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Journal of Virology, September 2005, p. 12065-12076, Vol. 79, No. 18
0022-538X/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JVI.79.18.12065-12076.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Alex L. Lai,
John H. Bushweller,
David S. Cafiso, and
Lukas K. Tamm*
Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Received 6 May 2005/ Accepted 21 June 2005
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The
structurally and functionally best-characterized class I fusion protein
is the hemagglutinin (HA) of influenza virus. Therefore, it has become
the prototypic system to study mechanisms of viral membrane fusion
(16,
31). Influenza virus
enters cells by receptor-mediated endocytosis and subsequent fusion of
the viral and endosomal membranes triggered by the pH
5
environment in the endosome. Influenza virus HA is a complex of six
polypeptide chains with the stoichiometry (HA1/HA2)3. The
HA2 transmembrane subunits bear the major responsibility for membrane
fusion. Upon exposure to pH 5, HA2 undergoes a massive conformational
change (6,
52), which results in
exposure of the hydrophobic "fusion domain" at the N
terminus. Because energy is released, this conformational change has
been described as spring-loaded (8). A second conformational change
reverses the direction of the C terminus and brings it into close
proximity to the N terminus of the postfusion structure of the
ectodomain
(9).
Although structural studies of the soluble domains of HA2 have yielded many insights into the "engine" that drives membrane fusion, they provided little information on how the released energy is transmitted into the membrane and how the "handles" of this machine shape the membranes into fusion-competent structures. This task falls to the fusion and transmembrane (TM) domains of HA2. The fusion and TM domains are not present in the crystal structures of the fusogenic conformations of HA or any other viral fusion protein.
Fusion domains have highly conserved, very hydrophobic, and glycine-rich sequences (14, 42, 47). Even conservative single-site mutations in these sequences can impair or completely eliminate the fusion activity of fusion proteins. Several mutagenesis studies indicate that the glycine at the extreme N terminus of HA2 is particularly critical in determining the fusion phenotype of influenza virus HA (10, 21, 36, 43). The only tolerated change in this position appears to be a mutation of Gly-1 to an alanine. Changes to more polar or more hydrophobic residues result in a complete loss of activity. A particularly interesting mutant is G1S, because replacing Gly-1 with a serine facilitates lipid mixing but not contents mixing (43). This behavior is the hallmark of "hemifusion," i.e., an intermediate state in which the contacting lipid monolayers are believed to be merged but the distal lipid monolayers are still intact and separated (10, 36).
We have
recently determined the atomic structures and an associated
pH-dependent conformational change of the fusion domain of influenza
virus HA in lipid bilayers using a combined nuclear magnetic resonance
(NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) approach
(26). The fusion domain
adopts a V-shaped structure with a kink around Asn-12. The N-terminal
arm of the V is
-helical with a glycine ridge on the outer
surface. The C-terminal arm is also helical at pH 5 but not at pH 7.
The binding of the fusion domains of the critical fusion mutants G1S
and G1V to lipid bilayers has been measured by isothermal titration
calorimetry and fluorescence and has been compared to that of the
wild-type fusion domain
(33). The free energy and
enthalpy of binding of G1V were significantly reduced compared to those
of the wild-type and G1S, which were similar to one another.
In the present work, we determined the structures of the G1S and G1V mutants in detergent micelles by NMR and measured the dispositions of these structures in lipid bilayers by spin-label EPR and attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The differences between G1S and the wild type were subtle and local, whereas the G1V mutation induced global structural changes that were evident by all three spectroscopic methods and in different model membranes. The results provide the first structural evidence for the hemifusion intermediate in any fusion domain and suggest a mechanism of how functional fusion domains interact with target membranes in the course of membrane fusion.
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Liposomes. Small unilamellar vesicles were prepared by mixing four parts of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine (POPC) and one part of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) (Avanti Polar Lipid, Alabaster, AL) in chloroform, evaporating the solvent under a stream of nitrogen, rehydrating and vortexing the lipid dispersions in 5 mM HEPES, 10 mM morpholineethanesulfonic acid (MES) buffer, pH 5, followed by sonication with a probe sonicator for 30 min at 50% duty cycle on ice. Phospholipid concentrations were determined by phosphorus assay (2). Large unilamellar vesicles (100 nm in diameter) of the same lipid composition were prepared by extrusion through polycarbonate membranes as described (27).
