Mechanism of pore opening in the calcium-activated chloride channel TMEM16A

The anion channel TMEM16A is activated by intracellular Ca(2+) in a highly cooperative process. By combining electrophysiology and autocorrelation analysis, we investigated the mechanism of channel activation and the concurrent rearrangement of the gate in the narrow part of the pore. Features in the fluctuation characteristics of steady-state current indicate the sampling of intermediate conformations that are successively occupied during gating. The initial step is related to conformational changes induced by Ca(2+) binding, which is ensued by rearrangements that open the pore. Mutations in the gate shift the equilibrium of transitions in a manner consistent with a progressive destabilization of this region during pore opening. We come up with a mechanism of channel activation where the binding of Ca(2+) induces conformational changes in the protein that, in a sequential manner, propagate from the binding site and couple to the gate in the narrow pore to allow ion permeation.