Single particle cryo-EM structure of the outer hair cell motor protein prestin

Abstract

The mammalian outer hair cell (OHC) protein prestin (Slc26a5), a member of the solute carrier 26 (Slc26) family of membrane proteins, differs from other members of the family owing to its unique piezoelectric-like property that drives OHC electromotility. OHCs require prestin for cochlear amplification, a process that enhances mammalian hearing. Despite substantial biophysical characterization, the mechanistic basis for the prestins electro-mechanical behavior is not fully understood. To gain insight into such behavior, we have used cryo-electron microscopy at subnanometer resolution (overall resolution of 4.0 [A]) to investigate the three-dimensional structure of prestin from gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). Our studies show that prestin dimerizes with a 3D architecture strikingly similar to the dimeric conformation observed in the Slc26a9 anion transporter in an inside open/intermediate state, which we infer, based on patch-clamp recordings, to reflect the contracted state of prestin. The structure shows two well-separated transmembrane (TM) subunits and two cytoplasmic sulfate transporter and anti-sigma factor antagonist (STAS) domains forming a swapped dimer. The dimerization interface is defined by interactions between the domain-swapped STAS dimer and the transmembrane domains of the opposing half unit, further strengthened by an antiparallel beta-strand at its N terminus. The structure also shows that each one of its two transmembrane subunits consists of 14 transmembrane segments organized in two inverted 7-segment repeats with a topology that was first observed in the structure of bacterial symporter UraA (Lu F, et al., Nature 472, 2011). Finally, the solved anion binding site structural features of prestin are quite similar to that of SLC26a9 and other family members. Despite this similarity, we find that SLC26a9 lacks the characteristic displacement currents (or NonLinear Capacitance(NLC)) found with prestin, and we show that mutation of prestins Cl- binding site removes salicylate competition with anions in the face of normal NLC, thus refuting the yet accepted extrinsic voltage sensor hypothesis and any associated transport-like requirements for voltage-driven electromotility.