Membrane topology of ABC-type macrolide antibiotic exporter MacB in Escherichia coli.

MacB is an ABC-type membrane protein that exports only macrolide compounds containing 14- and 15-membered lactones, cooperating with a membrane fusion protein, MacA, and a multifunctional outer membrane channel, TolC. We determined the membrane topology of MacB by means of site-specific competitive chemical modification of single cysteine mutants. As a result, it was revealed that MacB is composed of four transmembrane (TM) segments with a cytoplasmic N-terminal nucleotide binding domain of about 270 amino acid residues and a periplasmic large hydrophilic polypeptide between TM segments 1 and 2 of about 200 amino acid residues.