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Tajima S, Kim YS, Fukuda M, Jo Y, Wang PY, Paggi JM, Inoue M, Byrne EFX, Kishi KE, Nakamura S, Ramakrishnan C, Takaramoto S, Nagata T, Konno M, Sugiura M, Katayama K, Matsui TE, Yamashita K, Kim S, Ikeda H, Kim J, Kandori H, Dror RO, Inoue K, Deisseroth K, Kato HE. Structural basis for ion selectivity in potassium-selective channelrhodopsins. Cell 2023; 186:4325-4344.e26. [PMID: 37652010 PMCID: PMC7615185 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2023.08.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 05/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/02/2023]
Abstract
KCR channelrhodopsins (K+-selective light-gated ion channels) have received attention as potential inhibitory optogenetic tools but more broadly pose a fundamental mystery regarding how their K+ selectivity is achieved. Here, we present 2.5-2.7 Å cryo-electron microscopy structures of HcKCR1 and HcKCR2 and of a structure-guided mutant with enhanced K+ selectivity. Structural, electrophysiological, computational, spectroscopic, and biochemical analyses reveal a distinctive mechanism for K+ selectivity; rather than forming the symmetrical filter of canonical K+ channels achieving both selectivity and dehydration, instead, three extracellular-vestibule residues within each monomer form a flexible asymmetric selectivity gate, while a distinct dehydration pathway extends intracellularly. Structural comparisons reveal a retinal-binding pocket that induces retinal rotation (accounting for HcKCR1/HcKCR2 spectral differences), and design of corresponding KCR variants with increased K+ selectivity (KALI-1/KALI-2) provides key advantages for optogenetic inhibition in vitro and in vivo. Thus, discovery of a mechanism for ion-channel K+ selectivity also provides a framework for next-generation optogenetics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seiya Tajima
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Yoon Seok Kim
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Masahiro Fukuda
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - YoungJu Jo
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Peter Y Wang
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Joseph M Paggi
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Masatoshi Inoue
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Eamon F X Byrne
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Koichiro E Kishi
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Seiwa Nakamura
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | | | - Shunki Takaramoto
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Takashi Nagata
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Masae Konno
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan; PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan
| | - Masahiro Sugiura
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Japan
| | - Kota Katayama
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Japan
| | - Toshiki E Matsui
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Keitaro Yamashita
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK
| | - Suhyang Kim
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hisako Ikeda
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Jaeah Kim
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Hideki Kandori
- Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Japan; OptoBioTechnology Research Center, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Showa-ku, Japan
| | - Ron O Dror
- Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Keiichi Inoue
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan
| | - Karl Deisseroth
- Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; CNC Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
| | - Hideaki E Kato
- Komaba Institute for Science, The University of Tokyo, Meguro, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan; FOREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency, Kawaguchi, Saitama, Japan.
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Riechmann C, Zhang P. Recent structural advances in bacterial chemotaxis signalling. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2023; 79:102565. [PMID: 36868078 PMCID: PMC10460253 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2023.102565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2023] [Indexed: 03/05/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial chemosensory arrays have served as a model system for in-situ structure determination, clearly cataloguing the improvement of cryo-electron tomography (cryoET) over the past decade. In recent years, this has culminated in an accurately fitted atomistic model for the full-length core signalling unit (CSU) and numerous insights into the function of the transmembrane receptors responsible for signal transduction. Here, we review the achievements of the latest structural advances in bacterial chemosensory arrays and the developments which have made such advances possible.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Riechmann
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Peijun Zhang
- Division of Structural Biology, Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK; Diamond Light Source, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, OX11 0DE, UK; Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Oxford Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7BN, UK.