NMR spectroscopy. NMR measurements were carried out at 30°C on a Varian Innova 600-MHz NMR spectrometer. The samples contained 2 mM peptide, 400 mM d38-dodecylphosphocholine in 0.05% NaN3, 5 mM dithiothreitol, 20 mM d4-acetic acid, pH 5 buffer (95% H2O/5% deuterium oxide). Resonances were assigned from total correlated spectroscopy (TOCSY) and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY) spectra with 56- and 80-ms mixing times, respectively. Nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) upper distance constraints were determined from NOESY spectra with a mixing time of 80 ms.
Spin-label EPR spectroscopy.
Continuous-wave power saturation EPR
measurements were performed with a Varian E-line Century Series EPR
spectrometer with a two-loop, one-gap X-band resonator. The samples
contained 100 µM spin-labeled peptide bound to extruded large
unilamellar lipid vesicles (POPC:POPG, 4:1) at a total phospholipid
concentration of 100 mM in 5 mM HEPES, 10 mM MES, pH 7.4 or 5. Power
saturation curves were obtained from the peak-to-peak amplitude of the
central (M = 0) line of the first derivative EPR
spectra under three conditions: equilibrated with N2,
equilibrated with air, and equilibrated with N2 in the
presence of 20 mM
Ni-ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid (EDDA).
The depth of the spin label in the membrane was derived from the depth
parameter
=
ln{[P1/2(O2)
P1/2(N2)]/[P1/2(NiEDDA)
P1/2(N2)]}
(1), which was
calibrated with 0.1% of spin-labeled phosphatidylcholines in POPC:POPG
(4:1) bilayers with doxyl nitroxides in positions 5, 7, 10, and 12
along the sn-2 alkyl chain
(12).
ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.
The ATR-FTIR spectra of peptides bound to planar phospholipid bilayers of
1,2-myristoyl-3-sn-phosphatidylcholine/POPC:POPG (4:1)
supported on germanium ATR plates and in 5 mM HEPES, 10 mM MES, pH 5,
buffer were recorded on a Bruker Vector 22 Fourier transform infrared
spectrometer. Experimental procedures and data evaluation were as
described (29). Average
orientations of the peptides in lipid bilayers were determined from the
dichroic ratios of the amide I' bands and the resulting order
parameters which are defined as S =
3cos2
1
/2, where
is the angle from the membrane normal and the angle brackets denote an
ensemble average of all angles present in the sample
(48).
Structure calculation. Structures were calculated with the program DYANA (25). The input consisted of the NOE upper distance constraints and dihedral angle constraints derived from the program HABAS (24). Following the torsion angle dynamics calculations, the 20 conformers with the lowest target function values were subjected to energy minimization using the AMBER force field implemented in the program OPAL (34). The resulting 20 energy-minimized conformers were used to represent the structures of G1S and G1V in dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) micelles at pH 5.
Docking of NMR structures to lipid bilayers.
A preconstructed
1-oxyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethyl-
3-pyrroline-3-methyl
(MTSSL) structure was inserted with the program InsightII into the NMR
structures at the three labeled sites. The dihedral angles
1 and
2 of the spin label were
set to 300° to match the dominant conformation observed for the
MTSSL-derivatized cysteine in proteins
(32). The structures were
then docked by least-squares analysis to the experimentally measured
parameters until the best agreement between model and
experiment was obtained. A POPC bilayer simulated by molecular dynamics
(50) was used to
represent the membrane.
Protein structure accession numbers. Coordinates G1S and G1V have been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under accession numbers 1XOO and 1XOP, respectively.
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-helical content
(33). The circular
dichroism spectra of wild-type and G1S fusion domains in lipid bilayers
were very similar to one another, but G1V exhibited a spectrum that was
indicative of a lower helical content. Very similar spectra were
obtained in DPC micelles (data not
shown).
Structures of G1S and G1V in detergent micelles.
