A revised model for the oligomeric state of the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein, NSF Journal Article


Authors: Fleming, K. G.; Hohl, T. M.; Yu, R. C.; Müller, S. A.; Wolpensinger, B.; Engel, A.; Engelhardt, H.; Brünger, A. T.; Söllner, T. H.; Hanson, P. I.
Article Title: A revised model for the oligomeric state of the N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein, NSF
Abstract: The N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive fusion protein (NSF) is an ATPase that plays an essential role in intracellular membrane trafficking, Previous reports have concluded that NSF forms either a tetramer or a trimer in solution, and that assembly of the oligomer is essential for efficient activity in membrane transport reactions. However, in recent electron microscopic analyses NSF appears as a hexagonal cylinder similar in size to related ATPases known to be hexamers. We have therefore reevaluated NSF's oligomeric state using a variety of quantitative biophysical techniques. Sedimentation equilibrium and sedimentation velocity analytical ultracentrifugation, transmission electron microscopy with rotational image analysis, scanning transmission electron microscopy, and multiangle light scattering all demonstrate that, in the presence of nucleotide, NSF is predominantly a hexamer. Sedimentation equilibrium results further suggest that the NSF hexamer is held together by oligomerization of its D2 domains. The sedimentation coefficient, s(20,w)(0), of 13.4 (+/-0.1) S indicates that NSF has unusual hydrodynamic characteristics that cannot be solely explained by its shape. The demonstration that NSF is a hexameric oligomer highlights structural similarities between it and several related ATPases which act by switching the conformational states of their protein substrates in order to activate them for subsequent reactions.
Keywords: electron-microscopy; complex; vesicular transport; docking; macromolecules; membrane-fusion; atp; light-scattering; alpha-snap; boundary analysis
Journal Title: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Volume: 273
Issue: 25
ISSN: 0021-9258
Publisher: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology  
Date Published: 1998-06-19
Start Page: 15675
End Page: 15681
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:000074284200056
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.25.15675
PROVIDER: wos
PUBMED: 9624162
Notes: Article -- Source: Wos
Altmetric
Citation Impact
BMJ Impact Analytics
MSK Authors
  1. Thomas H Sollner
    65 Sollner
  2. Tobias Martin Hohl
    105 Hohl