Conformationally sensitive proximity of extracellular loops 2 and 4 of the γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) transporter GAT-1 inferred from paired cysteine mutagenesis

The sodium- and chloride-coupled GABA transporter GAT-1 is a member of the neurotransmitter: sodium: symporters, which are crucial for synaptic transmission. Structural work on the bacterial homologue LeuT suggests that extracellular loop4closes the extracellular solvent pathway when the transporter becomes in wardfacing. To test whether this model can be extrapolated to GAT-1, cysteine residues were introduced at positions 359 and 448 of extracellular loop 4 and transmembrane helix 10, respectively. Treatment of HeLa cells, expressing the double cysteine mutant S359C/K448C with the oxidizing reagent copper(II)(1,10-phenantroline)₃, resulted in a significant inhibition of [³H]GABA transport. However, transport by the single cysteine mutant S359C was also inhibited by the oxidant, whereas its activity was almost 4-fold stimulated by dithiothreitol. Both effects were attenuated when the conserved cysteine residues, Cys-164 and/or Cys-173, were replaced by serine. These cysteines are located in extracellular loop 2, the role of which in the structure and function of the eukaryotic neurotransmitter: sodium: symporters remains unknown. The inhibition of transport of S359C by the oxidant was markedly reduced under conditions expected to increase the proportion of inward-facing transporters, whereas the reactivity of the mutants to a membrane-impermeant sulfhydryl reagent was not conformationally sensitive. Our data suggest that extracellular loops 2 and 4 come into close proximity to each other in the outward-facing conformation of GAT-1.