Reviewer #2 (Public Review):
The authors aimed to elucidate the structural rearrangements and activation mechanisms of P2X7 upon ATP application by voltage clamp fluorometry (VCF) using fluorescent unnatural amino acid (fUAA) and other fluorophores. They improved the fUAA methodology and detected ATP binding evoked changes in the ATP binding region and other regions. They also observed facilitation of fluorescence (F) changes by repeated application of ATP associated with gating. The F change in the cytoplasmic ballast region was minor, and with their experimental data, they discussed this region is involved in activation by other cytoplasmic factors, such as Ca2+.
The strengths of the study are as follows.<br /> (1) fUAA methodology was improved to enable experiments by one time injection to oocytes (Figs. 1 and Suppl).<br /> (2) They performed intensive mutagenesis study of as many as 61 mutants (Figs. 3, 4, 5).<br /> (3) A careful evaluation of the successful Anap incorporation and formation of full length proteins was performed by western blot analysis (Fig. 2).<br /> (4) By three wave lengths F recording, they obtained better information, i.e. they classified the interpretation of F changes to, quenching, dequenching, increase in polarity and decrease in polarity (Fig. 3E).<br /> (5) They detected F changes upon ATP application in various regions of P2X7, but not many in the ballast region, showing that the ballast region is not well involved in the ATP evoked gating.<br /> (6) They analyzed the kinetics of F and current and their changes upon repeated ATP application to approach the known facilitation mechanisms. The data are very interesting. They concluded that it is intrinsic to the P2X7 molecule and that it is associated not with the ATP binding but with the gating process (Figs. 3F, 4D, 6A).<br /> (7) They performed interesting analysis to clarify the mechanisms of activation by cytoplasmic factors, especially Ca2+ entered via P2X7 (Fig. 6).
The weaknesses of the study are as follows.<br /> (1) As both structures of P2X in the open and closed states are already solved, and the ATP binding evoked structural rearrangements from the ATP binding site to the gate are already known in detail. The structural rearrangements detected in the extracellular region (Fig. 3) and TM region (Fig. 4) upon ATP application are just as expected. The impact and scientific merits of this part are rather limited.<br /> (2) The facilitation mechanism is of high interest. The authors showed it is intrinsic to P2X2 and associated with the gating rather than ATP binding. However, this reviewer cannot have better understanding about the actual mechanism. (a) What is the mechanistic trigger of facilitation? Possibilities are discussed, but it appears there is no clear answer with experimental evidences yet. (b) How is the memory of the 1st ATP application stored in the molecule, i.e. how does the P2X7 structure just before the 1st application differ from that just before the 2nd application of ATP?<br /> (3) The structural rearrangement of the CaM-M13 region (Fig. 6B, C) attached at the C-terminus by Ca2+ influx through P2X7 upon ATP application is natural due course and not very surprising. Also, it is not accepted as an evidence proving that Ca2+ is the mediator of facilitation.<br /> (4) As to the ballast region, data showed its limited involvement in the ATP-induced structural rearrangements. The function of the ballast region is not clear yet. A possible involvement in GDP binding and/ or metabolism is discussed, but there is no clear experimental evidence.