Structural Insights Into How Clotting Proteins with GLA Domains Bind to Membrane Surfaces.

Abstract 1141

Most steps in the blood coagulation cascade obligatorily take place on membrane surfaces and are dependent on the exposure of phosphatidylserine (PS). Many coagulation proteins bind to PS-containing membrane bilayers in a calcium-dependent manner via gamma-carboxyglutamate-rich (GLA) domains. In spite of their importance, a clear picture of how GLA domains bind to the membrane interface has yet to emerge. A further intriguing aspect of the membrane's role in blood coagulation is that certain phospholipids, most notably phosphatidylethanolamine (PE), strongly synergize with PS to promote clotting reactions. The mechanisms of this synergy, and of PE's contribution to GLA domain binding, are poorly understood – although a number of hypotheses have been put forward. We now propose a new hypothesis to explain GLA domain binding to membranes, which we term the ABC (Anything But Choline) hypothesis; it invokes two main types of protein-phospholipid interactions: a single L-serine-specific binding site in each GLA domain; and multiple “phosphate-specific” interactions in which the phosphate groups of non-phosphatidylcholine phospholipids form coordination complexes with the tightly bound calcium ions in GLA domains. We have utilized liposomes and nanoscale phospholipid bilayers (Nanodiscs) in studies employing a series of techniques including solid-state NMR (SSNMR) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to address the mechanism of GLA domain-membrane interactions. We provide direct evidence in favor of the ABC hypothesis for GLA domain binding to membrane surfaces. Using SSNMR, we demonstrate that two distinct PS headgroup conformations are induced by binding of calcium ions, and that a third, novel PS headgroup conformation is induced when the prothrombin GLA domain engages the membrane. SPR studies have allowed for the determination of thermodynamic profiles of GLA domains interacting with phospholipid bilayers containing PS and/or PE, providing further insights to the mechanisms of GLA domain-membrane interactions.