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3
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Maschmann ZA, Chua TK, Chandrasekaran S, Ibáñez H, Crane BR. Redox properties and PAS domain structure of the Escherichia coli energy sensor Aer indicate a multistate sensing mechanism. J Biol Chem 2022; 298:102598. [PMID: 36252616 PMCID: PMC9668731 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2022.102598] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2022] [Revised: 10/10/2022] [Accepted: 10/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The Per-Arnt-Sim (PAS; named for the representative proteins: Period, Aryl hydrocarbon receptor nuclear translocator protein and Single-minded) domain of the dimeric Escherichia coli aerotaxis receptor Aer monitors cellular respiration through a redox-sensitive flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor. Conformational shifts in the PAS domain instigated by the oxidized FAD (FADOX)/FAD anionic semiquinone (FADASQ) redox couple traverse the HAMP (histidine kinases, adenylate cyclases, methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins, and phosphatases) and kinase control domains of the Aer dimer to regulate CheA kinase activity. The PAS domain of Aer is unstable and has not been previously purified. Here, residue substitutions that rescue FAD binding in an FAD binding-deficient full-length Aer variant were used in combination to stabilize the Aer PAS domain. We solved the 2.4 Å resolution crystal structure of this variant, Aer-PAS-GVV, and revealed a PAS fold that contains distinct features associated with FAD-based redox sensing, such as a close contact between the Arg115 side chain and N5 of the isoalloxazine ring and interactions of the flavin with the side chains of His53 and Asn85 that are poised to convey conformational signals from the cofactor to the protein surface. In addition, we determined the FADox/FADASQ formal potentials of Aer-PAS-GVV and full-length Aer reconstituted into nanodiscs. The Aer redox couple is remarkably low at -289.6 ± 0.4 mV. In conclusion, we propose a model for Aer energy sensing based on the low potential of Aer-PAS-FADox/FADASQ couple and the inability of Aer-PAS to bind to the fully reduced FAD hydroquinone.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary A Maschmann
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Teck Khiang Chua
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | | | - Héctor Ibáñez
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA
| | - Brian R Crane
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
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Julien JA, Mutchek SG, Fernandez MG, Glover KJ. Facile production of tagless membrane scaffold protein for nanodiscs. Anal Biochem 2022; 638:114497. [PMID: 34848201 PMCID: PMC8702480 DOI: 10.1016/j.ab.2021.114497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Revised: 11/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
The initial step in the preparation of nanodiscs is to express and purify the membrane scaffold protein (MSP) to homogeneity. Current methods used for the isolation and purification of MSP utilize nickel affinity chromatography. However, the presence of a polyhistidine tag on the MSP often interferes with downstream steps where nanodiscs reconstituted with protein need to be isolated from empty ones. Therefore, one must engage in the finicky process of removing the polyhistidine tag from the MSP using a protease before the formation of nanodiscs. Herein, we describe a robust streamlined approach to produce tagless MSP by expression as inclusion bodies followed by cleavage with cyanogen bromide, and purification by gel filtration chromatography. In addition, the MSP prepared is devoid of tryptophan residues which facilitates tryptophan-based spectroscopic studies of reconstituted proteins. Dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy showed that the tagless MSP produced was competent to produce nanodiscs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey A Julien
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Sarah G Mutchek
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Martin G Fernandez
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Kerney Jebrell Glover
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA.
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5
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Abstract
Methylesterase/deamidase CheB is a key component of bacterial chemotaxis systems. It is also a prominent example of a two-component response regulator in which the effector domain is an enzyme. Like other response regulators, CheB is activated by phosphorylation of an aspartyl residue in its regulatory domain, creating an open conformation between its two domains. Studies of CheB in Escherichia coli and related organisms have shown that its enzymatic action is also enhanced by a pentapeptide-binding site for the enzyme at the chemoreceptor carboxyl terminus. Related carboxyl-terminal pentapeptides are found on >25,000 chemoreceptor sequences distributed across 11 bacterial phyla and many bacterial species, in which they presumably play similar roles. Yet, little is known about the interrelationship of CheB phosphorylation, pentapeptide binding, and interactions with its substrate methylesters and amides on the body of the chemoreceptor. We investigated by characterizing the binding kinetics of CheB to Nanodisc-inserted chemoreceptor dimers. The resulting kinetic and thermodynamic constants revealed a synergy between CheB phosphorylation and pentapeptide binding in which a phosphorylation mimic enhanced pentapeptide binding, and the pentapeptide served not only as a high-affinity tether for CheB but also selected the activated conformation of the enzyme. The basis of this selection was revealed by molecular modeling that predicted a pentapeptide-binding site on CheB which existed only in the open, activated enzyme. Recruitment of activated enzyme by selective tethering represents a previously unappreciated strategy for regulating response regulator action, one that may well occur in other two-component systems.
