The H29D Mutation Does Not Enhance Cytosolic Ca2+ Activation of the Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor.

The N-terminal domain of the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) harbors a large number of naturally occurring mutations that are associated with stress-induced ventricular tachyarrhythmia and sudden death. Nearly all these disease-associated N-terminal mutations are located at domain interfaces or buried within domains. Mutations at these locations would alter domain-domain interactions or the stability/folding of domains. Recently, a novel RyR2 mutation H29D associated with ventricular arrhythmia at rest was found to enhance the activation of single RyR2 channels by diastolic levels of cytosolic Ca2+. Unlike other N-terminal disease-associated mutations, the H29D mutation is located on the surface of the N-terminal domain. It is unclear how this surface-exposed H29D mutation that does not appear to interact with other parts of the RyR2 structure could alter the intrinsic properties of the channel. Here we carried out detailed functional characterization of the RyR2-H29D mutant at the molecular and cellular levels. We found that the H29D mutation has no effect on the basal level or the Ca2+ dependent activation of [3H]ryanodine binding to RyR2, the cytosolic Ca2+ activation of single RyR2 channels, or the cytosolic Ca2+- or caffeine-induced Ca2+ release in HEK293 cells. In addition, the H29D mutation does not alter the propensity for spontaneous Ca2+ release or the thresholds for Ca2+ release activation or termination. Furthermore, the H29D mutation does not have significant impact on the thermal stability of the N-terminal region (residues 1-547) of RyR2. Collectively, our data show that the H29D mutation exerts little or no effect on the function of RyR2 or on the folding stability of the N-terminal region. Thus, our results provide no evidence that the H29D mutation enhances the cytosolic Ca2+ activation of RyR2.

Crystal structures of ryanodine receptor SPRY1 and tandem-repeat domains reveal a critical FKBP12 binding determinant.

Ryanodine receptors (RyRs) form calcium release channels located in the membranes of the sarcoplasmic and endoplasmic reticulum. RyRs play a major role in excitation-contraction coupling and other Ca(2+)-dependent signalling events, and consist of several globular domains that together form a large assembly. Here we describe the crystal structures of the SPRY1 and tandem-repeat domains at 1.2-1.5 Å resolution, which reveal several structural elements not detected in recent cryo-EM reconstructions of RyRs. The cryo-EM studies disagree on the position of SPRY domains, which had been proposed based on homology modelling. Computational docking of the crystal structures, combined with FRET studies, show that the SPRY1 domain is located next to FK506-binding protein (FKBP). Molecular dynamics flexible fitting and mutagenesis experiments suggest a hydrophobic cluster within SPRY1 that is crucial for FKBP binding. A RyR1 disease mutation, N760D, appears to directly impact FKBP binding through interfering with SPRY1 folding.