We recently solved
by NMR the structure of the wild-type fusion domain in DPC micelles.
Site-directed spin labeling further showed that the same structure is
present in lipid bilayers
(26). We have now solved
the NMR structures of G1S and G1V in DPC micelles at pH 5. Backbone and
side chain resonances were assigned based on TOCSY and NOESY spectra
recorded at 600 MHz (Table
1). Figure 1 shows the amide
proton (HN) and
-carbon proton (H
) chemical shift
differences between the mutant and the wild-type fusion domains.
Chemical shift differences from random coil chemical shifts of backbone
protons are highly indicative of polypeptide secondary structure
(53). The differences between the mutant and wild-type fusion domains are
greatest at the N terminus, but significant differences are seen to
extend deeply into the fusion domain structure. Despite the obvious
differences between the three peptides, the differences of the
H
(HN) chemical shifts from the random coil values are still
negative (positive), indicative of stable helical structures of the
N-terminal halves of each molecule.
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TABLE 1. Chemical shifts and assignments of backbone and side chain protons of wild-type, G1S, and G1V fusion domains in DPC micelles at pH 5.0a
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FIG. 1. Backbone
1H chemical shift differences indicating structural
differences between mutant and wild-type fusion domains bound to DPC
micelles at pH 5. A, Differences between G1S and wild-type fusion
domains. B, Differences between G1V and wild-type fusion
domains.
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TABLE 2. Structural
statistics of the NMR structures of G1S and G1V
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FIG. 2. Structures
of G1S, G1V, and wild-type fusion domains in DPC micelles determined at
pH 5 by 1H-NMR spectroscopy. (A) 20 conformers representing
the structure of G1S are shown in blue. For comparison, the
"most typical" conformer of the wild-type fusion domain
is superimposed in red on the family of G1S conformers. (B) Twenty
conformers representing the structure of G1V are shown in blue. For
comparison, the "most typical" conformer of the
wild-type fusion domain is superimposed in red on the family of G1V
conformers. (C) Ribbon representation of the closest-to-the-mean
conformer of the G1S structure with side chains inserted. (D) Ribbon
representation of the closest-to-the-mean conformer of the G1V
structure with side chains inserted. (E) Ribbon representation of the
closest-to-the-mean conformer of the wild-type structure with side
chains inserted. (F) End-on views of the N-terminal helices of
wild-type, G1S, and G1V fusion domains. The first, second, third, and
fourth turns of the G1S helix are labeled. (G) GRASP
(44)-generated
electrostatic surface potential representations of the structures of
wild-type, G1S, and G1V fusion domains at pH 5. Negative, positive, and
neutral potentials are shown in red, blue, and white, respectively.
Side, top, and bottom views are shown for each structure, and several
residues are labeled for
reference.
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The overall shape of G1S resembles
that of the wild-type peptide. Both molecules form a shallow-angle
inverted V. G1S has an N-terminal
-helix that extends from Leu
2 to Asn 12, a break at Gly 13 and Trp 14, and a short
310-helix between Glu 15 and Ile 18. As in the wild-type
peptide, the kink in the middle of G1S is defined by distance
constraints derived from NOEs between H
of Ile 10 and HN of
Trp 14 and between H
of Ile 10 and H
3 of Trp 14
(shown as an example in Fig.
3B), several backbone short-range NOE distance constraints, and several
chemical shift-derived angle constraints. The kinked amphipathic
structure ensures an oblique insertion of the two arms of the V with
all hydrophobic residues penetrating deeply into the lipid bilayer
(26).
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FIG. 3. Sections
of NOESY spectra comparing NOEs that contribute to the definition of
the different structures observed for the wild-type (WT), G1S, and G1V
fusion domains in DPC micelles at pH 5. (A to C) NOE between H
of Ile 10 and He3 of Trp 14 is present in the wild-type and G1S but
absent in the G1V structure. (D to E) NOE between N-terminal H
and HN of Phe 3 is present in G1S but very weak in the wild-type
structure. (F to G) NOE between HN of Gly 13 and HN of Trp 14 is
present in G1V but absent in the wild-type structure. All spectra were
obtained under the same conditions and are plotted at the same contour
level in each row. The thicker black lines are one-dimensional sections
through the spectra at the positions of the indicated
peaks.