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Gordon JB, Hoffman MC, Troiano JM, Li M, Hazelbauer GL, Schlau-Cohen GS. Concerted Differential Changes of Helical Dynamics and Packing upon Ligand Occupancy in a Bacterial Chemoreceptor. ACS Chem Biol 2021; 16:2472-2480. [PMID: 34647725 PMCID: PMC9990816 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Transmembrane receptors are central components of the chemosensory systems by which motile bacteria detect and respond to chemical gradients. An attractant bound to the receptor periplasmic domain generates conformational signals that regulate a histidine kinase interacting with its cytoplasmic domain. Ligand-induced signaling through the periplasmic and transmembrane domains of the receptor involves a piston-like helical displacement, but the nature of this signaling through the >200 Å four-helix coiled coil of the cytoplasmic domain had not yet been identified. We performed single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer measurements on Escherichia coli aspartate receptor homodimers inserted into native phospholipid bilayers enclosed in nanodiscs. The receptors were labeled with fluorophores at diagnostic positions near the middle of the cytoplasmic coiled coil. At these positions, we found that the two N-helices of the homodimer were more distant, that is, less tightly packed and more dynamic than the companion C-helix pair, consistent with previous deductions that the C-helices form a stable scaffold and the N-helices are dynamic. Upon ligand binding, the scaffold pair compacted further, while separation and dynamics of the dynamic pair increased. Thus, ligand binding had asymmetric effects on the two helical pairs, shifting mean distances in opposite directions and increasing the dynamics of one pair. We suggest that this reflects a conformational change in which differential alterations to the packing and dynamics of the two helical pairs are coupled. These coupled changes could represent a previously unappreciated mode of conformational signaling that may well occur in other coiled-coil signaling proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse B Gordon
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, 6-225, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Mikaila C Hoffman
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, 6-225, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Julianne M Troiano
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, 6-225, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Mingshan Li
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, Missouri 65211, United States
| | - Gerald L Hazelbauer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, Missouri 65211, United States
| | - Gabriela S Schlau-Cohen
- Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, 6-225, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
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Julien JA, Fernandez MG, Brandmier KM, Del Mundo JT, Bator CM, Loftus LA, Gomez EW, Gomez ED, Glover KJ. Rapid preparation of nanodiscs for biophysical studies. Arch Biochem Biophys 2021; 712:109051. [PMID: 34610337 DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2021.109051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2021] [Revised: 09/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Nanodiscs, which are disc-shaped entities that contain a central lipid bilayer encased by an annulus of amphipathic helices, have emerged as a leading native-like membrane mimic. The current approach for the formation of nanodiscs involves the creation of a mixed-micellar solution containing membrane scaffold protein, lipid, and detergent followed by a time consuming process (3-12 h) of dialysis and/or incubation with sorptive beads to remove the detergent molecules from the sample. In contrast, the methodology described herein provides a facile and rapid procedure for the preparation of nanodiscs in a matter of minutes (<15 min) using Sephadex® G-25 resin to remove the detergent from the sample. A panoply of biophysical techniques including analytical ultracentrifugation, dynamic light scattering, gel filtration chromatography, circular dichroism spectroscopy, and cryogenic electron microscopy were employed to unequivocally confirm that aggregates formed by this method are indeed nanodiscs. We believe that this method will be attractive for time-sensitive and high-throughput experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey A Julien
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Martin G Fernandez
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Katrina M Brandmier
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Joshua T Del Mundo
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Carol M Bator
- Huck Institutes of Life Sciences, Cryo-EM Facility, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Lucie A Loftus
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA
| | - Esther W Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Enrique D Gomez
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 121 Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA; Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 404 Steidle Building, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - Kerney Jebrell Glover
- Department of Chemistry, Lehigh University, 6 E. Packer Ave. Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 18015, USA.
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Ma P, Phillips-Jones MK. Membrane Sensor Histidine Kinases: Insights from Structural, Ligand and Inhibitor Studies of Full-Length Proteins and Signalling Domains for Antibiotic Discovery. Molecules 2021; 26:molecules26165110. [PMID: 34443697 PMCID: PMC8399564 DOI: 10.3390/molecules26165110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Revised: 08/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
