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Structure and mechanogating mechanism of the Piezo1 channel

Nature volume 554, pages 487–492 (2018)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 10 September 2018

Abstract

The mechanosensitive Piezo channels function as key eukaryotic mechanotransducers. However, their structures and mechanogating mechanisms remain unknown. Here we determine the three-bladed, propeller-like electron cryo-microscopy structure of mouse Piezo1 and functionally reveal its mechanotransduction components. Despite the lack of sequence repetition, we identify nine repetitive units consisting of four transmembrane helices each—which we term transmembrane helical units (THUs)—which assemble into a highly curved blade-like structure. The last transmembrane helix encloses a hydrophobic pore, followed by three intracellular fenestration sites and side portals that contain pore-property-determining residues. The central region forms a 90?Å-long intracellular beam-like structure, which undergoes a lever-like motion to connect THUs to the pore via the interfaces of the C-terminal domain, the anchor-resembling domain and the outer helix. Deleting extracellular loops in the distal THUs or mutating single residues in the beam impairs the mechanical activation of Piezo1. Overall, Piezo1 possesses a unique 38-transmembrane-helix topology and designated mechanotransduction components, which enable a lever-like mechanogating mechanism.

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Figure 1: Overall structure of mouse Piezo1.
Figure 2: Repetitive THUs and a 38-TM topology model.
Figure 3: Beam–CTD–anchor–OH/IH interfaces.
Figure 4: The ion-conducting pathway.
Figure 5: Motion features.
Figure 6: Regions and residues critical for the mechanical activation of Piezo1.

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Acknowledgements

We thank N. Yan for critical discussion, and the Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology for facility and financial support. This work was supported by grant numbers 31630090, 2016YFA0500402, 31422027, 31371118 and 2015CB910102 to B.X.; 31570730, 2016YFA0501102 and 2016YFA0501902 to X.L.; and 21375010 to M.-Q.D., from either the National Natural Science Foundation of China or the National Key R&D Program of China. B.X. and X.L. are awardees of the Young Thousand Talent Program of China.

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Author notes

  1. Qiancheng Zhao, Heng Zhou, Shaopeng Chi and Yanfeng Wang: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences or Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Qiancheng Zhao, Heng Zhou, Shaopeng Chi, Yanfeng Wang, Jie Geng, Kun Wu, Wenhao Liu, Tingxin Zhang, Jiawei Wang, Xueming Li & Bailong Xiao

  2. Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Qiancheng Zhao, Heng Zhou, Shaopeng Chi, Yanfeng Wang, Jie Geng, Kun Wu, Wenhao Liu, Tingxin Zhang, Xueming Li & Bailong Xiao

  3. IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Qiancheng Zhao, Shaopeng Chi, Yanfeng Wang, Jie Geng, Kun Wu, Wenhao Liu, Tingxin Zhang & Bailong Xiao

  4. National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, 102206, China

    Jianhua Wang & Meng-Qiu Dong

  5. Joint Graduate Program of Peking-Tsinghua-NIBS, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Wenhao Liu & Tingxin Zhang

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Contributions

Q.Z. performed cloning, protein purification, immunostaining and EM data collection; H.Z. performed EM sample preparation, data collection and analysis; S.C., Y.W., J.G., K.W., W.L. and T.Z. carried out biochemical and functional studies; J.W. performed mass spectrometry under the supervision of M.-Q.D.; J.W. built the model; X.L. directed the EM data collection and analysis; B.X. conceived and directed the study, analysed the structure and assisted in model building, made figures and wrote the manuscript with help from all other authors.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xueming Li or Bailong Xiao.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Reviewer Information Nature thanks E. McCleskey and the other anonymous reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Extended data figures and tables

Extended Data Figure 1 Purification and cryo-EM analysis of Piezo1.

a, A representative trace of gel filtration of the full-length mouse Piezo1. UV, ultraviolet. The experiment was independently repeated more than three times with similar results. b, A representative cryo-electron micrograph of Piezo1. The experiment was independently repeated more than three times with similar results. c, Power spectrum of the micrograph in b, with the 2.74?Å frequency indicated. d, Representative 2D class averages of Piezo1 particles. e, Euler angle distribution of particles used in the final 3D reconstruction, the height of the cylinder is proportional to the number of particles for that view. f, Gold-standard Fourier shell correlation (FSC) curves of the final density map. The FSC curves were calculated with (purple) or without (red) the application of a soft mask to the two half-set maps. The final FSC curve (blue) was corrected for the soft-mask-induced effect. Reported resolutions were based on the FSC?=?0.143 criteria. g, The final 3D density map of Piezo1 shown in the indicated views is coloured according to the local resolutions estimated by the software Blocres.

Extended Data Figure 2 Flowchart of EM data processing.

Details of data processing are described in the ‘Image processing’ section of the Methods.

Extended Data Figure 3 Subtraction of the projection.

a, Subtraction of the projection of the cap and the other two blades. A distinguishable map of THU4, comprising TM13–TM16, is shown in the red dashed box. Intracellular helical layer, containing several α-helices respectively connecting to TM29, TM25, TM21, TM17 and TM13, is highlighted in the black dashed box. b, Subtraction of the projection of the three blades projection. Identifiable linkers between OH and CED as well as IH and CED are shown in the red dashed box.

