Structural Studies of Inositol 1,4,5-Trisphosphate Receptor COUPLING LIGAND BINDING TO CHANNEL GATING

The three isoforms of the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor (IP3R) exhibit distinct IP3 sensitivities and cooperativities in calcium (Ca2+) channel function. The determinants underlying this isoform-specific channel gating mechanism have been localized to the N-terminal suppressor region of IP3R. We determined the 1.9 angstrom crystal structure of the suppressor domain from type 3 IP3R (IP(3)R3(SUP), amino acids 1-224) and revealed structural features contributing to isoform-specific functionality of IP3R by comparing it with our previously determined structure of the type 1 suppressor domain (IP(3)R1(SUP)). The molecular surface known to associate with the ligand binding domain (amino acids 224-604) showed marked differences between IP3R3SUP and IP3R1SUP. Our NMR and biochemical studies showed that three spatially clustered residues (Glu-20, Tyr-167, and Ser-217 in IP(3)R1 and Glu-19, Trp-168, and Ser-218 in IP(3)R3) within the N-terminal suppressor domains of IP(3)R1SUP and IP(3)R3(SUP) interact directly with their respective C-terminal fragments. Together with the accompanying paper (Yamazaki, H., Chan, J., Ikura, M., Michikawa, T., and Mikoshiba, K. (2010) J. Biol. Chem. 285, 36081-36091), we demonstrate that the single aromatic residue in this region (Tyr-167 in IP(3)R1 and Trp-168 in IP(3)R3) plays a critical role in the coupling between ligand binding and channel gating.