische Universität KaiserslauternKaiserslautern, Germany
- *Correspondence: Ilka Haferkamp, Biologie, Zelluläre Physiologie/Membrantransport, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Erwin-Schrödinger-Str. 22, 67653 Kaiserslautern, Germany. e-mail:
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