Structural basis of NINJ1-mediated plasma membrane rupture in cell death

Morris Degen, José Carlos Santos, Kristyna Pluhackova (), Gonzalo Cebrero, Saray Ramos, Gytis Jankevicius, Ella Hartenian, Undina Guillerm, Stefania A. Mari, Bastian Kohl, Daniel J. Müller, Paul Schanda, Timm Maier, Camilo Perez, Christian Sieben, Petr Broz () and Sebastian Hiller ()
Additional contact information
Morris Degen: University of Basel
José Carlos Santos: University of Lausanne
Kristyna Pluhackova: University of Stuttgart
Gonzalo Cebrero: University of Basel
Saray Ramos: University of Lausanne
Gytis Jankevicius: University of Basel
Ella Hartenian: University of Lausanne
Undina Guillerm: Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
Stefania A. Mari: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich
Bastian Kohl: University of Basel
Daniel J. Müller: Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich
Paul Schanda: Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA)
Timm Maier: University of Basel
Camilo Perez: University of Basel
Christian Sieben: Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Petr Broz: University of Lausanne
Sebastian Hiller: University of Basel

Nature, 2023, vol. 618, issue 7967, 1065-1071

Abstract: Abstract Eukaryotic cells can undergo different forms of programmed cell death, many of which culminate in plasma membrane rupture as the defining terminal event1–7. Plasma membrane rupture was long thought to be driven by osmotic pressure, but it has recently been shown to be in many cases an active process, mediated by the protein ninjurin-18 (NINJ1). Here we resolve the structure of NINJ1 and the mechanism by which it ruptures membranes. Super-resolution microscopy reveals that NINJ1 clusters into structurally diverse assemblies in the membranes of dying cells, in particular large, filamentous assemblies with branched morphology. A cryo-electron microscopy structure of NINJ1 filaments shows a tightly packed fence-like array of transmembrane α-helices. Filament directionality and stability is defined by two amphipathic α-helices that interlink adjacent filament subunits. The NINJ1 filament features a hydrophilic side and a hydrophobic side, and molecular dynamics simulations show that it can stably cap membrane edges. The function of the resulting supramolecular arrangement was validated by site-directed mutagenesis. Our data thus suggest that, during lytic cell death, the extracellular α-helices of NINJ1 insert into the plasma membrane to polymerize NINJ1 monomers into amphipathic filaments that rupture the plasma membrane. The membrane protein NINJ1 is therefore an interactive component of the eukaryotic cell membrane that functions as an in-built breaking point in response to activation of cell death.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05991-z

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