Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Publication Date

6-1-2022

Journal

Journal of Biological Chemistry

Abstract

P2X receptors are a class of nonselective cation channels widely distributed in the immune and nervous systems, and their dysfunction is a significant cause of tumors, inflammation, leukemia, and immune diseases. P2X7 is a unique member of the P2X receptor family with many properties that differ from other subtypes in terms of primary sequence, the architecture of N- and C-terminals, and channel function. Here, we suggest that the observed lengthened β2- and β3-sheets and their linker (loop β2,3), encoded by redundant sequences, play an indispensable role in the activation of the P2X7 receptor. We show that deletion of this longer structural element leads to the loss of P2X7 function. Furthermore, by combining mutagenesis, chimera construction, surface expression, and protein stability analysis, we found that the deletion of the longer β2,3-loop affects P2X7 surface expression but, more importantly, that this loop affects channel gating of P2X7. We propose that the longer β2,3-sheets may have a negative regulatory effect on a loop on the head domain and on the structural element formed by E171 and its surrounding regions. Understanding the role of the unique structure of the P2X7 receptor in the gating process will aid in the development of selective drugs targeting this subtype.

Keywords

Adenosine Triphosphate, Humans, Inflammation, Protein Conformation, beta-Strand, Protein Stability, Receptors, Purinergic P2X7, Transcriptional Activation, P2X7 receptors, gating, ligand-gated ion channel, protein expression, protein structure

DOI

10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102002

PMID

35504351

PMCID

PMC9163701

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-1-2022

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Post-print

Published Open-Access

yes

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