Lipid exchange in crystal-confined Fatty Acid Binding Proteins: X-ray
evidence and Molecular Dynamics explanation
Abstract
Fatty Acid Binding Proteins (FABPs) are responsible for the long-chain
fatty acids transport inside the cell. But despite the years since their
structure is known and the many stud- ies published, there is no
definitive answer about the stages of the lipid entry-exit mechanism.
Their structure forms a β- barrel of 10 anti-parallel strands
with a cap in a helix–turn–helix motif, and there is some consensus on
the role of the so- called portal region, involving the second
α-helix from the cap ( α2), βC– βD and
βE- βF turns in fatty acids exchange. To test the idea of
a lid that opens, we performed a soaking experiment on an h-FABP crystal
in which the cap is part of the packing contacts, and its movement is
strongly restricted. Even in these conditions, we observed the
replacement of palmitic acid by 2-Bromohexadecanoic acid (Br-palmitic
acid). Our MD simulations reveal a two-step lipid entry process: i.- The
travel of the lipid head through the cavity in the order of tens of
nanoseconds, and ii.- The accommodation of its hy- drophobic tail in
hundreds to thousands of nanoseconds. We observed this even in the cases
in which the fatty acids en- ter the cavity by their tail. During this
process, the fatty acids do not follow a single trajectory, but multiple
ones through which they get into the protein cavity. Thanks to the com-
plementary views between experiment and simulation, we can give an
approach to a mechanistic view of the exchange process.