PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Deivanayagabarathy Vinayagam
AU  - Thomas Mager
AU  - Amir Apelbaum
AU  - Arne Bothe
AU  - Felipe Merino
AU  - Oliver Hofnagel
AU  - Christos Gatsogiannis
AU  - Stefan Raunser
TI  - Electron cryo-microscopy structure of the canonical TRPC4 ion channel
AID  - 10.1101/280503
DP  - 2018 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 280503
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/03/14/280503.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/03/14/280503.full
AB  - Canonical transient receptor channels (TRPC) are non-selective cation channels. They are involved in receptor-operated Ca2+ signaling and have been proposed to act as store-operated channels (SOC). Their malfunction is related to cardiomyopathies and their modulation by small molecules has been shown to be effective against renal cancer cells. The molecular mechanism underlying the complex activation and regulation is poorly understood. Here, we report the electron cryo-microscopy structure of zebrafish TRPC4 in its unliganded (apo), closed state at an overall resolution of 3.6 Å. The structure reveals the molecular architecture of the cation conducting pore, including the selectivity filter and lower gate. The cytoplasmic domain contains two key hubs that have been shown to interact with modulating proteins. Structural comparisons with other TRP channels give novel insights into the general architecture and domain organization of this superfamily of channels and help to understand their function and pharmacology.