There is an urgent need to find new antibacterial agents to combat bacterial infections, including agents that inhibit novel, hitherto unexploited targets in bacterial cells. Amongst novel targets are two-component signal transduction systems (TCSs) which are the main mechanism by which bacteria sense and respond to environmental changes. TCSs typically comprise a membrane-embedded sensory protein (the sensor histidine kinase, SHK) and a partner response regulator protein. Amongst promising targets within SHKs are those involved in environmental signal detection (useful for targeting specific SHKs) and the common themes of signal transmission across the membrane and propagation to catalytic domains (for targeting multiple SHKs). However, the nature of environmental signals for the vast majority of SHKs is still lacking, and there is a paucity of structural information based on full-length membrane-bound SHKs with and without ligand. Reasons for this lack of knowledge lie in the technical challenges associated with investigations of these relatively hydrophobic membrane proteins and the inherent flexibility of these multidomain proteins that reduces the chances of successful crystallisation for structural determination by X-ray crystallography. However, in recent years there has been an explosion of information published on (a) methodology for producing active forms of full-length detergent-, liposome- and nanodisc-solubilised membrane SHKs and their use in structural studies and identification of signalling ligands and inhibitors; and (b) mechanisms of signal sensing and transduction across the membrane obtained using sensory and transmembrane domains in isolation, which reveal some commonalities as well as unique features. Here we review the most recent advances in these areas and highlight those of potential use in future strategies for antibiotic discovery. This Review is part of a Special Issue entitled “Interactions of Bacterial Molecules with Their Ligands and Other Chemical Agents” edited by Mary K. Phillips-Jones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pikyee Ma
- Laboratory of Biomolecular Research, Paul Scherrer Institute, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland;
| | - Mary K. Phillips-Jones
- National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics, School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington LE12 5RD, UK
- Correspondence:
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Kermani AA. A guide to membrane protein X‐ray crystallography. FEBS J 2020; 288:5788-5804. [DOI: 10.1111/febs.15676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ali A. Kermani
- Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI USA
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10
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Sligar SG, Denisov IG. Nanodiscs: A toolkit for membrane protein science. Protein Sci 2020; 30:297-315. [PMID: 33165998 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3994] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 10/30/2020] [Accepted: 10/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Membrane proteins are involved in numerous vital biological processes, including transport, signal transduction and the enzymes in a variety of metabolic pathways. Integral membrane proteins account for up to 30% of the human proteome and they make up more than half of all currently marketed therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, membrane proteins are inherently recalcitrant to study using the normal toolkit available to scientists, and one is most often left with the challenge of finding inhibitors, activators and specific antibodies using a denatured or detergent solubilized aggregate. The Nanodisc platform circumvents these challenges by providing a self-assembled system that renders typically insoluble, yet biologically and pharmacologically significant, targets such as receptors, transporters, enzymes, and viral antigens soluble in aqueous media in a native-like bilayer environment that maintain a target's functional activity. By providing a bilayer surface of defined composition and structure, Nanodiscs have found great utility in the study of cellular signaling complexes that assemble on a membrane surface. Nanodiscs provide a nanometer scale vehicle for the in vivo delivery of amphipathic drugs, therapeutic lipids, tethered nucleic acids, imaging agents and active protein complexes. This means for generating nanoscale lipid bilayers has spawned the successful use of numerous other polymer and peptide amphipathic systems. This review, in celebration of the Anfinsen Award, summarizes some recent results and provides an inroad into the current and historical literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen G Sligar
- Departments of Biochemistry Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
| | - Ilia G Denisov
- Departments of Biochemistry Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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11
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Debruycker V, Hutchin A, Masureel M, Ficici E, Martens C, Legrand P, Stein RA, Mchaourab HS, Faraldo-Gómez JD, Remaut H, Govaerts C. An embedded lipid in the multidrug transporter LmrP suggests a mechanism for polyspecificity. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2020; 27:829-35. [PMID: 32719456 DOI: 10.1038/s41594-020-0464-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Accepted: 06/17/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Multidrug efflux pumps present a challenge to the treatment of bacterial infections, making it vitally important to understand their mechanism of action. Here, we investigate the nature of substrate binding within Lactococcus lactis LmrP, a prototypical multidrug transporter of the major facilitator superfamily. We determined the crystal structure of LmrP in a ligand-bound outward-open state and observed an embedded lipid in the binding cavity of LmrP, an observation supported by native mass spectrometry analyses. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the anionic lipid stabilizes the observed ligand-bound structure. Mutants engineered to disrupt binding of the embedded lipid display reduced transport of some, but not all, antibiotic substrates. Our results suggest that a lipid within the binding cavity could provide a malleable hydrophobic component that allows adaptation to the presence of different substrates, helping to explain the broad specificity of this protein and possibly other multidrug transporters.
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12
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Abstract
The interactions between lipids and proteins are one of the most fundamental processes in living organisms, responsible for critical cellular events ranging from replication, cell division, signaling, and movement. Enabling the central coupling responsible for maintaining the functionality of the breadth of proteins, receptors, and enzymes that find their natural home in biological membranes, the fundamental mechanisms of recognition of protein for lipid, and vice versa, have been a focal point of biochemical and biophysical investigations for many decades. Complexes of lipids and proteins, such as the various lipoprotein factions, play central roles in the trafficking of important proteins, small molecules and metabolites and are often implicated in disease states. Recently an engineered lipoprotein particle, termed the nanodisc, a modified form of the human high density lipoprotein fraction, has served as a membrane mimetic for the investigation of membrane proteins and studies of lipid-protein interactions. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge regarding this self-assembling lipid-protein complex and provide examples for its utility in the investigation of a large number of biological systems.
