We previously defined a cholesterol recognition/interaction amino acid consensus sequence [CRAC: L/V-X (1-5)-Y-X (1-5)-R/K] in the carboxyl terminus of the peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR), a high-affinity drug and cholesterol-binding protein present in the outer mitochondrial membrane protein. This protein is involved in the regulation of cholesterol transport into the mitochondria, the rate-determining step in steroid biosynthesis. Reconstituted wild-type recombinant PBR into proteoliposomes demonstrated high-affinity 2-chlorophenyl)-N-methyl-N-(1-methyl-propyl)-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide and cholesterol binding. In the present work, we functionally and structurally characterized this CRAC motif using reconstituted recombinant PBR and nuclear magnetic resonance. Deletion of the C-terminal domain of PBR and mutation of the highly conserved among all PBR amino acid sequences Y152 of the CRAC domain resulted in loss of the ability of mutant recPBR to bind cholesterol. Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of a PBR C-terminal peptide (144-169) containing the CRAC domain indicated a helical conformation for the L144-S159 fragment. As a result of the side-chain distribution, a groove that could fit a cholesterol molecule is delineated, on one hand, by Y152, T148, and L144, and, on the other hand, by Y153, M149, and A145. The aromatic rings of Y152 and Y153 assigned as essential residues for cholesterol binding constitute the gate of the groove. Furthermore, the side chain of R156 may cap the groove by interacting with the sterol hydroxyl group. These results provide structural and functional evidence supporting the finding that the CRAC domain in the cytosolic carboxyl-terminal domain of PBR might be responsible for the uptake and translocation of cholesterol into the mitochondria.

The mechanism of inhibition of human GABA(C)/GABArho receptors by protein kinase C (PKC) activation was investigated in Xenopus oocytes. Phorbol 12-myristate 13 acetate (PMA), a potent PKC activator, at 25 nM inhibited the currents through GABArho2 receptors, which have one consensus phosphorylation site by PKC in the predicted intracellular loops. The time-courses and amplitudes of inhibition were not significantly different from those occurring through GABArho1 receptors, which have six such sites. The inhibitory effect of PMA was also observed after removing each consensus phosphorylation site in both GABArho1 and rho2 receptors by site-directed mutagenesis. These results suggest that phosphorylation of consensus sites in the intracellular loops is not involved in the inhibition of human GABA(C)/GABArho receptors by PKC activation.

BACKGROUND: Summarizing and displaying the information contained in a set of aligned sequences is an important aid to identifying patterns within the sequences. A variety of forms of consensus sequences have been used previously to provide this information. However, these methods can cause a loss of information or introduce ambiguities into the consensus sequence, and some graphical approaches may become difficult to interpret due to visual distortion.
RESULTS: We have developed a method to present a more precise and graphically clear view of a consensus sequence by using an approach based on defining the major components at each position in a sequence set. The major components are given in an ordered list and their frequencies are shown as histograms which can be colour coded to reflect conservative groupings. Minor components, a one-line character-based consensus sequence and information statistics can also be presented. As well as identifying the dominant sources of variation and conservation in the sequence set, the method also enables similarities and differences between subgroups of a sequence set to be readily assessed. AVAILIABILITY: On request from the authors.
BACKGROUND: bcsmith@usthk.ust.hk, hxue@usthk. ust.hk