STIM、Orai及其介导的钙池操纵钙内流?

STIM-Orai介导的钙池操纵钙内流(SOCE)是一种重要的钙信号产生机制.SOCE参与调控机体的基因表达、细胞增殖、器官发育、免疫反应等各类生理活动,并与多种疾病发生密切相关.本文综述了SOCE概念提出,利用RNAi及高通量筛选技术发现2种介导SOCE的蛋白的进程,并从结构和功能方面介绍了STIM、Orai蛋白家族的最新研究进展,为进一步探索STIM、Orai的功能及其相互作用机制提供一些思路.     

钙释放激活钙离子通道的发现及研究现状

Ca2+释放激活Ca2+(CRAC)通道是位于非兴奋性细胞质膜上的慢Ca2+通道,是非兴奋性细胞(尤其T淋巴细胞和HEK 293细胞)中胞外Ca2+进入细胞内的主要途径.Ca2+内流是T淋巴细胞激活的最重要的生理生化特征之一.Orai1蛋白单体是组成CRAC通道的亚基,4个Orai1蛋白亚基构成一个四聚体CRAC通道.内质网Ca2+浓度的降低使得STIM1发生定向运动并产生聚集,从而激活了CRAC通道.STIM1蛋白把内质网Ca2+的损耗与CRAC通道上的Ca2+内流联系起来,行使了Ca2+浓度感受器的功能.     

Orai1钙通道的可逆光控改造及其在果蝇疾病模型中的应用

钙释放激活的钙(Ca2+release-activated Ca2+,CRAC)通道是一种介导细胞器互作的动态组装型通道.质膜上的Orai六聚体构成其通道部分,而内质网膜上的基质相互作用分子(stromal interaction molecule,STIM)钙感受器则是通道的开关元件.CRAC通道介导的钙内流是细胞内重要的钙信号产生机制,参与调节多种关键的生理过程,如基因表达,细胞因子分泌,细胞迁移、增殖,器官发育以及免疫反应等.CRAC信号功能异常与免疫缺陷、管状聚集性肌病(tubular aggregate myopathy,TAM)以及神经退行性疾病等多种疾病的产生密切相关[1].因此,以CRAC信号通路为靶点,开发其调控工具是治疗相关疾病的重要方向.     

STIM1蛋白SOAR结构域与小分子的共结晶及X射线衍射的初步研究

钙库操纵的钙内流(Store-operated Ca2+entry)是钙离子进入细胞的一种经典方式,对于多种细胞生理活动具有重要的意义.它是由位于内质网膜上的钙离子感受器STIM1分子与细胞膜上的通道蛋白ORAI1相互作用而被激活的.其中,STIM1位于细胞质内的C端含有一段SOAR(STIM-ORAI association region)结构域,可以和ORAI1直接作用从而激活ORAI1组成的CRAC通道.考虑到STIM1在钙库操纵的钙内流过程中的重要调节作用,通过药物分子来调节STIM1的活性从而影响细胞、甚至机体的生理活动势必成为关注的方向.本实验将人类STIM1分子的SOAR结构域在大肠杆菌中异源表达,经过多种层析方法获得了纯度较高的SOAR蛋白,并通过与一种小分子——间苯二酚的共结晶,获得了复合物的晶体.X光衍射数据收集到0.21nm,并用HKL2000软件进行处理.这些数据为SOAR与间苯二酚复合物结构的解析奠定了基础.     

