Ca2+-mediated higher-order assembly of heterodimers in amino acid transport system b0,+ biogenesis and cystinuria.

Yongchan Lee, Pattama Wiriyasermkul, Pornparn Kongpracha, Satomi Moriyama, Deryck J Mills, Werner Kühlbrandt, Shushi Nagamori

Nature communications 2022 May 16

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Cystinuria is a genetic disorder characterized by overexcretion of dibasic amino acids and cystine, causing recurrent kidney stones and kidney failure. Mutations of the regulatory glycoprotein rBAT and the amino acid transporter b0,+AT, which constitute system b0,+, are linked to type I and non-type I cystinuria respectively and they exhibit distinct phenotypes due to protein trafficking defects or catalytic inactivation. Here, using electron cryo-microscopy and biochemistry, we discover that Ca2+ mediates higher-order assembly of system b0,+. Ca2+ stabilizes the interface between two rBAT molecules, leading to super-dimerization of b0,+AT-rBAT, which in turn facilitates N-glycan maturation and protein trafficking. A cystinuria mutant T216M and mutations of the Ca2+ site of rBAT cause the loss of higher-order assemblies, resulting in protein trapping at the ER and the loss of function. These results provide the molecular basis of system b0,+ biogenesis and type I cystinuria and serve as a guide to develop new therapeutic strategies against it. More broadly, our findings reveal an unprecedented link between transporter oligomeric assembly and protein-trafficking diseases. © 2022. The Author(s).

Citation

Yongchan Lee, Pattama Wiriyasermkul, Pornparn Kongpracha, Satomi Moriyama, Deryck J Mills, Werner Kühlbrandt, Shushi Nagamori. Ca2+-mediated higher-order assembly of heterodimers in amino acid transport system b0,+ biogenesis and cystinuria. Nature communications. 2022 May 16;13(1):2708