Ligation alters the pathway of urea-induced denaturation of the catalytic trimer of Escherichia coli aspartate transcarbamylase

Quantitative urea gradient gel electrophoresis for studies of dissociation and unfolding of oligomeric proteins

Urea gradient gel electrophoresis combined with quantitative image processing of stained gels was used to analyze the dissociation and unfolding of the catalytic subunit of aspartate transcarbamoylase. The subunit, composed of three identical polypeptide chains, dissociates reversibly at high urea concentrations into unfolded chains. A comparison of the complex, but reproducible, gel patterns obtained for the native subunit and for the denatured protein in 6 M urea revealed significant differences at intermediate urea concentrations due to the presence of a transient kinetic intermediate identified as a relatively compact monomer. Mass transport equations based on a three state model were used to describe the urea gradient gel electrophoresis experiments, and a numerical solution yielded estimates of the population of molecular species and kinetic constants for the unfolding and refolding reactions as well as the dissociation and reconstitution reactions.

Expression, purification, and structural characterization of the bacteriorhodopsin-aspartyl transcarbamylase fusion protein

We are testing a strategy for creating three-dimensional crystals of integral membrane proteins which involves the addition of a large soluble domain to the membrane protein to provide crystallization contacts. As a test of this strategy we designed a fusion between the membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin (BR) and the catalytic subunit of aspartyl transcarbamylase from Escherichia coli. The fusion protein (designated BRAT) was initially expressed in E. coli at 51 mg/liter of culture, to yield active aspartyl transcarbamylase and an unfolded bacterio-opsin (BO) component. In Halobacterium salinarum, BRAT was expressed at a yield of 7 mg/liter of culture and formed a high-density purple membrane. The visible absorption properties of BRAT were indistinguishable from those of BR, demonstrating that the fusion with aspartyl transcarbamylase had no effect on BR structure. Electron microscopy of BRAT membrane sheets showed that the fusion protein was trimeric and organized in a two-dimensional crystalline lattice similar to that in the BR purple membrane. Following solubilization and size-exclusion purification in sodium dodecyl sulfate, the BO portion of the fusion was quantitatively refolded in tetradecyl maltoside (TDM). Ultracentrifugation demonstrated that BR and BRAT-TDM mixed micelles had molecular masses of 138 and 162 kDa, respectively, with a stoichiometry of one protein per micelle. High TDM concentrations (>20 mM) were required to maintain BRAT solubility, hindering three-dimensional crystallization trials. We have demonstrated that BR can functionally accommodate massive C-terminal fusions and that these fusions may be expressed in quantities required for structural investigation in H. salinarum.

Dihydrofolate reductase synthesis in the presence of immobilized methotrexate. An approach to a continuous cell-free protein synthesis system

Dihydrofolate reductase was synthesized in a batch system in the presence of the affinity ligand methotrexate, bound to various matrices. Two types of gel were used: commercial methotrexate-agarose with pores inaccessible for translation machinery and methotrexate-POROS with pores easily accessible for translation reaction mixture components. The transcription/translation reaction was not inhibited by either the immobilized methotrexate or the matrix. The enzyme was synthesized with a high yield and could simultaneously be removed from the reaction mixture by the affinity matrix during the synthesis. With methotrexate-POROS present the reaction probably proceeded mainly in the pores of the gel. Kinetic limitations to the reaction in the presence of the gel were not observed. Active dihydrofolate reductase was eluted from methotrexate-POROS. The activity recovered was higher than dihydrofolate reductase activity synthesized in free solution system. The influence of the presence of immobilized methotrexate on dihydrofolate reductase synthesis will be further studied in a novel type of a continuous protein synthesis system.

Unfolding pathway in red kidney bean acid phosphatase is dependent on ligand binding

Structural basis for ligand-induced protein stabilization was investigated in the case of an acid phosphatase (red kidney bean purple acid phosphatase (KBPAP)) from red kidney bean. Phosphate, a physiological ligand, increases the stability against solvent denaturation by 3.5 kcal/mol. Generality of phosphate stabilization was shown by similar effects with other KBPAP ligands viz. adenosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate), a nonhydrolyzable ligand, and arsenate, an inhibitor. The dissociation constant of phosphate obtained from denaturation curves matches with the dissociation constant estimated by conventional methods. The guanidinium chloride-mediated denaturation of KBPAP was monitored by several structural and functional parameters viz. activity, tryptophan fluorescence, 8-anilinonaphthalene 1-sulfonic acid binding, circular dichroism, and size exclusion chromatography, in the presence and absence of 10 mm phosphate. In the presence of phosphate, profiles of all the parameters shift to a higher guanidinium chloride concentration. Noncoincidence of these profiles in the absence of phosphate indicates multistate unfolding pathway for KBPAP; however, in the presence of phosphate, KBPAP unfolds with a single intermediate. Based on the crystal structure, we propose that the Arg258 may have an important role to play in stabilization mediated by phosphate.