烟草叶肉原生质体再生壁形成的电镜研究

电镜观察表明,新分离的烟草叶肉原生质体表面光滑,在质膜外没有纤维状物质,内质网和高尔基体几乎没有发育:培养1天后,线粒体明显增加,粗面内质网和高尔基体沿质膜发育,质膜变得粗糙;2天后,质膜发生折皱,高尔基囊泡向质膜外分泌它的内含物;6天后,质膜表面出现明显松散分布的再生壁。在培养基中附加200 ppm香豆素处理,在培养1天后,质膜仍然光滑,未出现内质网和高尔基体;2天后,质膜开始变粗糙,内质网开始发育。试验表明,质膜、内质网、高尔基体在原生质体再生壁形成中起重要作用,并讨论了它们的可能作用。香豆素可能是在一定时同内,通过抑制质膜的活动和内质网、高尔基体的发育而抑制壁的再生。     

烟草叶肉原生质体再生壁形成的电镜研究

电镜观察表明,新分离的烟草叶肉原生质体表面光滑,在质膜外没有纤维状物质,内质网和高尔基体几乎没有发育:培养1天后,线粒体明显增加,粗面内质网和高尔基体沿质膜发育,质膜变得粗糙;2天后,质膜发生折皱,高尔基囊泡向质膜外分泌它的内含物;6天后,质膜表面出现明显松散分布的再生壁。在培养基中附加200 ppm 香豆素处理,在培养1天后,质膜仍然光滑,未出现内质网和高尔基体;2天后,质膜开始变粗糙,内质网开始发育。试验表明,质膜、内质网、高尔基体在原生质体再生壁形成中起重要作用,并讨论了它们的可能作用。香豆索可能是在一定时同内,通过抑制质膜的活动和内质网、高尔基体的发育而抑制壁的再生。     

动物受精过程中卵子Ca2+释放机制

Ca^2＋是动物受精过程中卵内重要的第二信使，它对于皮质颗粒的排放、减数分裂的恢复、原核形成等过程具有重要的作用，受精过程中Ca^2＋的释放机制研究是当今受精生物学研究的热点之一，已有的研究结果表明动物卵子在受精过程中有三种Ca^2＋释放机制：由1，4，5，三磷酸肌醇引发内质网中储存的Ca^2＋释放、由环腺苷酸二核苷酸磷核糖引发与其相关联的钙库Ca^2＋释放和烟酸腺嘌呤二核苷酸磷酸引发的与其相关联的钙库Ca^2＋释放．     

小鼠PICK1与Orai1蛋白质间的相互作用研究

从小鼠脑组织中提取总RNA,RT-PCR扩增PICK1及Orai1的CDS序列,构建原核表达载体GST-PICK1及真核表达载体myc-Orai1,重组质粒经SalⅠ和NotⅠ双酶切鉴定后测序.正确的质粒myc-Orai1在HEK293细胞中表达收获过表达蛋白,GST-PICK1进行原核表达并获得融合蛋白.将纯化后的GST-PICK1蛋白条带切下,进行蛋白质液相质谱分析.后将myc-Orai1蛋白与GST-PICK1蛋白混合,进行GST-pulldown实验,western-blot检测到myc-Orai1的条带.结果表明PICK1与Orai1在体外有相互作用.     

静息状态下人源STIM1分子的表达纯化及结构初探

Stormal interaction moleculer1 (STIM1) 分子作为内质网膜上的钙离子浓度感受器,是CRAC通道的重要组成部分,对于维持细胞内钙离子的稳态发挥重要的作用.本文利用活细胞共聚焦显微成像技术筛选鉴定出静息态 STIM1分子突变体,诱导其在真核系统中表达纯化,并利用负染电镜技术,对收集的蛋白单颗粒进行二维(2D)分类,得到静息态人源STIM1分子的近似模型.     

胞间连丝与胞间通道

利用电子显微镜技术、通过超薄切片获得一些胞间连丝和胞间通道的横切和纵切的结果，表明胞间连丝是由质膜形成外壁，内质网压缩形成内壁，内外壁之间的空胞是物质运输的通道，而压缩内质网消失后的胞间连丝，即胞间通道，结构简单，但运输能力增大     

