The substituted-cysteine scanning method (SCAM) is used to study conformational changes in proteins. Experiments using SCAM involve site-directed mutagenesis to replace native amino acids with cysteine and subsequent exposure to a methanethiosulfonate (MTS) reagent such as methanethiosulfonate ethylammonium (MTSEA). These reagents react with substituted-cysteines and can provide functional information about relative positions of amino acids within a protein. In the human heart voltage-gated Na+ channel hNav1.5 there is a native cysteine at position C373 that reacts rapidly with MTS reagents resulting in a large reduction in whole-cell Na+ current (INa). Therefore, in order to use SCAM in studies in this isoform, this native cysteine is mutated to a non-reactive residue, e.g., tyrosine. This mutant, hNav1.5-C373Y, is resistant to the MTS-mediated decrease in INa. Here we show that this resistance is time- and state-dependent. With relatively short exposure times to MTSEA (<4 min), there is little effect on INa. However, with longer exposures (4–8 min), there is a large decrease in INa, but this effect is only found when hNav1.5-C373Y is inactivated (fast or slow) — MTSEA has little effect in the closed state. Additionally, this long-term, state-dependent effect is not seen in human skeletal muscle Na+ channel isoform hNav1.4, which has a native tyrosine at the homologous site C407. We conclude that differences in molecular determinants of inactivation between hNav1.4 and hNav1.5 underlie the difference in response to MTSEA exposure.

Mhp1, a hydantoin transporter from M. liquefaciens, was purified and crystallized. Diffraction data were collected to 2.85 Å resolution; the crystal belonged to the orthorhombic space group P212121.

The integral membrane protein Mhp1 from Microbacterium liquefaciens transports hydantoins and belongs to the nucleobase:cation symporter 1 family. Mhp1 was successfully purified and crystallized. Initial crystals were obtained using the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion method but diffracted poorly. Optimization of the crystallization conditions resulted in the generation of orthorhombic crystals (space group P212121, unit-cell parameters a = 79.7, b = 101.1, c = 113.8 Å). A complete data set has been collected from a single crystal to a resolution of 2.85 Å with 64 741 independent observations (94% complete) and an R merge of 0.12. Further experimental phasing methods are under way.

The ‘Nucleobase-Cation-Symport-1’, NCS1, transporters are essential components of salvage pathways for nucleobases and related metabolites. Here, we report the 2.85 Å resolution structure of the NCS1 benzyl-hydantoin transporter, Mhp1, from Microbacterium liquefaciens. Mhp1 contains 12 transmembrane helices, ten of which are arranged in two inverted repeats of 5 helices. The structures of the outward-facing open and substrate-bound occluded conformations were solved showing how the outward-facing cavity closes upon binding of substrate. Comparisons with the leucine (LeuTAa) and the galactose (vSGLT) transporters reveal that the outward- and inward-facing cavities are symmetrically arranged on opposite sides of the membrane. The reciprocal opening and closing of these cavities is synchronised by the inverted repeat helices 3 and 8, providing the structural basis of the ‘alternating access’ model for membrane transport.

A case of acute bronchiolitis in association with parainfluenza type 2 infection is reported in a previously asymptomatic young adult with evidence of partially reversible severe airways obstruction.