Extracellular pH is a highly dynamic and ubiquitous signal and many cell types exhibit robust electrophysiological responses upon extracellular acidification, particularly in the nervous system. Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are thought to mediate the majority of these responses since various ASIC subunits are expressed at high levels in many neuronal types and genetic ablation of ASIC subunits dramatically reduces acid-evoked responses. Consequently, ASICs are vital players in cell death following ischemic stroke. However, ASICs are more than simply an `extracellular acid alarm'. Genetic deletion, or pharmacological manipulation, of specific ASIC subunits can produce a wide array of phenotypes ranging from attenuated fear learning, deficits in pain and mechanosensation, problems in cardiac autonomic regulation and the baroreflex and impairment of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition in various cancer cells. These myriad roles of ASICs have motivated structural and biophysical investigation, leading to crystal or cryo-EM structures of chicken ASIC1 in the resting, toxin-stabilized open and desensitized states. This structural data, combined with functional experiments, have led to a general outline of how ASICs function. Briefly, protonation of key acidic residues in the extracellular domain, in regions known as the palm domain and the acidic pocket, leads to global rearrangements of the extracellular domain as well as channel gating. Yet we lack a clear picture of the molecular events linking protonation with these observed conformational changes and activation or desensitization. To address this gap in our knowledge, we will combine electrophysiology with the power of photo-responsive non-canonical amino acids to test specific molecular hypotheses of protonation-gating coupling. In addition, there has been no structural data for the ASIC intracellular domains. To address this gap, we will employ a combination of fluorescence lifetime imaging, as well as patch clamp FRET to map the overall topology and motions of the intracellular domain using innovative methods of site specific labelling. Finally, despite some reports of ASIC protein-protein interactions and signal transduction capacity, we lack a clear picture of how ASICs scaffold with other proteins. We will address this final knowledge gap using targeted protein labeling and downstream analysis of interactions. Taken together, these proposed experiments will provide new insights into the operation of these important signaling entities, and may help guide drug development.
Acid-sensing ion channels, membrane proteins found throughout the brain and body, activate when extracellular pH becomes more acidic and this can lead to a host of cellular responses. Using cutting edge electrical and optical methods we are investigating how pH causes these channels to open and close, what movements they make and what other proteins they may interact with. Our results will provide important insights into the operation of these proteins, furthering basic research while potentially informing drug design and therapeutic development.
