Pore-forming action of mastoparan peptides on liposomes: a quantitative analysis

Lipid-Centric Approaches in Combating Infectious Diseases: Antibacterials, Antifungals and Antivirals with Lipid-Associated Mechanisms of Action

One of the global challenges of the 21st century is the increase in mortality from infectious diseases against the backdrop of the spread of antibiotic-resistant pathogenic microorganisms. In this regard, it is worth targeting antibacterials towards the membranes of pathogens that are quite conservative and not amenable to elimination. This review is an attempt to critically analyze the possibilities of targeting antimicrobial agents towards enzymes involved in pathogen lipid biosynthesis or towards bacterial, fungal, and viral lipid membranes, to increase the permeability via pore formation and to modulate the membranes' properties in a manner that makes them incompatible with the pathogen's life cycle. This review discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in the search for highly effective but nontoxic antimicrobial agents. Examples of compounds with a proven molecular mechanism of action are presented, and the types of the most promising pharmacophores for further research and the improvement of the characteristics of antibiotics are discussed. The strategies that pathogens use for survival in terms of modulating the lipid composition and physical properties of the membrane, achieving a balance between resistance to antibiotics and the ability to facilitate all necessary transport and signaling processes, are also considered.

A Self-Regenerating Artificial Cell, that is One Step Closer to Living Cells: Challenges and Perspectives

Controllable, self-regenerating artificial cells (SRACs) can be a vital advancement in the field of synthetic biology, which seeks to create living cells by recombining various biological molecules in the lab. This represents, more importantly, the first step on a long journey toward creating reproductive cells from rather fragmentary biochemical mimics. However, it is still a difficult task to replicate the complex processes involved in cell regeneration, such as genetic material replication and cell membrane division, in artificially created spaces. This review highlights recent advances in the field of controllable, SRACs and the strategies to achieve the goal of creating such cells. Self-regenerating cells start by replicating DNA and transferring it to a location where proteins can be synthesized. Functional but essential proteins must be synthesized for sustained energy generation and survival needs and function in the same liposomal space. Finally, self-division and repeated cycling lead to autonomous, self-regenerating cells. The pursuit of controllable, SRACs will enable authors to make bold advances in understanding life at the cellular level, ultimately providing an opportunity to use this knowledge to understand the nature of life.

Interaction of saponin 1688 with phase separated lipid bilayers

Saponins are a diverse family of naturally occurring plant triterpene or steroid glycosides that have a wide range of biological activities. They have been shown to permeabilize membranes and in some cases membrane disruption has been hypothesized to involve saponin/cholesterol complexes. We have examined the interaction of steroidal saponin 1688-1 with lipid membranes that contain cholesterol and have a mixture of liquid-ordered (L_o) and liquid-disordered (L_d) phases as a model for lipid rafts in cellular membranes. A combination of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and fluorescence was used to probe the effect of saponin on the bilayer. The results demonstrate that saponin forms defects in the membrane and also leads to formation of small aggregates on the membrane surface. Although most of the membrane damage occurs in the liquid-disordered phase, fluorescence results demonstrate that saponin localizes in both ordered and disordered membrane phases, with a modest preference for the disordered regions. Similar effects are observed for both direct incorporation of saponin in the lipid mixture used to make vesicles/bilayers and for incubation of saponin with preformed bilayers. The results suggest that the initial sites of interaction are at the interface between the domains and surrounding disordered phase. The preference for saponin localization in the disordered phase may reflect the ease of penetration of saponin into a less ordered membrane, rather than the actual cholesterol concentration in the membrane. Dye leakage assays indicate that a high concentration of saponin is required for membrane permeabilization consistent with the supported lipid bilayer experiments.

An unexpected cell-penetrating peptide from Bothrops jararaca venom identified through a novel size exclusion chromatography screening

Efficient drug delivery systems are currently one of the greatest challenges in pharmacokinetics, and the transposition of the gap between in vitro candidate molecule and in vivo test drug is, sometimes, poles apart. In this sense, the cell-penetrating peptides (CPP) may be the bridge uniting these worlds. Here, we describe a technique to rapidly identify unlabeled CPPs after incubation with liposomes, based on commercial desalting (size exclusion) columns and liquid chromatography-MS/MS, for peptide de novo sequencing. Using this approach, we found it possible to identify one new CPP - interestingly, a classical bradykinin-potentiating peptide - in the peptide-rich low molecular mass fraction of the Bothrops jararaca venom, which was also able to penetrate live cell membranes, as confirmed by classical approaches employing fluorescence-labeled analogues of this CPP. Moreover, both the labeled and unlabeled CPPs caused no metabolic, cell-cycle or morphologic alterations, proving to be unmistakably cargo deliverers and not drugs themselves. In sum, we have developed and validated a method for screening label-free peptides for CPP activity, regardless of their biological origin, which could lead to the identification of new and more efficient drug delivery systems. Copyright © 2017 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PE and PS Lipids Synergistically Enhance Membrane Poration by a Peptide with Anticancer Properties