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and
HN resonances of Gly 13 (Table
1 and Fig.
1) and differences of NOEs
between HN of Gly 13 and HN of Trp 14, which is absent in the wild-type
but present in the G1S peptide. A second subtle difference is that the
N-terminal helix of G1S is more distorted than that of the wild-type
peptide. The NOE from the N-terminal H
to the HN of Phe 3 is
strong in G1S (Fig. 3E),
but very weak in the wild-type peptide (Fig.
3D). The N-terminal end of
G1S but not of the wild-type peptide is overwound. This distortion is
due to the formation of a hydrogen bond from the backbone NH of Gly 4
to the side chain O
of Ser 1, which forces the backbone NH of
Ala 5 rather than Gly 4 to hydrogen bond to the backbone CO of Ser 1.
This causes the side chain of Ser 1 of G1S to point upwards and disrupt
a smooth "glycine edge" that is formed by Gly 1, Gly 4,
and Gly 8 at the top of the N-terminal arm of the wild-type
structure.
The structure of G1V in DPC micelles is quite
different from the other two structures. Rather than forming a V, G1V
adopts a linear amphipathic helical structure. The different structure
of G1V is determined by quite significant differences of
and
angle constraints that are derived from the different
chemical shifts of the two molecules (Table
1, Fig.
1) and several
medium-range NOE differences. For example, the NOEs between backbone
and side chain protons of Ile 10 and Trp 14 (H
-H
3, H
-HN), which contribute
to constraining the structures of the wild-type and G1S peptides to the
V's, are missing in the NOESY spectrum of G1V as shown in Fig.
3A, B, and C. In addition,
many backbone short-range NOEs in this region are different among the
three molecules and therefore define a turn in the wild-type and G1S
but not in the G1V peptide. For example, the NOE between the HN of Gly
13 and HN of Trp 14 is strong in G1V (Fig.
3G), but absent in the
wild-type peptide (Fig.
3F). Finally, many side
chain NOEs are different between the wild-type and G1V peptides in both
halves of these structures. In conclusion, the sum of these many
different constraints results in an irregular linear helical structure
of G1V that extends from Phe 3 to Ile 18, as shown in Fig.
2B, D, F, and
G.
Disposition of G1S and G1V in the lipid bilayer. We previously showed by site-directed spin labeling that the wild-type fusion domain inserts into membranes with its apex positioned at the polar head group level of the lipid bilayer (26). We now used the same technology to measure the disposition of G1S and G1V in lipid bilayers. The two peptides were each synthesized with individual Cys substitutions in positions 3, 11, and 18 and labeled with the nitroxide spin label MTSSL in these positions. These positions were selected because they should define the approximate position of the fusion domains in the membrane and they should also indicate whether or not their structures are kinked in lipid bilayers. Power saturation EPR spectra were recorded for each of these peptides bound to lipid bilayers composed of POPC:POPG (4:1) in the presence of N2, O2, and NiEDDA. This method allows one to determine the depth of the nitroxide group in the lipid bilayer with a precision of approximately ±2 Å as is described in more detail elsewhere (1).
The depths in the lipid bilayer of the site-specific spin labels of the three molecules are shown in Fig. 4. G1S adopts a kinked structure very similar to that of the wild-type peptide in lipid bilayers, whereas G1V is more linear. The slight apparent bend of G1V is not intrinsic to the peptide but results from the fact that the side chain of Glu 11 projects from the opposite side of the linear helix than the side chains of Phe 3 and Ile 18 (Fig. 2D and G). Although Leu 2 at the N termini of all three structures penetrates the bilayer to approximately the same depth (17 to 19 Å), the linear and overall more hydrophobic G1V domain is more deeply buried in the bilayer. The irregular helix of G1V is oriented at an angle of 24 ± 7° to the plane of the membrane. This is less than the 38 ± 7° observed for the N-terminal arm of the wild-type structure. This difference is likely significant because the error estimates are based on assuming the most extreme cumulative depth errors and, therefore, were chosen very conservatively.