Orai1 is an essential pore subunit of the CRAC channel

Stimulation of immune cells causes depletion of Ca2+ from endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stores, thereby triggering sustained Ca2+ entry through store-operated Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channels, an essential signal for lymphocyte activation and proliferation. Recent evidence indicates that activation of CRAC current is initiated by STIM proteins, which sense ER Ca2+ levels through an EF-hand located in the ER lumen and relocalize upon store depletion into puncta closely associated with the plasma membrane. We and others recently identified Drosophila Orai and human Orai1 (also called TMEM142A) as critical components of store-operated Ca2+ entry downstream of STIM. Combined overexpression of Orai and Stim in Drosophila cells, or Orai1 and STIM1 in mammalian cells, leads to a marked increase in CRAC current. However, these experiments did not establish whether Orai is an essential intracellular link between STIM and the CRAC channel, an accessory protein in the plasma membrane, or an actual pore subunit. Here we show that Orai1 is a plasma membrane protein, and that CRAC channel function is sensitive to mutation of two conserved acidic residues in the transmembrane segments. E106D and E190Q substitutions in transmembrane helices 1 and 3, respectively, diminish Ca2+ influx, increase current carried by monovalent cations, and render the channel permeable to Cs+. These changes in ion selectivity provide strong evidence that Orai1 is a pore subunit of the CRAC channel.     

The CRAC channel consists of a tetramer formed by Stim-induced dimerization of Orai dimers

Ca(2+)-release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels underlie sustained Ca(2+) signalling in lymphocytes and numerous other cells after Ca(2+) liberation from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). RNA interference screening approaches identified two proteins, Stim and Orai, that together form the molecular basis for CRAC channel activity. Stim senses depletion of the ER Ca(2+) store and physically relays this information by translocating from the ER to junctions adjacent to the plasma membrane, and Orai embodies the pore of the plasma membrane calcium channel. A close interaction between Stim and Orai, identified by co-immunoprecipitation and by F?rster resonance energy transfer, is involved in the opening of the Ca(2+) channel formed by Orai subunits. Most ion channels are multimers of pore-forming subunits surrounding a central channel, which are preassembled in the ER and transported in their final stoichiometry to the plasma membrane. Here we show, by biochemical analysis after cross-linking in cell lysates and intact cells and by using non-denaturing gel electrophoresis without cross-linking, that Orai is predominantly a dimer in the plasma membrane under resting conditions. Moreover, single-molecule imaging of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Orai expressed in Xenopus oocytes showed predominantly two-step photobleaching, again consistent with a dimeric basal state. In contrast, co-expression of GFP-tagged Orai with the carboxy terminus of Stim as a cytosolic protein to activate the Orai channel without inducing Ca(2+) store depletion or clustering of Orai into punctae yielded mostly four-step photobleaching, consistent with a tetrameric stoichiometry of the active Orai channel. Interaction with the C terminus of Stim thus induces Orai dimers to dimerize, forming tetramers that constitute the Ca(2+)-selective pore. This represents a new mechanism in which assembly and activation of the functional ion channel are mediated by the same triggering molecule.     

STIM1 is a Ca2+ sensor that activates CRAC channels and migrates from the Ca2+ store to the plasma membrane

As the sole Ca2+ entry mechanism in a variety of non-excitable cells, store-operated calcium (SOC) influx is important in Ca2+ signalling and many other cellular processes. A calcium-release-activated calcium (CRAC) channel in T lymphocytes is the best-characterized SOC influx channel and is essential to the immune response, sustained activity of CRAC channels being required for gene expression and proliferation. The molecular identity and the gating mechanism of SOC and CRAC channels have remained elusive. Previously we identified Stim and the mammalian homologue STIM1 as essential components of CRAC channel activation in Drosophila S2 cells and human T lymphocytes. Here we show that the expression of EF-hand mutants of Stim or STIM1 activates CRAC channels constitutively without changing Ca2+ store content. By immunofluorescence, EM localization and surface biotinylation we show that STIM1 migrates from endoplasmic-reticulum-like sites to the plasma membrane upon depletion of the Ca2+ store. We propose that STIM1 functions as the missing link between Ca2+ store depletion and SOC influx, serving as a Ca2+ sensor that translocates upon store depletion to the plasma membrane to activate CRAC channels.     