Polybia-MP1 (MP1) is a bioactive host-defense peptide with known anticancer properties. Its activity is attributed to excess serine (phosphatidylserine (PS)) on the outer leaflet of cancer cells. Recently, higher quantities of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) were also found at these cells’ surface. We investigate the interaction of MP1 with model membranes in the presence and absence of POPS (PS) and DOPE (PE) to understand the role of lipid composition in MP1’s anticancer characteristics. Indeed we find that PS lipids significantly enhance the bound concentration of peptide on the membrane by a factor of 7–8. However, through a combination of membrane permeability assays and imaging techniques we find that PE significantly increases the susceptibility of the membrane to disruption by these peptides and causes an order-of-magnitude increase in membrane permeability by facilitating the formation of larger transmembrane pores. Significantly, atomic-force microscopy imaging reveals differences in the pore formation mechanism with and without the presence of PE. Therefore, PS and PE lipids synergistically combine to enhance membrane poration by MP1, implying that the combined enrichment of both these lipids in the outer leaflet of cancer cells is highly significant for MP1’s anticancer action. These mechanistic insights could aid development of novel chemotherapeutics that target pathological changes in the lipid composition of cancerous cells.

Time-resolved fluorescence in lipid bilayers: selected applications and advantages over steady state

Fluorescence methods are versatile tools for obtaining dynamic and topological information about biomembranes because the molecular interactions taking place in lipid membranes frequently occur on the same timescale as fluorescence emission. The fluorescence intensity decay, in particular, is a powerful reporter of the molecular environment of a fluorophore. The fluorescence lifetime can be sensitive to the local polarity, hydration, viscosity, and/or presence of fluorescence quenchers/energy acceptors within several nanometers of the vicinity of a fluorophore. Illustrative examples of how time-resolved fluorescence measurements can provide more valuable and detailed information about a system than the time-integrated (steady-state) approach will be presented in this review: 1), determination of membrane polarity and mobility using time-dependent spectral shifts; 2), identification of submicroscopic domains by fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy; 3), elucidation of membrane leakage mechanisms from dye self-quenching assays; and 4), evaluation of nanodomain sizes by time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer measurements.

Flux theory for Poisson distributed pores with Gaussian permeability

The mean of the solute flux through membrane pores depends on the random distribution and permeability of the pores. Mathematical models including such randomness factors make it possible to obtain statistical parameters for pore characterization. Here, assuming that pores follow a Poisson distribution in the lipid phase and that their permeabilities follow a Gaussian distribution, a mathematical model for solute dynamics is obtained by applying a general result from a previous work regarding any number of different kinds of randomly distributed pores. The new proposed theory is studied using experimental parameters obtained elsewhere, and a method for finding the mean single pore flux rate from liposome flux assays is suggested. This method is useful for pores without requiring studies by patch-clamp in single cells or single-channel recordings. However, it does not apply in the case of ion-selective channels, in which a more complex flux law combining the concentration and electrical gradient is required.

Adsorption of cationic peptides to solid surfaces of glass and plastic

Cationic membrane-active peptides have been studied for years in the hope of developing them into novel types of therapeutics. In this article, we investigate an effect that might have significant experimental implications for investigators who wish to study these peptides, namely, that the peptides adsorb to solid surfaces of glass and plastic. Specifically, we use analytical HPLC to systematically quantify the adsorption of the three cationic membrane-active peptides mastoparan X, melittin, and magainin 2 to the walls of commonly used glass and plastic sample containers. Our results show that, at typical experimental peptide concentrations, 90% or more of the peptides might be lost from solution due to rapid adsorption to the walls of the sample containers. Thus, our results emphasize that investigators should always keep these adsorption effects in mind when designing and interpreting experiments on cationic membrane-active peptides. We conclude the article by discussing different strategies for reducing the experimental impact of these adsorption effects.