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13
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Li M, Hazelbauer GL. Methyltransferase CheR binds to its chemoreceptor substrates independent of their signaling conformation yet modifies them differentially. Protein Sci 2020; 29:443-454. [PMID: 31654429 PMCID: PMC6954704 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3760] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2019] [Revised: 10/22/2019] [Accepted: 10/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Methylation of specific chemoreceptor glutamyl residues by methyltransferase CheR mediates sensory adaptation and gradient sensing in bacterial chemotaxis. Enzyme action is a function of chemoreceptor signaling conformation: kinase-off receptors are more readily methylated than kinase-on, a feature central to adaptational and gradient-sensing mechanisms. Differential enzyme action could reflect differential binding, catalysis or both. We investigated by measuring CheR binding to kinase-off and kinase-on forms of Escherichia coli aspartate receptor Tar deleted of its CheR-tethering, carboxyl terminus pentapeptide. This allowed characterization of the low-affinity binding of enzyme to the substrate receptor body, otherwise masked by high-affinity interaction with pentapeptide. We quantified the low-affinity protein-protein interactions by determining kinetic rate constants of association and dissociation using bio-layer interferometry and from those values calculating equilibrium constants. Whether Tar signaling conformations were shifted by ligand occupancy or adaptational modification, there was little or no difference between the two signaling conformations in kinetic or equilibrium parameters of enzyme-receptor binding. Thus, differential methyltransferase action does not reflect differential binding. Instead, the predominant determinants of binding must be common to different signaling conformations. Characterization of the dependence of association rate constants on Deybe length, a measure of the influence of electrostatics, implicated electrostatic interactions as a common binding determinant. Taken together, our observations indicate that differential action of methyltransferase on kinase-off and kinase-on chemoreceptors is not the result of differential binding and suggest it reflects differential catalytic propensity. Differential catalysis rather than binding could well be central to other enzymes distinguishing alternative conformations of protein substrates.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingshan Li
- Department of BiochemistryUniversity of Missouri‐ColumbiaColumbiaMissouri
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14
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Affandi T, McEvoy MM. Mechanism of metal ion-induced activation of a two-component sensor kinase. Biochem J 2019; 476:115-35. [PMID: 30530842 DOI: 10.1042/BCJ20180577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2018] [Revised: 12/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/10/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Two-component systems (TCSs) are essential for bacteria to sense, respond, and adapt to changing environments, such as elevation of Cu(I)/Ag(I) ions in the periplasm. In Escherichia coli, the CusS-CusR TCS up-regulates the cusCFBA genes under increased periplasmic Cu(I)/Ag(I) concentrations to help maintain metal ion homeostasis. The CusS histidine kinase is a homodimeric integral membrane protein that binds to periplasmic Cu(I)/Ag(I) and transduces a signal to its cytoplasmic kinase domain. However, the mechanism of how metal binding in the periplasm activates autophosphorylation in the cytoplasm is unknown. Here, we report that only one of the two metal ion-binding sites in CusS enhances dimerization of the sensor domain. Utilizing nanodisc technology to study full-length CusS, we show that metal-induced dimerization in the sensor domain triggers kinase activity in the cytoplasmic domain. We also investigated autophosphorylation in the cytoplasmic domain of CusS and phosphotransfer between CusS and CusR. In vitro analyses show that CusS autophosphorylates its conserved H271 residue at the N1 position of the histidine imidazole. The phosphoryl group is removed by the response regulator CusR in a reaction that requires a conserved aspartate at position 51. Functional analyses in vivo of CusS and CusR variants with mutations in the autophosphorylation or phosphoacceptor residues suggest that the phosphotransfer event is essential for metal resistance in E. coli Biochemical analysis shows that the CusS dimer autophosphorylates using a cis mechanism. Our results support a signal transduction model in which rotation and bending movements in the cytoplasmic domain maintain the mode of autophosphorylation.
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15
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Quinn SD, Srinivasan S, Gordon JB, He W, Carraway KL, Coleman MA, Schlau-Cohen GS. Single-Molecule Fluorescence Detection of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor in Membrane Discs. Biochemistry 2018; 58:286-294. [PMID: 29553754 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b00089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is critical to normal cellular signaling pathways. Moreover, it has been implicated in a range of pathologies, including cancer. As a result, it is the primary target of many anticancer drugs. One limitation to the design and development of these drugs has been the lack of molecular-level information about the interactions and conformational dynamics of EGFR. To overcome this limitation, this work reports the construction and characterization of functional, fluorescently labeled, and full-length EGFR in model membrane nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) for in vitro fluorescence studies. To demonstrate the utility of the system, we investigate ATP-EGFR interactions. We observe that ATP binds at the catalytic site providing a means to measure a range of distances between the catalytic site and the C-terminus via Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). These ATP-based experiments suggest a range of conformations of the C-terminus that may be a function of the phosphorylation state for EGFR. This work is a proof-of-principle demonstration of single-molecule studies as a noncrystallographic assay for EGFR interactions in real-time and under near-physiological conditions. The diverse nature of EGFR interactions means that new tools at the molecular level have the potential to significantly enhance our understanding of receptor pathology and are of utmost importance for cancer-related drug discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steven D Quinn
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02139 , United States
| | - Shwetha Srinivasan
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02139 , United States
| | - Jesse B Gordon
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02139 , United States
| | - Wei He
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore , California , United States
| | - Kermit L Carraway
- Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine , University of California Davis School of Medicine , Sacramento , California , United States
| | - Matthew A Coleman