Oligomerization of STIM1 couples ER calcium depletion to CRAC channel activation

Ca(2+)-release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels generate sustained Ca(2+) signals that are essential for a range of cell functions, including antigen-stimulated T lymphocyte activation and proliferation. Recent studies have revealed that the depletion of Ca(2+) from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) triggers the oligomerization of stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1), the ER Ca(2+) sensor, and its redistribution to ER-plasma membrane (ER-PM) junctions where the CRAC channel subunit ORAI1 accumulates in the plasma membrane and CRAC channels open. However, how the loss of ER Ca(2+) sets into motion these coordinated molecular rearrangements remains unclear. Here we define the relationships among [Ca(2+)](ER), STIM1 redistribution and CRAC channel activation and identify STIM1 oligomerization as the critical [Ca(2+)](ER)-dependent event that drives store-operated Ca(2+) entry. In human Jurkat leukaemic T cells expressing an ER-targeted Ca(2+) indicator, CRAC channel activation and STIM1 redistribution follow the same function of [Ca(2+)](ER), reaching half-maximum at approximately 200 microM with a Hill coefficient of approximately 4. Because STIM1 binds only a single Ca(2+) ion, the high apparent cooperativity suggests that STIM1 must first oligomerize to enable its accumulation at ER-PM junctions. To assess directly the causal role of STIM1 oligomerization in store-operated Ca(2+) entry, we replaced the luminal Ca(2+)-sensing domain of STIM1 with the 12-kDa FK506- and rapamycin-binding protein (FKBP12, also known as FKBP1A) or the FKBP-rapamycin binding (FRB) domain of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR, also known as FRAP1). A rapamycin analogue oligomerizes the fusion proteins and causes them to accumulate at ER-PM junctions and activate CRAC channels without depleting Ca(2+) from the ER. Thus, STIM1 oligomerization is the critical transduction event through which Ca(2+) store depletion controls store-operated Ca(2+) entry, acting as a switch that triggers the self-organization and activation of STIM1-ORAI1 clusters at ER-PM junctions.     

The molecular choreography of a store-operated calcium channel

Store-operated calcium channels (SOCs) serve essential functions from secretion and motility to gene expression and cell growth. A fundamental mystery is how the depletion of Ca2+ from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) activates Ca2+ entry through SOCs in the plasma membrane. Recent studies using genetic approaches have identified genes encoding the ER Ca2+ sensor and a prototypic SOC, the Ca2+-release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channel. New findings reveal a unique mechanism for channel activation, in which the CRAC channel and its sensor migrate independently to closely apposed sites of interaction in the ER and the plasma membrane.     

Opening of dihydropyridine calcium channels in skeletal muscle membranes by inositol trisphosphate

In many non-muscle cells, D-inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) has been shown to release Ca2+ from intracellular stores, presumably from the endoplasmic reticulum. It is thought to be a ubiquitous second messenger that is produced in, and released from, the plasma membrane in response to extracellular receptor stimulation. By analogy, InsP3 in muscle cells has been postulated to open calcium channels in the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) membrane, which is the intracellular Ca2+ store that releases Ca2+ during muscle contraction. We report here that InsP3 may have a second site of action. We show that InsP3 opens dihydropyridine-sensitive Ca2+ channels in a vesicular preparation of rabbit skeletal muscle transverse tubules. InsP3-activated channels and channels activated by a dihydropyridine agonist in the same preparation have similar slope conductance and extrapolated reversal potential and are blocked by a dihydropyridine antagonist. This suggests that in skeletal muscle, InsP3 can modulate Ca2+ channels of transverse tubules from plasma membrane, in contrast to the previous suggestion that the functional locus of InsP3 is exclusively in the sarcoplasmic reticulum membrane.     