Single-vesicle detection and analysis of peptide-induced membrane permeabilization

The capability of membrane-active peptides to disrupt phospholipid membranes is often studied by investigating peptide-induced leakage of quenched fluorescent molecules from large unilamellar lipid vesicles. In this article, we explore two fluorescence microscopy-based single-vesicle detection methods as alternatives to the quenching-based assays for studying peptide-induced leakage from large unilamellar lipid vesicles. Specifically, we use fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to study the leakage of fluorescent molecules of different sizes from large unilamellar lipid vesicles dispersed in aqueous solution, and we use confocal imaging of surface-immobilized large unilamellar lipid vesicles to investigate whether there are heterogeneities in leakage between individual vesicles. Of importance, we design an experimental protocol that allows us to quantitatively correlate the results of the two methods; accordingly, it can be assumed that the two methods provide complementary information about the same leakage process. We use the two methods to investigate the membrane-permeabilizing activities of three well-studied cationic membrane-active peptides: mastoparan X, melittin, and magainin 2. The FCS results show that leakage induced by magainin 2 is less dependent on the size of the encapsulated fluorescent molecules than leakage induced by mastoparan X and melittin. The confocal imaging results show that all three peptides induce leakage by a heterogeneous process in which one portion of the vesicles are completely emptied of their contents but another portion of the vesicles are only partially emptied. These pieces of information regarding leakage induced by mastoparan X, melittin, and magainin 2 could not readily have been obtained by the established assays for studying peptide-induced leakage from lipid vesicles.

Amphipathic membrane-active peptides recognize and stabilize ruptured membrane pores: exploring cause and effect with coarse-grained simulations

Induction of membrane pores has been suggested as the common molecular action by which a variety of amphipathic membrane-active peptides cause damage to cells. In this study, we have performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to establish two clear molecular processes that seem critical for the activity of amphipathic peptides. They are (i) the recognition and (ii) the stabilization of ruptured membrane pores. By considering 12 structurally different peptide types, we reveal that peptide secondary structure content, hydrophobicity, and length are important physicochemical factors that allow amphipathic peptides to aggregate in and stabilize ruptured membrane pores. The simulated inner diameters of peptide-stabilized membrane pores are in good agreement with available experimental data. However, the orientations of α-helical peptides in the membrane pore were found to be quite dispersed. This supports recent challenges to the traditional depictions to peptide orientations in the classical toroidal and barrel-stave pore models.

Effects of cargo molecules on membrane perturbation caused by transportan10 based cell-penetrating peptides

Cell-penetrating peptides with the ability to escape endosomes and reach the target are of great value as delivery vectors for different bioactive cargoes and future treatment of human diseases. We have studied two such peptides, NickFect1 and NickFect51, both originated from stearylated transportan10 (PF3). To obtain more insight into the mechanism(s) of peptide delivery and the biophysical properties of an efficient vector system, we investigated the effect of different bioactive oligonucleotide cargoes on peptide-membrane perturbation and peptide structural induction. We studied the membrane interactions of the peptides with large unilamellar vesicles and compared their effects with parent peptides transportan10 and PF3. In addition, cellular uptake and peptide-mediated oligonucleotide delivery were analyzed. Calcein leakage experiments showed that similar to transportan10, NickFect51 caused a significant degree of membrane leakage, whereas NickFect1, similar to PF3, was less membrane perturbing. The results are in agreement with previously published results indicating that NickFect51 is a more efficient endosomal escaper. However, the presence of a large cargo like plasmid DNA inhibited NickFect's membrane perturbation and cellular uptake efficiency of the peptide was reduced. We conclude that the pathway for cellular uptake of peptide complexes is cargo dependent, whereas the endosomal escape efficacy depends on peptide hydrophobicity and chemical structure. For small interfering RNA delivery, NickFect51 appears to be optimal. The biophysical signature shows that the peptide alone causes membrane perturbation, but the cargo complex does not. These two biophysical characteristics of the peptide and its cargo complex may be the signature of an efficient delivery vector system.

Fluxes theory in experiments with random distributed channels on vesicles

When channels are randomly distributed in a population of vesicles, disregarding the number of channels per vesicle, these channels follow a Poisson distribution. This has been verified in many cases, determining the average of channels per vesicle. However, to determine kinetic parameters in population studies, a mathematical expression for the mean flux of solute through channels per vesicle is necessary. Hence, here, this mean flux is calculated, assuming Poisson distributed channels in a population of vesicle. Moreover, this result has been generalized to any number of different kinds of channels (i.e., channels with different permeabilities). These results, useful for in vitro experiments with mixed both channels and vesicles, can be supplemented with those from other techniques, in order to understanding how the nature of the lipid membrane affects kinetic parameters of channel.

