L7 almost certainly lies underneath the so called plug which closes the hydrophobic constriction Vorinostat solubility through which signal sequences pass from the lumenal side. Thus both the plug and L7 have to move substantially when the Sec61 channel opens transversally for import. Since L7 is the only large extramembrane domain of the channel on the ER lumenal side it is also likely the point of interaction from which chaperone misfolded protein complexes trigger channel opening for export of misfolded secretory proteins for degradation in the cytosol. The importance of L7 for Sec61 channel function is evident from numerous observations, One of the first characterized ER import defective channel mutants, sec61 3, is located in the center of L7 and causes profound ER import and ERAD defects concomi tant with cold and temperature sensitivity.

In an attempt to understand how protein transport across the ER membrane can work at temperatures close to freezing, our laboratory sequenced SEC61 genes from Arctic and Antarctic fishes and compared them to se quences from temperate fishes. We found that the SEC61 sequence is extremely highly conserved between fish species, but there were a few amino acid changes primarily in L7 of the polar fishes that we proposed to improve channel function in the cold. Screening mice for genes that cause diabetes Lloyd and colleagues discovered a sec61 mutant in L7. The mice had distended ER cisternae in pancreatic beta cells sug gesting a defect in ERAD leading to beta cell death trig gered by prolonged induction of the unfolded protein response.

Y344 was one of the positions in L7 which we had found altered in Arctic fishes. The effects of the Y344H mutation on Sec61 channel func tion in mammalian cells was investigated by SchAuble et al. who found that it caused an increased calcium leak from the ER through the Sec61 channel which in contrast to the wildtype channel could not be switched off by BiP. The authors proposed that in the mutant the Sec61 channel was partially open and suggested that a direct interaction of L7 with BiP was responsible for closure of the wildtype channel. Insertions of HA tags into L7 at specific positions and replacement with alanine of 4 amino acids which connect the mini helix in L7 to TMD7 cause a delay in the import of soluble proteins into the ER.

Finally, a mutant in L7 causes a defect in proteasome binding to the cytoplasmic surface of the Sec61 channel, suggesting that the conformation of L7 affects the structure of the entire molecule in the membrane. Because most of Sec61p is embedded in the mem brane, mutagenesis of the entire SEC61 gene predomin antly leads to mutations in transmembrane domains. In order to be able to mutagenize L7 specifically we introduced restriction sites close to the end of trans membrane domain 7 and the beginning of transmem brane Entinostat domain 8.