Structural Plasticity of Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein Assists the Lipid Transfer Activity. 2016

Venkat R Chirasani, and Prasanna D Revanasiddappa, and Sanjib Senapati
From the Bhupat and Jyoti Mehta School of Biosciences and Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.

Cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) mediates the transfer of cholesteryl esters (CEs) and triglycerides between different lipoproteins. Recent studies have shown that blocking the function of CETP can increase the level of HDL cholesterol in blood plasma and suppress the risk of cardiovascular disease. Hence, understanding the structure, dynamics, and mechanism by which CETP transfers the neutral lipids has received tremendous attention in last decade. Although the recent crystal structure has provided direct evidence of the existence of strongly bound CEs in the CETP core, very little is known about the mechanism of CE/triglyceride transfer by CETP. In this study, we explore the large scale dynamics of CETP by means of multimicrosecond molecular dynamics simulations and normal mode analysis, which provided a wealth of detailed information about the lipid transfer mechanism of CETP. Results show that the bound CEs intraconvert between bent and linear conformations in the CETP core tunnel as a consequence of the high degree of conformational flexibility of the protein. During the conformational switching, there occurred a significant reduction in hydrophobic contacts between the CEs and CETP, and a continuous tunnel traversing across the CETP long axis appeared spontaneously. Thus, our results support the recently proposed "tunnel mechanism" of CETP from cryo-EM studies for the transfer of neutral lipids between different lipoproteins. The detailed understanding obtained here could help in devising methods to prevent CETP function as a cardiovascular disease therapeutic.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D002788 Cholesterol Esters Fatty acid esters of cholesterol which constitute about two-thirds of the cholesterol in the plasma. The accumulation of cholesterol esters in the arterial intima is a characteristic feature of atherosclerosis. Cholesterol Ester,Cholesteryl Ester,Cholesteryl Esters,Ester, Cholesterol,Ester, Cholesteryl,Esters, Cholesterol,Esters, Cholesteryl
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000072417 Protein Domains Discrete protein structural units that may fold independently of the rest of the protein and have their own functions. Peptide Domain,Protein Domain,Domain, Peptide,Domain, Protein,Domains, Peptide,Domains, Protein,Peptide Domains
D013329 Structure-Activity Relationship The relationship between the chemical structure of a compound and its biological or pharmacological activity. Compounds are often classed together because they have structural characteristics in common including shape, size, stereochemical arrangement, and distribution of functional groups. Relationship, Structure-Activity,Relationships, Structure-Activity,Structure Activity Relationship,Structure-Activity Relationships
D014280 Triglycerides An ester formed from GLYCEROL and three fatty acid groups. Triacylglycerol,Triacylglycerols,Triglyceride
D053480 Cholesterol Ester Transfer Proteins Proteins that bind to and transfer CHOLESTEROL ESTERS between LIPOPROTEINS such as LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS and HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEINS. Cholesterol Ester Transfer Protein,Cholesterol Ester Transport Protein, CETP,Cholesteryl Ester Exchange Protein,Cholesteryl Ester Transfer Protein
D018360 Crystallography, X-Ray The study of crystal structure using X-RAY DIFFRACTION techniques. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed) X-Ray Crystallography,Crystallography, X Ray,Crystallography, Xray,X Ray Crystallography,Xray Crystallography,Crystallographies, X Ray,X Ray Crystallographies

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