Effect of the aspartic acid D2 on the affinity of Polybia-MP1 to anionic lipid vesicles

Polybia-MP1 (IDWKKLLDAAKQIL-NH2), a helical peptide extracted from the venom of a Brazilian wasp, has broad-spectrum antimicrobial activities without being hemolytic or cytotoxic. This peptide has also displayed anticancer activity against cancer cell cultures. Despite its high selectivity, MP1 has an unusual low net charge (Q = +2). The aspartic residue (D2) in the N-terminal region plays an important role in its affinity and selectivity; its substitution by asparagine (D2N mutant) led to a less selective peptide. Aiming to explore the importance of this residue for the peptides' affinity, we compared the zwitterionic and anionic vesicle adsorption activity of Polybia-MP1 versus its D2N mutant and also mastoparan X (MPX). The adsorption, electrostatic, and conformational free energies were assessed by circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence titrations using large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) at the same conditions in association with measurement of the zeta potential of LUVs in the presence of the peptides. The adsorption free energies of the peptides, determined from the partition coefficients, indicated higher affinity of MP1 to anionic vesicles compared with the D2N mutant and MPX. The electrostatic and conformational free energies of MP1 in anionic vesicles are less favorable than those found for the D2N mutant and MPX. Therefore, the highest affinity of MP1 to anionic vesicles is likely due to other energetic contributions. The presence of D2 in MP1 makes these energetic components 1.2 and 1.5 kcal/mol more favorable compared with the D2N mutant and MPX, respectively.

Membrane-perturbing properties of two Arg-rich paddle domains from voltage-gated sensors in the KvAP and HsapBK K(+) channels

Voltage-gated K(+) channels are gated by displacement of basic residues located in the S4 helix that together with a part of the S3 helix, S3b, forms a "paddle" domain, whose position is altered by changes in the membrane potential modulating the open probability of the channel. Here, interactions between two paddle domains, KvAPp from the K(v) channel from Aeropyrum pernix and HsapBKp from the BK channel from Homo sapiens, and membrane models have been studied by spectroscopy. We show that both paddle domains induce calcein leakage in large unilamellar vesicles, and we suggest that this leakage represents a general thinning of the bilayer, making movement of the whole paddle domain plausible. The fact that HsapBKp induces more leakage than KvAPp may be explained by the presence of a Trp residue in HsapBKp. Trp residues generally promote localization to the hydrophilic-hydrophobic interface and disturb tight packing. In magnetically aligned bicelles, KvAPp increases the level of order along the whole acyl chain, while HsapBKp affects the morphology, also indicating that KvAPp adapts more to the lipid environment. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation measurements for HsapBKp show that overall the sequence has anisotropic motions. The S4 helix is well-structured with restricted local motion, while the turn between S4 and S3b is more flexible and undergoes slow local motion. Our results indicate that the calcein leakage is related to the flexibility in this turn region. A possibility by which HsapBKp can undergo structural transitions is also shown by relaxation NMR, which may be important for the gating mechanism.

Thermodynamic profiling of peptide membrane interactions by isothermal titration calorimetry: a search for pores and micelles

Antimicrobial peptides are known to interact strongly with negatively charged lipid membranes, initially by peripheral insertion of the peptide into the bilayer, which for some antimicrobial peptides will be followed by pore formation, and successive solubilization of the membranes resulting in mixed peptide-lipid micelles. We have investigated the mode of action of the antimicrobial peptide mastoparan-X using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The results show that mastoparan-X induces a range of structural transitions of POPC/POPG (3:1) lipid membranes at different peptide/lipid ratios. It has been established that ITC can be used as a fast method for localizing membrane transitions and when combined with DLS and cryo-TEM can elucidate structural changes, including the threshold for pore formation and micellation. Cryo-TEM was employed to confirm the structural changes associated with the thermodynamic transitions found by ITC. The pore-formation process has furthermore been investigated in detail and the thermodynamic parameters of pore formation have been characterized using a system-specific temperature where the enthalpy of peptide partitioning becomes zero (T(zero)). This allows for an exclusive study of the pore-formation process. The use of ITC to find T(zero) allows for characterization of the thermodynamic parameters of secondary processes on lipid membranes.

The effect of the placement and total charge of the basic amino acid clusters on antibacterial organism selectivity and potency

Extensive circular dichroism, isothermal titration calorimetry and induced calcein leakage studies were conducted on a series of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), with a varying number of Lys residues located at either the C-terminus or the N-terminus to gain insight into their effect on the mechanisms of binding with zwitterionic and anionic membrane model systems. Different CD spectra were observed for these AMPs in the presence of zwitterionic DPC and anionic SDS micelles indicating that they adopt different conformations on binding to the surfaces of zwitterionic and anionic membrane models. Different CD spectra were observed for these AMPs in the presence of zwitterionic POPC and anionic mixed 4:1 POPC/POPG LUVs and SUVs, indicating that they adopt very different conformations on interaction with these two types of LUVs and SUVs. In addition, ITC and calcein leakage data indicated that all the AMPs studied interact via very different mechanisms with anionic and zwitterionic LUVs. ITC data suggest these peptides interact primarily with the surface of zwitterionic LUVs while they insert into and form pores in anionic LUVs. CD studies indicated that these compounds adopt different conformations depending on the ratio of POPC to POPG lipids present in the liposome. There are detectable spectroscopic and thermodynamic differences between how each of these AMPs interacts with membranes, that is position and total charge density defines how these AMPs interact with specific membrane models and thus partially explain the resulting diversity of antibacterial activity of these compounds.

