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Cryo-EM structure of the trehalose monomycolate transporter, MmpL3, reconstituted into peptidiscs

Couston, Julie ; Guo, Zongxin ; Wang, Kaituo ; Gourdon, Pontus LU and Blaise, Mickaël (2023) In Current Research in Structural Biology 6.
Abstract

Mycobacteria have an atypical thick and waxy cell wall. One of the major building blocks of such mycomembrane is trehalose monomycolate (TMM). TMM is a mycolic acid ester of trehalose that possesses long acyl chains with up to 90 carbon atoms. TMM represents an essential component of mycobacteria and is synthesized in the cytoplasm, and then flipped over the plasma membrane by a specific transporter known as MmpL3. Over the last decade, MmpL3 has emerged as an attractive drug target to combat mycobacterial infections. Recent three-dimensional structures of MmpL3 determined by X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM have increased our understanding of the TMM transport, and the mode of action of inhibiting compounds. These structures were... (More)

Mycobacteria have an atypical thick and waxy cell wall. One of the major building blocks of such mycomembrane is trehalose monomycolate (TMM). TMM is a mycolic acid ester of trehalose that possesses long acyl chains with up to 90 carbon atoms. TMM represents an essential component of mycobacteria and is synthesized in the cytoplasm, and then flipped over the plasma membrane by a specific transporter known as MmpL3. Over the last decade, MmpL3 has emerged as an attractive drug target to combat mycobacterial infections. Recent three-dimensional structures of MmpL3 determined by X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM have increased our understanding of the TMM transport, and the mode of action of inhibiting compounds. These structures were obtained in the presence of detergent and/or in a lipidic environment. In this study, we demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a high-quality cryo-EM structure of MmpL3 without any presence of detergent through the reconstitution of the protein into peptidiscs. The structure was determined at an overall resolution of 3.2 Å and demonstrates that the overall structure of MmpL3 is preserved as compared to previous structures. Further, the study identified a new structural arrangement of the linker that fuses the two subdomains of the transmembrane domain, suggesting the feature may serve a role in the transport process.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cryo-EM, MmpL3, Mycobacteria, Peptidiscs, Trehalose monomycolate
in
Current Research in Structural Biology
volume
6
article number
100109
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • pmid:38034087
  • scopus:85178925167
ISSN
2665-928X
DOI
10.1016/j.crstbi.2023.100109
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
5f90c811-971a-4657-9522-e5fa2e4a836c
date added to LUP
2024-01-11 13:35:55
date last changed
2024-04-12 07:26:44
@article{5f90c811-971a-4657-9522-e5fa2e4a836c,
  abstract     = {{<p>Mycobacteria have an atypical thick and waxy cell wall. One of the major building blocks of such mycomembrane is trehalose monomycolate (TMM). TMM is a mycolic acid ester of trehalose that possesses long acyl chains with up to 90 carbon atoms. TMM represents an essential component of mycobacteria and is synthesized in the cytoplasm, and then flipped over the plasma membrane by a specific transporter known as MmpL3. Over the last decade, MmpL3 has emerged as an attractive drug target to combat mycobacterial infections. Recent three-dimensional structures of MmpL3 determined by X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM have increased our understanding of the TMM transport, and the mode of action of inhibiting compounds. These structures were obtained in the presence of detergent and/or in a lipidic environment. In this study, we demonstrate the possibility of obtaining a high-quality cryo-EM structure of MmpL3 without any presence of detergent through the reconstitution of the protein into peptidiscs. The structure was determined at an overall resolution of 3.2 Å and demonstrates that the overall structure of MmpL3 is preserved as compared to previous structures. Further, the study identified a new structural arrangement of the linker that fuses the two subdomains of the transmembrane domain, suggesting the feature may serve a role in the transport process.</p>}},
  author       = {{Couston, Julie and Guo, Zongxin and Wang, Kaituo and Gourdon, Pontus and Blaise, Mickaël}},
  issn         = {{2665-928X}},
  keywords     = {{Cryo-EM; MmpL3; Mycobacteria; Peptidiscs; Trehalose monomycolate}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Current Research in Structural Biology}},
  title        = {{Cryo-EM structure of the trehalose monomycolate transporter, MmpL3, reconstituted into peptidiscs}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.crstbi.2023.100109}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.crstbi.2023.100109}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}