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FIG. 4. Depth
of three critical spin-labeled residues (Phe 3, Glu 11, and Ile 18) of
wild-type, G1S, and G1V fusion domains in POPC:POPG (4:1) bilayers at
pH 5. The depths were determined by fitting EPR spectra at increasing
microwave powers in the presence of O2, N2, and
NiEDDA to power saturation curves and ratioing the half-saturation
powers in the presence of the different spin-relaxation agents as
described in Materials and Methods. Inset: Best-fit calculated
distances from NMR structures (abscissa) to experimental EPR depth
parameters (ordinate) for wild-type, G1S, G1V, and four spin-labeled
lipids used for depth calibration. All data fit the theoretical fitting
function = Atanh[B(x
C] + D, where A,
B, C, and D are constants as described by
Frazier et al.
(19).
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FIG. 5. Wild-type(WT), G1S, and G1V fusion domain structures docked to POPC bilayers
using the experimental depth data of Fig.
4. C termini are
on the left and N termini are on the right. The polar lipid head groups
and glycerol backbones are shown in orange, and the aliphatic side
chains are shown in green in the molecular dynamic-simulated lipid
bilayers.
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1,650 cm1 which is characteristic of
-helical (and possibly some irregular) secondary structures
(48). When the
concentration of G1S was increased to a high level, bands at
1,628 and 1,685 cm1 appeared, which
indicate the presence of antiparallel ß-sheet structures
(48). Beta-sheet
formation was much more dramatic for G1V and started at relatively
moderate concentrations. The lipid concentrations (surface densities)
in the supported bilayers did not change when the fusion domain
concentrations were increased, as is evident from the approximately
constant lipid ester carbonyl band at
1,730
cm1. Thus, the wild-type fusion domain remains
largely helical throughout the entire surface concentration range, but
the mutants, particularly G1V, gradually convert to sizeable fractions
of antiparallel ß-sheet as their surface concentrations are
increased.
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FIG. 6. ATR-FTIR
spectra of wild-type, G1S, and G1V peptides bound to supported bilayers
of POPC:POPG (4:1) at increasing concentrations at pH 5. Spectra were
recorded after successive injections, from bottom to top, of 10, 20,
40, 80, and 100 µg/ml peptide and subsequent flushing of the
cell with deuterium oxide buffer. The band at 1,735
cm1 arises from the lipid ester carbonyl groups,
and the complex band between 1,600 and 1,700 cm1 is
the amide I' band from the bound fusion
domains.
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The boomerang is preserved in the hemifusion mutant G1S, but the N-terminal helix is slightly distorted. Most importantly, the serine side chain disrupts the smooth glycine ridge of the N-terminal helix in G1S. The boomerang structure is most likely preserved in lipid bilayer model membranes, as indicated by the site-directed spin labeling and polarized ATR-FTIR results. When docked into membranes, the N terminus points up towards the membrane interface and is presumably responsible for the slightly shallower location of the G1S structure compared to the wild-type structure in the membrane. The shallower location of G1S is paralleled by a free energy of binding to lipid bilayers that is 0.8 kcal/mol less negative than that of the wild-type fusion domain (33). Most of this free energy difference is enthalpic; the entropy change due to binding is almost the same for the G1S and wild-type fusion domains.
The
fusion-blocking mutant G1V does not adopt the boomerang shape in
detergent micelles or lipid bilayers. It is a linear molecule with a
distorted
-helical structure that inserts into the membrane
with a shallow tilt angle of approximately 24° from the membrane
surface. (Polarized ATR-FTIR spectroscopy shows that G1V is oriented at
about 10° from the membrane surface. We place more weight on the
site-directed spin-labeled EPR experiment because the measurement is
localized to the N-terminal helix, whereas the ATR-FTIR measurement
considers the average orientation of all residues. Moreover, the EPR
measurements are conducted in lipid vesicles, whereas the ATR-FTIR
experiments are conducted in planar-supported membranes, which, even if
fully hydrated, undergo fewer collective dynamic motions, such as,
e.g., undulations, than bilayers in vesicles. Polarized ATR-FTIR
spectra indicate average angles of 33° and 30° for the
wild-type and G1S structures, respectively, from the membrane
surface.)