Reduction-sensitive liposomes from a multifunctional lipid conjugate and natural phospholipids: reduction and release kinetics and cellular uptake

The development of targeted and triggerable delivery systems is of high relevance for anticancer therapies. We report here on reduction-sensitive liposomes composed of a novel multifunctional lipidlike conjugate, containing a disulfide bond and a biotin moiety, and natural phospholipids. The incorporation of the disulfide conjugate into vesicles and the kinetics of their reduction were studied using dansyl-labeled conjugate 1 in using the dansyl fluorescence environmental sensitivity and the Förster resonance energy transfer from dansyl to rhodamine-labeled phospholipids. Cleavage of the disulfide bridge (e.g., by tris(2-carboxyethyl)phosphine (TCEP), dithiothreitol (DTT), l-cysteine, or glutathione (GSH)) removed the hydrophilic headgroup of the conjugate and thus changed the membrane organization leading to the release of entrapped molecules. Upon nonspecific uptake of vesicles by macrophages, calcein release from reduction-sensitive liposomes consisting of the disulfide conjugate and phospholipids was more efficient than from reduction-insensitive liposomes composed only of phospholipids. The binding of streptavidin to the conjugates did not interfere with either the subsequent reduction of the disulfide bond of the conjugate or the release of entrapped molecules. Breast cancer cell line BT-474, overexpressing the HER2 receptor, showed a high uptake of the reduction-sensitive doxorubicin-loaded liposomes functionalized with the biotin-tagged anti-HER2 antibody. The release of the entrapped cargo inside the cells was observed, implying the potential of using our system for active targeting and delivery.

Fluctuations and the rate-limiting step of peptide-induced membrane leakage

Peptide-induced vesicle leakage is a common experimental test for the membrane-perturbing activity of antimicrobial peptides. The leakage kinetics is usually very slow, requiring minutes to hours for complete release of vesicle contents, and exhibits a biphasic behavior. We report here that, in the case of the peptaibol trichogin GA IV, all processes involved in peptide-membrane interaction, such as peptide-membrane association, peptide aggregation, and peptide translocation, take place on a timescale much shorter than the leakage kinetics. On the basis of these findings, we propose a stochastic model in which the leakage kinetics is determined by the discrete nature of a vesicle suspension: peptides are continuously exchanging among vesicles, producing significant fluctuations over time in the number of peptide molecules bound to each vesicle, and in the formation of pores. According to this model, the fast initial leakage is caused by vesicles that contain at least one pore after the peptides are randomly distributed among the liposomes, whereas the slower release is associated with the time needed to occasionally reach in an intact vesicle the critical number of bound peptides necessary for pore formation. Fluctuations due to peptide exchange among vesicles therefore represent the rate-limiting step of such a slow mechanism.

Spectroscopic and thermodynamic evidence for antimicrobial peptide membrane selectivity

In our laboratory we developed a series of antimicrobial peptides that exhibit selectivity and potency for prokaryotic over eukaryotic cells (Hicks et al., 2007). Circular dichroism (CD), isothermal calorimetry (ITC) and calcein leakage assays were conducted to determine the mechanism of lipid binding of a representative peptide 1 (Ac-GF-Tic-Oic-GK-Tic-Oic-GF-Tic-Oic-GK-Tic-KKKK-CONH(2)) to model membranes. POPC liposomes were used as a simple model for eukaryotic membranes and 4:1 POPC:POPG liposomes were used as a simple model for prokaryotic membranes. CD, ITC and calcein leakage data clearly indicate that compound 1 interacts via very different mechanisms with the two different liposome membranes. Compound 1 exhibits weaker binding and induces less calcein leakage in POPC liposomes than POPC:POPG (4:1 mole ratio) liposomes. The predominant binding mechanism to POPC appears to be limited to surface interactions while the mechanism of binding to 4:1 POPC:POPG most likely involves some type of pore formation.

