Cytosolic domain regulates the calcium sensitivity and surface expression of BEST1 channels in the HEK293 cells

BMB Rep. 2023 Mar;56(2):172-177. doi: 10.5483/BMBRep.2022-0170.

Abstract

BEST family is a class of Ca2+-activated Cl- channels evolutionary well conserved from bacteria to human. The human BEST paralogs (BEST1-BEST4) share significant amino acid sequence homology in the N-terminal region, which forms the transmembrane helicases and contains the direct calcium-binding site, Ca2+-clasp. But the cytosolic C-terminal region is less conserved in the paralogs. Interestingly, this domain-specific sequence conservation is also found in the BEST1 orthologs. However, the functional role of the C-terminal region in the BEST channels is still poorly understood. Thus, we aimed to understand the functional role of the C-terminal region in the human and mouse BEST1 channels by using electrophysiological recordings. We found that the calcium-dependent activation of BEST1 channels can be modulated by the C-terminal region. The C-terminal deletion hBEST1 reduced the Ca2+-dependent current activation and the hBEST1-mBEST1 chimera showed a significantly reduced calcium sensitivity to hBEST1 in the HEK293 cells. And the C-terminal domain could regulate cellular expression and plasma membrane targeting of BEST1 channels. Our results can provide a basis for understanding the C-terminal roles in the structure-function of BEST family proteins. [BMB Reports 2023; 56(3): 172-177].

Publication types

  • News

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bestrophins / metabolism
  • Calcium* / metabolism
  • Cell Membrane / metabolism
  • Eye Proteins* / metabolism
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Mice

Substances

  • Bestrophins
  • Calcium
  • Eye Proteins
  • BEST1 protein, human
  • Best1 protein, mouse

Grants and funding

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank the members of the Lim laboratory for their timely help throughout the study. This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants (2021R1A2C1004884 to H.-H.L.) and the Brain Research Program of the NRF (2020M3E5D9079 to H.-H.L.) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea, and the KBRI basic research program through Korea Brain Research Institute funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT (22-BR-01-02 to H.-H.L.).