Browsing by Person "Amin Fahim"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Research Data
    Architectural principles of transporter-chaperone coupling within the native MHC I peptide-loading complex
    2025
    Milena Stolz
    Lukas Sušac
    Amin Fahim
    Rieke Keller
    Simon Trowitzsch
    Robert Tampé
    Adaptive immune responses are initiated by major histocompatibility class I (MHC I) presentation of antigenic peptides on the cell surface. This process relies on the peptide-loading complex (PLC), a dynamic transporter-multichaperone assembly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), to ensure high-fidelity selection, editing, and loading of peptides onto MHC I heterodimers. The PLC is the primary target for viral immune evasion, elicited in particular by human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), causing lifelong infections with severe risks for immunocompromised individuals. While the overall architecture of the PLC is known, how its activity is jeopardized by viral immune evasins remains unclear. Here, we present the 2.59–2.88 Å cryogenic electron microscopy structure of native human PLC associated with the HCMV immune evasin US6. US6 inhibits the heterodimeric transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP1/2) by latching its transmembrane helix laterally onto TAP2 and using its central disulfide-rich domain to mimic a translocating peptide. This effectively plugs the ER-lumenal exit and locks TAP in an outward-facing open conformation with closed nucleotide-binding domains and asymmetrically occluded ATP and ADP. In addition, the structure highlights the role of the unique N-terminal transmembrane domains of TAP as dynamic scaffolds that recruit the MHC I-specific chaperone tapasin by clamping its transmembrane helix to the core transmembrane domain of each transporter subunit. Our findings uncover how structural dynamics within human PLC are modulated by US6-mediated viral immune evasion and reveal potential targets for therapeutic modulation of antigen presentation in cancer and infectious diseases.
      56  7
  • Research Data
    Single-molecule dynamics reveal ATP binding alone powers substrate translocation by an ABC transporter
    2025-07-25
    Christoph Nocker
    Pečak, Matija (DataCollector)
    Nocker, Tobias (DataCollector)
    Amin Fahim (DataCollector)
    Susac, Lukas (DataCollector)
    Tampé, Robert  (ContactPerson)
    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are molecular machines involved in diverse physiological processes, including antigen processing by TAP, a key component of adaptive immunity. TAP and its bacterial homolog TmrAB use ATP to translocate peptides across membranes, yet the precise mechanism linking ATP binding to substrate movement remains unclear. Here, we employ a single-molecule FRET sensor to visualize single translocation events by individual ABC transporters, overcoming the limitations of ensemble averaging. This approach reveals that substrate transport is driven by a conformational switch from the inward- to the outward-facing state. Using a slow-turnover TmrAB variant, we demonstrate that ATP binding alone, even in the absence of Mg2+, is sufficient to drive a single round of peptide translocation. Cryo-EM structures of wild-type and slow-turnover TmrAB show that ATP binding induces the outward-facing conformation without Mg2+. In wild-type TmrAB, this conformational transition supports a single translocation event, whereas Mg2+-dependent ATP hydrolysis is required to reset the transporter. These findings establish a direct mechanistic link between ATP binding and substrate translocation at single-molecule resolution, providing new insights into the catalytic cycle of ABC transporters.
      8  2