Dual functions of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37-target membrane perturbation and host cell cargo delivery

The mechanisms behind target vs. host cell recognition of the human antimicrobial peptide LL-37 remain ill-defined. Here, we have investigated the membrane disruption capacity of LL-37 using large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) composed of varying mixtures of POPC, POPG and cholesterol to mimic target and host membranes respectively. We show that LL-37 is unable to induce leakage of entrapped calcein from zwitterionic POPC LUVs, whereas leakage from LUVs partially composed of POPG is fast and efficient. In accordance with typical antimicrobial peptide behavior, cholesterol diminished LL-37 induced leakage. By using linear dichroism and flow oriented LUVs, we found that LL-37 orients with the axis of its induced α-helix parallel to the membrane surface in POPC:POPG (7:3) LUVs. In the same system, we also observed a time-dependent increase of the parallel α-helix LD signal on timescales corresponding to the leakage kinetics. The increased LD may be connected to a peptide translocation step, giving rise to mass balance across the membrane. This could end the leakage process before it is complete, similar to what we have observed. Confocal microscopy studies of eukaryotic cells show that LL-37 is able to mediate the cell delivery of non-covalently linked fluorescent oligonucleotides, in agreement with earlier studies on delivery of plasmid DNA (Sandgren et al., J. Biol. Chem. 279 (2004) 17951). These observations highlight the potential dual functions of LL-37 as an antimicrobial agent against bacterial target cells and a cell-penetrating peptide that can deliver nucleic acids into the host cells.

Wasp mastoparans follow the same mechanism as the cell-penetrating peptide transportan 10

We have been examining the mechanism and kinetics of the interactions of a selected set of peptides with phospholipid membranes in a quantitative manner. This set was chosen to cover a broad range of physical-chemical properties and cell specificities. Mastoparan (masL) and mastoparan X (masX) are two similar peptides from the venoms of the wasps Vespula lewisii and Vespa xanthoptera, respectively, and were chosen to complete the set. The rate constants for masX association with and dissociation from membranes are reported here for the first time. The kinetics of dye efflux induced by both mastoparans from phospholipid vesicles were also examined and quantitatively analyzed. We find that masL and masX follow the same graded kinetic model that we previously proposed for the cell-penetrating peptide transportan 10 (tp10), but with different parameters. This comparison is relevant because tp10 is derived from masL by addition of a mostly nonpolar segment of seven residues at the N-terminus. Tp10 is more active than the mastoparans toward phosphatidylcholine vesicles, but the mastoparans are more sensitive to the effect of anionic lipids. Furthermore, the Gibbs free energies of binding and insertion of the peptides calculated using the Wimley-White transfer scales are in good agreement with the values derived from our experimental data and are useful for understanding peptide behavior.

Interaction of 18-residue peptides derived from amphipathic helical segments of globular proteins with model membranes

We investigated the interaction of six 18-residue peptides derived from amphipathic helical segments of globular proteins with model membranes. The net charge of the peptides at neutral pH varies from -1 to +6. Circular dichroism spectra indicate that peptides with a high net positive charge tend to fold into a helical conformation in the presence of negatively charged lipid vesicles. In helical conformation, their average hydrophobic moment and hydrophobicity would render them surface-active. The composition of amino acids on the polar face of the helix in the peptides is considerably different. The peptides show variations in their ability to permeabilise zwitterionic and anionic lipid vesicles. Whereas increased net positive charge favours greater permeabilisation, the distribution of charged residues in the polar face also plays a role in determining membrane activity. The distribution of amino acids in the polar face of the helix in the peptides that were investigated do not fall into the canonical classes described. Amphipathic helices, which are part of proteins, with a pattern of amino acid distribution different from those observed in class L, A and others, could help in providing newer insights into peptide-membrane interactions.

Elucidating cell-penetrating peptide mechanisms of action for membrane interaction, cellular uptake, and translocation utilizing the hydrophobic counter-anion pyrenebutyrate

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) are membrane permeable vectors recognized for their intrinsic ability to gain access to the cell interior. The hydrophobic counter-anion, pyrenebutyrate, enhances cellular uptake of oligoarginine CPPs. To elucidate CPP uptake mechanisms, the effect of pyrenebutyrate on well-recognized CPPs with varying hydrophobicity and arginine content is investigated. The cellular CPP uptake and CPP-mediated oligonucleotide delivery is analyzed by fluorescence activated cell sorting, confocal microscopy, and a cell-based splice-switching assay. The splice-switching oligonucleotide is a mixmer of 2'-O-methyl RNA and locked nucleic acids delivered as a non-covalent complex with 10-fold molar CPP excess. CPP-induced membrane perturbation on large unilamellar vesicles is investigated in calcein release experiments. We observed that pyrenebutyrate facilitates cellular uptake and translocation of oligonucleotide mediated by oligoarginine nonamer while limited effect of pyrenebutyrate on more hydrophobic CPPs was observed. By combining the different experimental results we conclude that the pathway for cellular uptake of oligoarginine is dominated by direct membrane translocation, whereas the pathway for oligoarginine-mediated oligonucleotide translocation is dominated by endocytosis. Both mechanisms are promoted by pyrenebutyrate and we suggest that pyrenebutyrate has different sites of action for the two uptake and translocation mechanisms.