Consistent with the NMR structure, circular dichroism spectroscopy also shows that G1V is about 35% less helical than the wild-type and G1S in detergent micelles and lipid bilayers (17). Although the amphiphilic G1V rod inserts into lipid bilayers as deeply as the wild-type and G1S boomerangs, its free energy of binding to lipid bilayers is only 5.8 kcal/mol, compared to 7.6 kcal/mol for binding of the wild-type structure to lipid bilayers (33). The binding of the wild-type and G1S structures is driven by a large favorable change in enthalpy but opposed by entropy. This mechanism of binding is known as the "nonclassical" hydrophobic effect. Although the binding of G1V to lipid bilayers is also driven by the nonclassical hydrophobic effect, the effect is not as dramatic: the enthalpy of binding of the wild-type structure is 16.5 kcal/mol compared to only 9.2 kcal/mol for G1V (33). Apparently, the wild-type and G1S boomerang structures "fit" better into the liquid crystalline structure of the lipid bilayer than the linear rod structure of G1V, leading to much larger enthalpic contributions to the total binding free energy. The "bad fit" of the G1V fusion domain in lipid bilayers is also the most likely reason for the dramatically increased propensity of G1V to aggregate into ß-structures at higher surface concentrations (Fig. 6). This process is associated with a free energy of self-association of 3.5 kcal/mol (33).
It
is rather unusual in soluble peptides that single-amino-acid changes at
a terminus have such dramatic effects on their structures. However,
terminal single-amino-acid changes can have quite far-reaching effects
in membrane-bound peptides. The high thermodynamic cost of transferring
the hydroxyl group of Ser 1 into the bilayer is avoided in G1S by
forming a hydrogen bond between its oxygen and the backbone NH of Gly
4. As a result, the backbone CO of Ser 1 hydrogen bonds to the backbone
NH of Ala 5 instead of Gly 4 as seen in the wild-type domain. Val 1 is
rotated deep into the bilayer, which forces Phe 3 up towards the
interface in G1V. These membrane interactions disrupt some regular
-helical hydrogen bonds and position the helix more parallel
to the membrane surface. Taken together, we conclude that the angle at
Asn 12, i.e., the boomerang shape, is required for hemifusion and that
a small residue (Gly or Ala) at the tip of the N-terminal arm of the
boomerang is required to support full
fusion.
Comparison with earlier work.
In another recent
ATR-FTIR study of G1S and G1V, G1V was found inserted into membranes as
a perpendicular
-helix
(18). We suspect that
their very different results are due to differences in sample
preparation. Epand et al. added fusion peptides in methanol to lipid
bilayers and let them dry on germanium plates, whereas our EPR and
ATR-FTIR measurements were conducted under physiological buffer
conditions. We and others have shown previously that solvents can have
dramatic effects on the structures of membrane-associated polypeptides
and that the orientation of amphipathic peptides can be rotated by as
much as 90° in suboptimally hydrated membranes
(11,
20). We therefore believe
that the perpendicular insertion of G1V that was observed by Epand et
al. should be viewed with caution.
Fusion domain mutations may
now be revisited on the basis of our new structural model in order to
identify features that might contribute to their activity. Gly 1, Phe
3, Ala 5, Ala 7, Gly 8, Phe 9, Glu 11, Gly 13, Trp 14, Gly 16, and Trp
21 of HA2 are absolutely conserved in all strains of influenza virus
(14). This includes four
glycines on the top and four aromatic residues that make up the
hydrophobic pocket on the bottom of the molecule. Only conservative
changes are permissible at Leu 2, Ile 10, Asn 12, Met 17, and Ile 18.
Therefore, the amphipathic N-terminal helix and the
105°
angle formed by residues Glu 11, Asn 12, Gly 13, and Trp 14 are
extremely well conserved, strongly supporting the notion that both
structural elements are critical for activity not only in the peptide
model system, but also in complete HA. Interestingly, the charged
residues Glu 15 and Asp 19 and also Gly 20 in the C-terminal arm are
relatively variable across different influenza virus strains,
indicating that the top face of the C-terminal arm of the boomerang is
less critical for fusion. The variability of Gly 4 and Ile 6 is
puzzling and requires further
investigation.
