Selectivity of externally facing ion-binding sites in the Na/K pump to alkali metals and organic cations.

The Na/K pump is a P-type ATPase that exchanges three intracellular Na(+) ions for two extracellular K(+) ions through the plasmalemma of nearly all animal cells. The mechanisms involved in cation selection by the pump's ion-binding sites (site I and site II bind either Na(+) or K(+); site III binds only Na(+)) are poorly understood. We studied cation selectivity by outward-facing sites (high K(+) affinity) of Na/K pumps expressed in Xenopus oocytes, under voltage clamp. Guanidinium(+), methylguanidinium(+), and aminoguanidinium(+) produced two phenomena possibly reflecting actions at site III: (i) voltage-dependent inhibition (VDI) of outwardly directed pump current at saturating K(+), and (ii) induction of pump-mediated, guanidinium-derivative-carried inward current at negative potentials without Na(+) and K(+). In contrast, formamidinium(+) and acetamidinium(+) induced K(+)-like outward currents. Measurement of ouabain-sensitive ATPase activity and radiolabeled cation uptake confirmed that these cations are external K(+) congeners. Molecular dynamics simulations indicate that bound organic cations induce minor distortion of the binding sites. Among tested metals, only Li(+) induced Na(+)-like VDI, whereas all metals tested except Na(+) induced K(+)-like outward currents. Pump-mediated K(+)-like organic cation transport challenges the concept of rigid structural models in which ion specificity at site I and site II arises from a precise and unique arrangement of coordinating ligands. Furthermore, actions by guanidinium(+) derivatives suggest that Na(+) binds to site III in a hydrated form and that the inward current observed without external Na(+) and K(+) represents cation transport when normal occlusion at sites I and II is impaired. These results provide insights on external ion selectivity at the three binding sites.

Protonation of key acidic residues is critical for the K⁺-selectivity of the Na/K pump.

The sodium-potassium (Na/K) pump is a P-type ATPase that generates Na(+) and K(+) concentration gradients across the cell membrane. For each hydrolyzed ATP molecule, the pump extrudes three Na(+) and imports two K(+) by alternating between outward- and inward-facing conformations that preferentially bind K(+) or Na(+), respectively. Remarkably, the selective K(+) and Na(+) binding sites share several residues, and how the pump is able to achieve the selectivity required for the functional cycle is unclear. Here, free energy-perturbation molecular dynamics (FEP/MD) simulations based on the crystal structures of the Na/K pump in a K(+)-loaded state (E2·P(i)) reveal that protonation of the high-field acidic side chains involved in the binding sites is crucial to achieving the proper K(+) selectivity. This prediction is tested with electrophysiological experiments showing that the selectivity of the E2P state for K(+) over Na(+) is affected by extracellular pH.