Structure of the Janus protein human CLIC2

Abstract

Chloride intracellular channel (CLIC) proteins possess the remarkable property of being able to convert from a water-soluble state to a membrane channel state. We determined the three-dimensional structure of human CLIC2 in its water-soluble form by X-ray crystallography at 1.8-A resolution from two crystal forms. In contrast to the previously characterized CLIC1 protein, which forms a possibly functionally important disulfide-induced dimer under oxidizing conditions, we show that CLIC2 possesses an intramolecular disulfide and that the protein remains monomeric irrespective of redox conditions. Site-directed mutagenesis studies show that removal of the intramolecular disulfide or introducti..