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , Livermore , California , United States.,Radiation Oncology , University of California Davis School of Medicine , Sacramento , California , United States
| | - Gabriela S Schlau-Cohen
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , 77 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge , Massachusetts 02139 , United States
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16
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Ogren JI, Tong AL, Gordon SC, Chenu A, Lu Y, Blankenship RE, Cao J, Schlau-Cohen GS. Impact of the lipid bilayer on energy transfer kinetics in the photosynthetic protein LH2. Chem Sci 2018; 9:3095-3104. [PMID: 29732092 PMCID: PMC5914429 DOI: 10.1039/c7sc04814a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2017] [Accepted: 02/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Photosynthetic purple bacteria convert solar energy to chemical energy with near unity quantum efficiency. The light-harvesting process begins with absorption of solar energy by an antenna protein called Light-Harvesting Complex 2 (LH2). Energy is subsequently transferred within LH2 and then through a network of additional light-harvesting proteins to a central location, termed the reaction center, where charge separation occurs. The energy transfer dynamics of LH2 are highly sensitive to intermolecular distances and relative organizations. As a result, minor structural perturbations can cause significant changes in these dynamics. Previous experiments have primarily been performed in two ways. One uses non-native samples where LH2 is solubilized in detergent, which can alter protein structure. The other uses complex membranes that contain multiple proteins within a large lipid area, which make it difficult to identify and distinguish perturbations caused by protein-protein interactions and lipid-protein interactions. Here, we introduce the use of the biochemical platform of model membrane discs to study the energy transfer dynamics of photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes in a near-native environment. We incorporate a single LH2 from Rhodobacter sphaeroides into membrane discs that provide a spectroscopically amenable sample in an environment more physiological than detergent but less complex than traditional membranes. This provides a simplified system to understand an individual protein and how the lipid-protein interaction affects energy transfer dynamics. We compare the energy transfer rates of detergent-solubilized LH2 with those of LH2 in membrane discs using transient absorption spectroscopy and transient absorption anisotropy. For one key energy transfer step in LH2, we observe a 30% enhancement of the rate for LH2 in membrane discs compared to that in detergent. Based on experimental results and theoretical modeling, we attribute this difference to tilting of the peripheral bacteriochlorophyll in the B800 band. These results highlight the importance of well-defined systems with near-native membrane conditions for physiologically-relevant measurements.
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Affiliation(s)
- John I Ogren
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
| | - Ashley L Tong
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
| | - Samuel C Gordon
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
| | - Aurélia Chenu
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
| | - Yue Lu
- Department of Biology and Chemistry , Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis , MO 63130 , USA
| | - Robert E Blankenship
- Department of Biology and Chemistry , Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis , MO 63130 , USA
| | - Jianshu Cao
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
| | - Gabriela S Schlau-Cohen
- Department of Chemistry , Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Cambridge , MA 02139 , USA .
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17
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Moon S, Kong B, Jung YH, Kim Y, Yu S, Park JB, Shin J, Kweon DH. Endotoxin-free purification of recombinant membrane scaffold protein expressed in Escherichia coli. Process Biochem 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2017.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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18
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Akkaladevi N, Bunyak F, Stalla D, White TA, Hazelbauer GL. Flexible Hinges in Bacterial Chemoreceptors. J Bacteriol 2018; 200:e00593-17. [PMID: 29229700 DOI: 10.1128/JB.00593-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmembrane bacterial chemoreceptors are extended, rod-shaped homodimers with ligand-binding sites at one end and interaction sites for signaling complex formation and histidine kinase control at the other. There are atomic-resolution structures of chemoreceptor fragments but not of intact, membrane-inserted receptors. Electron tomography of in vivo signaling complex arrays lack distinct densities for chemoreceptor rods away from the well-ordered base plate region, implying structural heterogeneity. We used negative staining, transmission electron microscopy, and image analysis to characterize the molecular shapes of intact homodimers of the Escherichia coli aspartate receptor Tar rendered functional by insertion into nanodisc-provided E. coli lipid bilayers. Single-particle analysis plus tomography of particles in a three-dimensional matrix revealed two bend loci in the chemoreceptor cytoplasmic domain, (i) a short, two-strand gap between the membrane-proximal, four-helix-bundle HAMP (histidine kinases, adenylyl cyclases, methyl-accepting chemoreceptors, and phosphatases) domain and the membrane-distal, four-helix coiled coil and (ii) aligned glycines in the extended, four-helix coiled coil, the position of a bend noted in the previous X-ray structure of a receptor fragment. Our images showed HAMP bends from 0° to ∼13° and glycine bends from 0° to ∼20°, suggesting that the loci are flexible hinges. Variable hinge bending explains indistinct densities for receptor rods outside the base plate region in subvolume averages of chemotaxis arrays. Bending at flexible hinges was not correlated with the chemoreceptor signaling state. However, our analyses showed that chemoreceptor bending avoided what would otherwise be steric clashes between neighboring receptors that would block the formation of core signaling complexes and chemoreceptor arrays.IMPORTANCE This work provides new information about the shape of transmembrane bacterial chemoreceptors, crucial components in the molecular machinery of bacterial chemotaxis. We found that intact, lipid-bilayer-inserted, and thus functional homodimers of the Escherichia coli chemoreceptor Tar exhibited bends at two flexible hinges along their ∼200-Å, rod-like, cytoplasmic domains. One hinge was at the short, two-strand gap between the membrane-proximal, four-helix-bundle HAMP (histidine kinases, adenylyl cyclases, methyl-accepting chemoreceptors, and phosphatases) domain and the membrane-distal, four-helix coiled coil. The other hinge was at aligned glycines in the extended, four-helix coiled coil, where a bend had been identified in the X-ray structure of a chemoreceptor fragment. Our analyses showed that flexible hinge bending avoided structural clashes in chemotaxis core complexes and their arrays.