Molecular identification of the CRAC channel by altered ion selectivity in a mutant of Orai

Recent RNA interference screens have identified several proteins that are essential for store-operated Ca2+ influx and Ca2+ release-activated Ca2+ (CRAC) channel activity in Drosophila and in mammals, including the transmembrane proteins Stim (stromal interaction molecule) and Orai. Stim probably functions as a sensor of luminal Ca2+ content and triggers activation of CRAC channels in the surface membrane after Ca2+ store depletion. Among three human homologues of Orai (also known as olf186-F), ORAI1 on chromosome 12 was found to be mutated in patients with severe combined immunodeficiency disease, and expression of wild-type Orai1 restored Ca2+ influx and CRAC channel activity in patient T cells. The overexpression of Stim and Orai together markedly increases CRAC current. However, it is not yet clear whether Stim or Orai actually forms the CRAC channel, or whether their expression simply limits CRAC channel activity mediated by a different channel-forming subunit. Here we show that interaction between wild-type Stim and Orai, assessed by co-immunoprecipitation, is greatly enhanced after treatment with thapsigargin to induce Ca2+ store depletion. By site-directed mutagenesis, we show that a point mutation from glutamate to aspartate at position 180 in the conserved S1-S2 loop of Orai transforms the ion selectivity properties of CRAC current from being Ca2+-selective with inward rectification to being selective for monovalent cations and outwardly rectifying. A charge-neutralizing mutation at the same position (glutamate to alanine) acts as a dominant-negative non-conducting subunit. Other charge-neutralizing mutants in the same loop express large inwardly rectifying CRAC current, and two of these exhibit reduced sensitivity to the channel blocker Gd3+. These results indicate that Orai itself forms the Ca2+-selectivity filter of the CRAC channel.     

Irreversible inhibition of Ca2+ release in saponin-treated macrophages by the photoaffinity derivative of inositol-1, 4, 5-trisphosphate

D-myo-inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (InsP3) is a putative intracellular second messenger for the mobilization of Ca2+ from intracellular stores, in particular, the endoplasmic reticulum. Specific binding sites on the endoplasmic reticulum may participate in the InsP3-induced release of Ca2+ from the Ca2+ pool. To examine the specific binding sites on the endoplasmic reticulum, we synthesized an arylazide derivative of InsP3 for photoaffinity labelling; InsP3 coupled to p-azidobenzoic acid (InsP3-pAB) using N,N'-carbonyldiimidazole (CDI) was obtained at a 9-11% yield. Here, we report that InsP3-pAB, but not an arylazide derivative of inositol-1,4-bisphophate (Ins(1,4)P2), causes the irreversible inhibition of InsP3-induced release of Ca2+ in saponin-permeabilized photo-irradiated macrophages. The irreversible inhibition by InsP3-pAB after photo-irradiation was prevented by a 10-fold excess of unmodified InsP3.     

Voltage-dependent InsP3-insensitive calcium channels in membranes of pancreatic endoplasmic reticulum vesicles.

Stimulus-secretion coupling in exocrine glands involves Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. In endoplasmic reticulum vesicle preparations from rat exocrine pancreas, an inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate(InsP3)-sensitive, as well as an InsP3-insensitive, Ca2+ pool has been characterized. But Ca2+ channels in the endoplasmic reticulum of rat exocrine pancreas have not been demonstrated at the level of single-channel current. We have now used the patch-clamp technique on endoplasmic reticulum vesicles fused by means of the dehydration-rehydration method. In excised patches, single Ba2(+)- and Ca2(+)-selective channels were recorded. The channel activity was markedly voltage-dependent. Caffeine increased channel open-state probability, whereas ruthenium red and Cd2+ blocked single-channel currents. Ryanodine, nifedipine and heparin had no effect on channel activity. The channel activity was not dependent on the free Ca2+ concentration, the presence of InsP3, or pH. We conclude that this calcium channel mediates Ca2+ release from an intracellular store through an InsP3-insensitive mechanism.