Computational Investigation of the pH Dependence of Stability of Melanosome Proteins: Implication for Melanosome formation and Disease

International Journal of Molecular Sciences

Jonathan H. Zippin¹  Bohua Wu²  Emil Alexov²  Mahesh Koirala²  Jacob Jeffries²  H. B. Mihiri Shashikala²  Stacie K. Loftus³ 

[1] Department of Dermatology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10021, USA;Department of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634, USA;Genetic Disease Research Branch, National Human Genome Research Branch, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 22066, USA;

关键词: pH dependence;    proton transport;    pH regulation;    stability;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijms22158273

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Intravesicular pH plays a crucial role in melanosome maturation and function. Melanosomal pH changes during maturation from very acidic in the early stages to neutral in late stages. Neutral pH is critical for providing optimal conditions for the rate-limiting, pH-sensitive melanin-synthesizing enzyme tyrosinase (TYR). This dramatic change in pH is thought to result from the activity of several proteins that control melanosomal pH. Here, we computationally investigated the pH-dependent stability of several melanosomal membrane proteins and compared them to the pH dependence of the stability of TYR. We confirmed that the pH optimum of TYR is neutral, and we also found that proteins that are negative regulators of melanosomal pH are predicted to function optimally at neutral pH. In contrast, positive pH regulators were predicted to have an acidic pH optimum. We propose a competitive mechanism among positive and negative regulators that results in pH equilibrium. Our findings are consistent with previous work that demonstrated a correlation between the pH optima of stability and activity, and they are consistent with the expected activity of positive and negative regulators of melanosomal pH. Furthermore, our data suggest that disease-causing variants impact the pH dependence of melanosomal proteins; this is particularly prominent for the OCA2 protein. In conclusion, melanosomal pH appears to affect the activity of multiple melanosomal proteins.

【 授权许可】

Unknown