HIV-1 Nef perturbs artificial membranes: investigation of the contribution of the myristoyl anchor

Nef, an accessory protein from human immunodeficiency virus type 1, is critical for optimal viral replication and pathogenesis. Here, we analyzed the influence of full-length myristoylated and nonmyristoylated Nef on artificial lipid bilayers composed of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC). By means of cosedimentation assays, we found that neither nonmyristoylated nor myristoylated Nef stably binds to POPC unilamellar vesicles. Time-resolved ellipsometry rather indicates that the proteins perturb the assembly of POPC planar bilayers. This observation was corroborated by fluorescence and scanning force microscopy, suggesting that membrane disordering occurs upon interaction of full-length myristoylated and nonmyristoylated Nef with planar POPC membranes immobilized on SiO(2) surfaces resulting in loss of material from the surface. The membrane perturbations were further investigated by vesicle release experiments, demonstrating that the disordering results in defects through which the fluorophor carboxyfluorescein can pass. From these results, we conclude that Nef is capable of disordering and perturbing lipid membranes and that the myristoyl group is not the decisive determinant for the action of the protein on lipid membranes.

Different modes of membrane permeabilization by two RTX toxins: HlyA from Escherichia coli and CyaA from Bordetella pertussis

This study clarifies the membrane disruption mechanisms of two bacterial RTX toxins: alphahemolysin (HlyA) from Escherichia coli and a highly homologous adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA) from Bordetella pertussis. For this purpose, we employed a fluorescence requenching method using liposomes (extruded through filters of different pore size - 1000 nm, 400 nm or 100 nm) with encapsulated fluorescent dye/quencher pair ANTS/DPX. We showed that both toxins induced a graded leakage of liposome content with different selectivities alpha for DPX and ANTS. In contrast to HlyA, CyaA exhibited a higher selectivity for cationic quencher DPX, which increased with vesicle diameter. Large unilamellar vesicles (LUV(1000)) were found to be more suitable for distinguishing between high alpha values whereas smaller ones (LUV(100)) were more appropriate for discriminating an all-or-none leakage (alpha=0) from the graded leakage with low values of alpha. While disrupting LUV(1000), CyaA caused a highly cation-selective leakage (alpha~15) whereas its mutated form with decreased channel K(+)/Cl(-) selectivity due to two substitutions in a predicted transmembrane segment (CyaA-E509K+E516K) exhibited much lower selectivity (alpha approximately 6). We concluded that the fluorescence requenching method in combination with different size of liposomes is a valuable tool for characterization of pore-forming toxins and their variants.

Interactions of membrane-active peptides with thick, neutral, nonzwitterionic bilayers

Alamethicin is a well-studied channel-forming peptide that has a prototypical amphipathic helix structure. It permeabilizes both microbial and mammalian cell membranes, causing loss of membrane polarization and leakage of endogenous contents. Antimicrobial peptide-lipid systems have been studied quite extensively and have led to significant advancements in membrane biophysics. These studies have been performed on lipid bilayers that are generally charged or zwitterionic and restricted to a thickness range of 3-5 nm. Bilayers of amphiphilic diblock copolymers are a relatively new class of membranes that can have significantly different physicochemical properties compared with those of lipid membranes. In particular, they can be made uncharged, nonzwitterionic, and much thicker than their lipid counterparts. In an effort to extend studies of membrane-protein interactions to these synthetic membranes, we have characterized the interactions of alamethicin and several other membrane-active peptides with diblock copolymer bilayers. We find that although alamethicin is too small to span the bilayer, the peptide interacts with, and ruptures, thick polymer membranes.

Membrane leakage induced by dynorphins

Dynorphins, endogeneous opioid peptides, function as ligands to the opioid kappa receptors and induce non-opioid excitotoxic effects. Here we show that big dynorphin and dynorphin A, but not dynorphin B, cause leakage effects in large unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (LUVs). The effects parallel the previously studied potency of dynorphins to translocate through biological membranes. Calcein leakage caused by dynorphin A from LUVs with varying POPG/POPC molar ratios was promoted by higher phospholipid headgroup charges, suggesting that electrostatic interactions are important for the effects. A possibility that dynorphins generate non-opioid excitatory effects by inducing perturbations in the lipid bilayer of the plasma membrane is discussed.