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Szundi I, Funatogawa C, Guo Y, Yan ECY, Kliger DS. Protein Sequence and Membrane Lipid Roles in the Activation Kinetics of Bovine and Human Rhodopsins. Biophys J 2017; 113:1934-1944. [PMID: 29117518 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2017.08.051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2017] [Revised: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 08/28/2017] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Rhodopsin is a G protein-coupled receptor found in the rod outer segments in the retina, which triggers a visual response under dim light conditions. Recently, a study of the late, microsecond-to-millisecond kinetics of photointermediates of the human and bovine rhodopsins in their native membranes revealed a complex, double-square mechanism of rhodopsin activation. In this kinetic scheme, the human rhodopsin exhibited more Schiff base deprotonation than bovine rhodopsin, which could arise from the ∼7% sequence difference between the two proteins, or from the difference between their membrane lipid environments. To differentiate between the effects of membrane and protein structure on the kinetics, the human and bovine rhodopsins were inserted into 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine lipid nanodiscs and the kinetics of activation at 15°C and pH 8.7 was investigated by time-resolved absorption spectroscopy and global kinetic analysis. For both proteins, the kinetics in nanodiscs shows the characteristics observed in the native membranes, and is described by a multisquare model with Schiff base deprotonation at the lumirhodopsin I intermediate stage. The results indicate that the protein sequence controls the extent of Schiff base deprotonation and accumulation of intermediates, and thus plays the main role in the different activation kinetics observed between human and bovine rhodopsins. The membrane lipid does have a minor role by modulating the timing of the kinetics, with the nanodisc environment leading to an earlier Schiff base deprotonation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Istvan Szundi
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
| | - Chie Funatogawa
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California
| | - Ying Guo
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - Elsa C Y Yan
- Department of Chemistry, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
| | - David S Kliger
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California.
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20
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Landry AP, Ballou DP, Banerjee R. H 2S oxidation by nanodisc-embedded human sulfide quinone oxidoreductase. J Biol Chem 2017; 292:11641-11649. [PMID: 28512131 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m117.788547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2017] [Revised: 05/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Buildup of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), which functions as a signaling molecule but is toxic at high concentrations, is averted by its efficient oxidation by the mitochondrial sulfide oxidation pathway. The first step in this pathway is catalyzed by a flavoprotein, sulfide quinone oxidoreductase (SQR), which converts H2S to a persulfide and transfers electrons to coenzyme Q via a flavin cofactor. All previous studies on human SQR have used detergent-solubilized protein. Here, we embedded human SQR in nanodiscs (ndSQR) and studied highly homogenous preparations by steady-state and rapid-kinetics techniques. ndSQR exhibited higher catalytic rates in its membranous environment than in its solubilized state. Stopped-flow spectroscopic data revealed that transfer of the sulfane sulfur from an SQR-bound cysteine persulfide intermediate to a small-molecule acceptor is the rate-limiting step. The physiological acceptor of sulfane sulfur from SQR has been the subject of controversy; we report that the kinetic analysis of ndSQR is consistent with glutathione rather than sulfite being the predominant acceptor at physiologically relevant concentrations of the respective metabolites. The identity of the acceptor has an important bearing on how the sulfide oxidation pathway is organized. Our data are more consistent with the reaction sequence for sulfide oxidation being: H2S → glutathione persulfide → sulfite → sulfate, than with a more convoluted route that would result if sulfite were the primary acceptor of sulfane sulfur. In summary, nanodisc-incorporated human SQR exhibits enhanced catalytic performance, and pre-steady-state kinetics characterization of the complete SQR catalytic cycle indicates that GSH serves as the physiologically relevant sulfur acceptor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron P Landry
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
| | - David P Ballou
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
| | - Ruma Banerjee
- Department of Biological Chemistry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
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21
