Affinity-directed substrate/H+-antiport by a MATE transporter

Multidrug and toxin extrusion (MATE) family transporters excrete toxic compounds coupled to Na⁺/H⁺ influx. Although structures of MATE transporters are available, the mechanism by which substrate export is coupled to ion influx remains unknown. To address this issue, we conducted a structural analysis of Pyrococcus furiosus MATE (PfMATE) using solution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The NMR analysis, along with thorough substitutions of all non-exposed acidic residues, confirmed that PfMATE is under an equilibrium between inward-facing (IF) and outward-facing (OF) conformations, dictated by the Glu163 protonation. Importantly, we found that only the IF conformation exhibits a mid-μM affinity for substrate recognition. In contrast, the OF conformation exhibited only weak mM substrate affinity, suitable for releasing substrate to the extracellular side. These results indicate that PfMATE is an affinity-directed H⁺ antiporter where substrates selectively bind to the protonated IF conformation in the equilibrium, and subsequent proton release mechanistically ensures H⁺-coupled substrate excretion by the transporter.