1.A.23.2.1
Major MscS channel protein, YggB. Seven residues, mostly hydrophobic, in the first and second transmembrane helices are lipid-sensing residues (Malcolm et al., 2011).  X-ray structures are available (Lai et al. 2013).  The cytoplasmic cage domain senses macromolecular crowding (Rowe et al. 2014). A gating mechanism has been proposed (Malcolm et al. 2015).  The thermodynamics of K⁺ leak have been studied (Koprowski et al. 2015).  In the MscS crystal structure (PDB 2OAU ), a narrow, hydrophobic opening is visible in the crystal structure, and a vapor lock, created by hydrophobic seals consisting of L105 and L109, is the barrier to water and ions (Rasmussen et al. 2015). The voltage dependence of inactivation occurs independently of the positive charges of R46, R54, and R74 (Nomura et al. 2016). The closed-to-open transition may involve rotation and tilt of the pore-lining helices (Edwards et al. 2005). A molecular dynamics study of gating has been published (Sotomayor and Schulten 2004). It suggested that when restraining the backbone of the protein, the channel remained in the open form and the simulation revealed intermittent permeation of water molecules through the channel. Abolishing the restraints under constant pressure conditions led to spontaneous closure of the transmembrane channel, whereas abolishing the restraints when surface tension (20 dyn/cm) was applied led to channel widening. The large balloon-shaped cytoplasmic domain of MscS exhibited spontaneous diffusion of ions through its side openings. Interaction between the transmembrane domain and the cytoplasmic domain of MscS was observed and involved formation of salt bridges between residues Asp62 and Arg128; this interaction may be essential for the gating of MscS. K⁺ and Cl^- ions showed distinctively different distributions in and around the channel (Sotomayor and Schulten 2004).