Extended Data Figure 4 View of the indicated structural domains illustrates the quality of the cryo-EM density of Piezo1.

The helices are shown in cartoon representation with side chains as sticks. The cryo-EM density is shown as grey mesh.

Extended Data Figure 5 Membrane topology of mouse Piezo1.

On the basis of various membrane topology prediction algorithms, the N-terminal region contains unanimously predicted THUs (highlighted in the purple boxes) that show typical features of the structurally revealed THU7–THU9. On the basis of the resolved 3D structure and the predicted THUs, we propose that mouse Piezo1 possesses a 38-TM topology comprising 9 tandem THUs and the OH and IH (top panel). Diagrams were drawn using the TOPO2 program.

Extended Data Figure 6 The TM27–TM28 loop containing the S1240 and D1260 residues is located at the extracellular side.

Immunofluorescent staining images of cells transfected with the indicated constructs using the anti-Flag antibody either in live-labelling (top) or after fixation and permeabilization (bottom). Scale bars, 10?μm. GFP, green fluorescent protein; IRES, internal ribozyme entry site. The experiments were repeated in two coverslips with similar results.

Extended Data Figure 7 Chemically cross-linked lysine–lysine and lysine–cysteine pairs identified in mouse Piezo1.

a, b, Purified mouse Piezo1 proteins were cross-linked with BS3/DSS (a) or sulfo-GMBS (b), and then digested with trypsin. Following LC–MS/MS analysis of the peptides, cross-linked lysine pairs were identified using pLink. c, The diagram shows the cross-linked lysine pairs between residues located in the beam and other regions. The atom-to-atom distance of the cross-linked residues is shown.

Extended Data Figure 8 Conformational heterogeneity of Piezo1.

Nine classes of Piezo1 structures resulting from symmetry-free 3D classification. Conformational heterogeneity is shown by comparing different classes with the low-passed 6?Å map of the 3.97?Å map with C3 symmetry. Red arrows represent the relative movements of the blades and beams.

Extended Data Figure 9 Characterization of the Piezo1 deletion mutants.

a, b, Immunofluorescent staining images of cells transfected with the indicated constructs using the anti-Flag antibody either in live-labelling (top) or after fixation and permeabilization (bottom). Scale bars, 10?μm. The experiments were repeated in two coverslips with similar results. c, Cell surface biotinylation assay showing comparable plasma membrane expression of the indicated constructs. The experiment was independently repeated for two times with similar results. d, The glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged proteins were pulled-down by glutathione beads, followed with western blotting using the anti-GST antibody. The experiment was independently repeated twice with similar results. e, Scatter plot of the maximal poking-induced currents of Piezo1-knockout HEK293 cells transfected with the indicated mutants, which were normalized to the mouse Piezo1 current. f, Scatter plot of the maximal poking-induced currents of HEK293T cells transfected with the indicated constructs in the presence of 30?μM Yoda1. ***P?<?0.0001, one-way ANOVA with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. g, h, Scatter plot of the inactivation tau of HEK293T cells transfected with the indicated constructs in the absence (g) or presence (h) of 30?μM Yoda1. In g, P?=?0.2267 and 0.4177 (for ΔL15–16 and ΔL19–20, respectively) and in h, P?=?0.6263 and 0.6934 (for ΔL15–16 and ΔL19–20, respectively); one-way ANOVA with Dunn’s multiple comparison test (compared with Piezo1). i, Representative traces of the fluorescence signal change of the genetically encoded Ca2+ indicator, GCAMP6s, from HEK293T cells co-transfected with the indicated constructs and GCAMP6s, in response to 30?μM Yoda1. The experiment was independently repeated three times with similar results. Data in e–h are mean?±?s.e.m., and the numbers of recorded cells are indicated above the bars.

Extended Data Figure 10 Characterization of the L1342A/L1345A mutant.

a, Immunofluorescent staining images with the anti-Flag antibody either in live-labelling (top) or after fixation and permeabilization (bottom). The experiment was independently repeated three times with similar results. b, Cell-surface biotinylation assay showing comparable plasma membrane expression of the indicated constructs. The experiment was independently repeated twice with similar results. c, Representative single-channel current traces of the indicated constructs recorded at −140?mV. d, Linear regression fit of average I–V relationships of single-channel recordings of the indicated constructs. The number of recorded cells for Piezo1 and the L1342A/L1345A mutant is 5 and 7, respectively. e, Scatter plot of the unitary conductance calculated from fit of individual recordings. P?=?0.2541, unpaired, two tailed Student’s t-test. f, Scatter plot of the Imax of poking-induced currents. P?=?0.8076, unpaired, two tailed Student’s t-test. g, Structural representation of the L1342 and L1345 residues and those residues in close proximity. h, Scatter plot of the Imax of poking-induced currents of cells transfected with the indicated mutants. P?=?0.9976, 0.9281, 0.3804 and 0.9997 for T2103A, R2104A, L2512A and T2516A, respectively; one-way ANOVA with Dunn’s multiple comparison test. Data in d–f and h are mean?±?s.e.m., and the numbers of recorded cells in e and h are indicated above the bars.

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Zhao, Q., Zhou, H., Chi, S. et al. Structure and mechanogating mechanism of the Piezo1 channel. Nature 554, 487–492 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25743

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