Membrane perturbation effects of peptides derived from the N-termini of unprocessed prion proteins

Peptides derived from the unprocessed N-termini of mouse and bovine prion proteins (mPrPp and bPrPp, respectively), comprising hydrophobic signal sequences followed by charged domains (KKRPKP), function as cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) with live cells, concomitantly causing toxicity. Using steady-state fluorescence techniques, including calcein leakage and polarization of a membrane probe (diphenylhexatriene, DPH), as well as circular dichroism, we studied the membrane interactions of the peptides with large unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (LUVs), generally with a 30% negative surface charged density, comparing the effects with those of the CPP penetratin (pAntp) and the pore-forming peptide melittin. The prion peptides caused significant calcein leakage from LUVs concomitant with increased membrane ordering. Fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) studies of either rhodamine-entrapping (REVs) or rhodamine-labeled (RLVs) vesicles, showed that addition of the prion peptides resulted in significant release of rhodamine from the REVs without affecting the overall integrity of the RLVs. The membrane leakage effects due to the peptides had the following order of potency: melittin>mPrPp>bPrPp>pAntp. The membrane perturbation effects of the N-terminal prion peptides suggest that they form transient pores (similar to melittin) causing toxicity in parallel with their cellular trafficking.

Negative cooperativity and aggregation in biphasic binding of mastoparan X peptide to membranes with acidic lipids

The change of Trp fluorescence intensity when large vesicles with 10% acidic lipid are added to mastoparan X solutions reflects a fast and a slow binding process. By means of a novel procedure of data analysis that takes advantage of so-called mass conservation plots we have separated association isotherms related to: (i) the apparent fast pre-equilibrium; and (ii) the final equilibrium, respectively. This approach also reveals that the intrinsic fluorescence signal of the slow binding is considerably raised against that of the fast binding, presumably indicating a penetration of bound peptide from the lipid/water interface into the apolar lipid core. The shape of either binding curve discloses a pronounced tendency of aggregation. Furthermore, it turns out that in the slow process the final binding ratio decreases markedly compared with the initial fast binding ratio. Accordingly the occupation of final binding sites must exert a substantial effect of negative cooperativity on the affinity of the interfacial binding states.

Orientation and effects of mastoparan X on phospholipid bicelles

Mastoparan X (MPX: INWKGIAAMAKKLL-NH2) belongs to a family of ionophoric peptides found in wasp venom. Upon binding to the membrane, MPX increases the cell's permeability to cations leading to a disruption in the electrolyte balance and cell lysis. This process is thought to occur either through a membrane-thinning mechanism, where the peptide resides on the membrane surface thereby disrupting lipid packing, or through formation of an oligomeric pore. To address this issue, we have used both high-resolution and solid-state 2H NMR techniques to study the structure and orientation of MPX when associated with bicelles. NOESY and chemical shift analysis showed that in bicelles, MPX formed a well-structured amphipathic alpha-helix. In zwitterionic bicelles, the helical axis was found to rest generally perpendicular to the membrane normal, which could be consistent with the "carpet" mechanism for lytic activity. In anionic bicelles, on the other hand, the helical axis was generally parallel to the membrane normal, which is more consistent with the pore model for lytic activity. In addition, MPX caused significant disruption in lipid packing of the negatively charged phospholipids. Taken together, these results show that MPX associates differently with zwitterionic membranes, where it rests parallel to the surface, compared with negatively charged membranes, where it penetrates longitudinally.

A universal thermodynamic approach to analyze biomolecular binding experiments

Binding processes of any kind can be characterized as an association of a given ligand with some binding factor. This includes macromolecules as well as supramolecular aggregates such as micelles or membranes. The underlying molecular binding mechanism may be more or less complicated due to various intermediate steps (involving for instance conformational changes, aggregation, cooperativity, etc.). A sensible discussion of possible binding models naturally calls for a model-independent access to basic thermodynamic properties. The present contribution will demonstrate how this can quite generally be accomplished by a pertinent processing of properly selected experimental data. The method requires a series of titration measurements comprising the use of variable amounts of both the ligand and the binding factor. It leads to a linear mass conservation plot (i.e. amount of the ligand vs. a matching amount of the binding factor) whose slope and ordinate intercept are equal to the binding ratio (i.e. bound ligand per binding factor) and the free ligand concentration, respectively. This establishes the specific binding isotherm. The approach also reveals latent structurally determined features of the applied physical measuring signal. A number of examples including specific binding, unspecific adsorption and insertion in two-dimensional molecular films will illustrate the methodology.