Proposed mechanism. The requirement for a smooth tip at the end of the glycine edge on the N-terminal arm raises interesting mechanistic questions about how the hemifusion intermediate progresses to full fusion. A glycine-rich surface on a membrane-inserted helix may be an ideal interface to interact with other helices in membranes. Glycophorin A, for example, forms a TM helix dimer through a motif that includes a blunt surface formed by Gly 79 and Gly 83 of one subunit juxtaposed to a bulky surface formed by Ile 76, Val 80, and Val 84 of the other subunit (35). Perhaps the fusion domain interacts with the TM domain of HA in a similar fashion. This scenario is supported by the fact that the TM domain of influenza virus HA promotes conversion of the hemifused to the fully fused state (3, 30, 37, 38). The finding that G1S and a mutant with a shortened TM domain exhibited the same hemifusion phenotype (3) is consistent with an interaction of these two domains at a late step in membrane fusion. A recently determined refined crystal structure of the low-pH conformation of the HA2 ectodomain also places the N- and C-terminal ends of the truncated HA2 chain and thus the (deleted) fusion and TM peptides in close proximity to each other (9).
Based on these observations, we suggest a mechanism for HA-mediated membrane fusion (Fig. 7). Our model is similar to previously proposed "cast-retrieve" models (55), but includes structural detail that has become available in the past several years. The neutral-pH structure of HA is metastable and spring-loaded (7). The pH change triggers the conformational change, which in turn propelsthe fusion domains toward the target membrane (6), where they insert by folding into the boomerang-shaped conformation (26). Tilting of the ectodomains pulls the target towards the viral membrane (23, 49). In this process, the C-terminal "leash" sequence of the ectodomain is redirected in a second conformational change towards the N terminus and gets packed into the groove between adjacent helices of the core coiled coils (9). The close juxtaposition of the two membranes and the lipid-perturbing effect of the fusion domains facilitate lipid exchange between the two proximal leaflets of the bilayers, which is phenomenologically equivalent to hemifusion. (The shape of the fusion domain does not in itself support negative membrane curvature, as has been hypothesized in some models of membrane fusion.)
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FIG. 7. Boomerang
mechanism of influenza virus hemagglutinin-mediated membrane fusion.
(A) The pH-induced spring-loaded conformational change in the
ectodomain (6,
7) (not shown) thrusts the
three boomerang-shaped fusion domains into the target membrane, where
7.6 kcal/mol of free energy is gained for each inserted domain. (B) The
ectodomains tilt relative to the viral membrane plane
(23,
49) and the boomerangs
retrieve the target membrane and bring it into close juxtaposition with
the viral membrane. The extended C-terminal "leashes"
of the HA2 subunit pack into the grooves of the newly extended triple
coiled coils at the N terminus and thereby bring the truncated N and C
termini of HA2 into close proximity
(9). Lipid exchange
between the proximal leaflets, but not between the distal leaflets of
the bilayer, can occur at this stage, which sometimes is also referred
to as the hemifused state
(10,
36). The boomerang shape
of the fusion domain is required for the transition from A to B. For
simplicity, only one fusion and one TM domain are shown, although it is
known that three fusion and TM domains from several trimers all
participate in a single fusion pore
(4,
5,
13,
40). (C) In this model
the fusion and TM domains interact by virtue of the glycine edge of the
fusion domain to open the fusion pore. We hypothesize that once the
proximal monolayers are sufficiently perturbed, the fusion domains
latch onto the TM domains and glide down the TM domains. They thereby
perturb not only the proximal but also the distal monolayers and thus
open a first conductive fusion pore
(39,
44). This event requires
a TM domain that contains at least 17 hydrophobic residues
(3) and a smooth glycine
edge on the fusion domain
(43). The fusion pore
eventually dilates and permits unrestricted lipid flow in both leaflets
of the bilayer. Again, only one fusion and one TM domain are shown for
simplicity.
|
Present
address: DuPont Haskell Laboratory for Health and Environmental
Sciences, Newark, DE 19714. ![]()
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