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Mechanistic Insight into the H2O/D2O Isotope Effect in the Proton Transport of the Influenza Virus M2 Protein

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Abstract

The M2 proton channel is essential for the replication of the flu virus and is a known drug target. The functional mechanism of channel activation and conductance is key to both the basic biology of viral replication and the design of drugs that can withstand mutations. A quantitative model was previously developed for calculating the rate of proton transport through the M2 channel. The permeant proton was assumed to diffuse to the pore, obligatorily bind to the His37 tetrad, and then dissociate and be released to either side of the tetrad. Here the model is used to calculate the effect of a change in solvent from H2O to D2O on the rate of proton transport. The solvent substitution affects two parameters in the model: the proton diffusion constant and the pK a for proton binding to the His37 tetrad. When the known effects on these two parameters are included, the deuterium isotope effect calculated from the model is in quantitatively agreement with experimental results. This strict test of the theoretical model provides strong support for the hypothesis that the permeant proton obligatorily binds to and then unbinds from the His37 tetrad. This putatively essential role of the His37 tetrad in the functional mechanism of the M2 channel makes it a promising target for designing mutation-tolerant drugs.

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Acknowledgments

I thank David D. Busath, Lawrence H. Pinto, and Timothy A. Cross for helpful comments. This work was supported in part by NIH Grants GM58187 and AI23007.

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  1. Department of Physics and Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306, USA

    Huan-Xiang Zhou

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Correspondence to Huan-Xiang Zhou.

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Zhou, HX. Mechanistic Insight into the H2O/D2O Isotope Effect in the Proton Transport of the Influenza Virus M2 Protein. J Membrane Biol 244, 93–96 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-011-9402-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00232-011-9402-6

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