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Pan W, Dahlquist FW, Hazelbauer GL. Signaling complexes control the chemotaxis kinase by altering its apparent rate constant of autophosphorylation. Protein Sci 2017; 26:1535-1546. [PMID: 28425142 DOI: 10.1002/pro.3179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Revised: 04/14/2017] [Accepted: 04/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Autophosphorylating histidine kinase CheA is central to signaling in bacterial chemotaxis. The kinase donates its phosphoryl group to two response regulators, CheY that controls flagellar rotation and thus motility and CheB, crucial for sensory adaptation. As measured by coupled CheY phosphorylation, incorporation into signaling complexes activates the kinase ∼1000-fold and places it under control of chemoreceptors. By the same assay, receptors modulate kinase activity ∼100-fold as a function of receptor ligand occupancy and adaptational modification. These changes are the essence of chemotactic signaling. Yet, the enzymatic properties affected by incorporation into signaling complexes, by chemoreceptor ligand binding or by receptor adaptational modification are largely undefined. To investigate, we performed steady-state kinetic analysis of autophosphorylation using a liberated kinase phosphoryl-accepting domain, characterizing kinase alone, in isolated core signaling complexes and in small arrays of core complexes assembled in vitro with receptors contained in isolated native membranes. Autophosphorylation in signaling complexes was measured as a function of ligand occupancy and adaptational modification. Activation by incorporation into signaling complexes and modulation in complexes by ligand occupancy and adaptational modification occurred largely via changes in the apparent catalytic rate constant (kcat ). Changes in the autophosphorylation kcat accounted for most of the ∼1000-fold kinase activation in signaling complexes observed for coupled CheY phosphorylation, and the ∼100-fold inhibition by ligand occupancy or modulation by adaptational modification. Our results indicate no more than a minor role in kinase control for simple sequestration of the autophosphorylation substrate. Instead they indicate direct effects on the active site.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenlin Pan
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211
| | - Frederick W Dahlquist
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California, 93106-9510
| | - Gerald L Hazelbauer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, 65211
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22
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Abstract
Membrane proteins play a most important part in metabolism, signaling, cell motility, transport, development, and many other biochemical and biophysical processes which constitute fundamentals of life on the molecular level. Detailed understanding of these processes is necessary for the progress of life sciences and biomedical applications. Nanodiscs provide a new and powerful tool for a broad spectrum of biochemical and biophysical studies of membrane proteins and are commonly acknowledged as an optimal membrane mimetic system that provides control over size, composition, and specific functional modifications on the nanometer scale. In this review we attempted to combine a comprehensive list of various applications of nanodisc technology with systematic analysis of the most attractive features of this system and advantages provided by nanodiscs for structural and mechanistic studies of membrane proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilia G Denisov
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
| | - Stephen G Sligar
- Department of Biochemistry and Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois , Urbana, Illinois 61801, United States
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23
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Basak S, Schmandt N, Gicheru Y, Chakrapani S. Crystal structure and dynamics of a lipid-induced potential desensitized-state of a pentameric ligand-gated channel. eLife 2017; 6:23886. [PMID: 28262093 PMCID: PMC5378477 DOI: 10.7554/elife.23886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2016] [Accepted: 03/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Desensitization in pentameric ligand-gated ion channels plays an important role in regulating neuronal excitability. Here, we show that docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), a key ω−3 polyunsaturated fatty acid in synaptic membranes, enhances the agonist-induced transition to the desensitized state in the prokaryotic channel GLIC. We determined a 3.25 Å crystal structure of the GLIC-DHA complex in a potentially desensitized conformation. The DHA molecule is bound at the channel-periphery near the M4 helix and exerts a long-range allosteric effect on the pore across domain-interfaces. In this previously unobserved conformation, the extracellular-half of the pore-lining M2 is splayed open, reminiscent of the open conformation, while the intracellular-half is constricted, leading to a loss of both water and permeant ions. These findings, in combination with spin-labeling/EPR spectroscopic measurements in reconstituted-membranes, provide novel mechanistic details of desensitization in pentameric channels. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23886.001 The nerve cells (or neurons) in the brain communicate with each other by releasing chemicals called neurotransmitters that bind to ion channels on neighboring neurons. This ultimately causes ions to flow in or out of the receiving neuron through these ion channels; this ion flow determines how the neuron responds. One family of ion channels that is found at the junction between neurons, and between neurons and muscle fibers, is known as the pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (or pLGICs). These channels act as ‘gates’ that open to allow ions through them when a neurotransmitter binds to the channel. In addition to the open ‘active’ state, the channels can take on two different ‘inactive’ states that do not allow ions to pass through the channel: a closed (resting) state and a desensitized state (that is still bound to the neurotransmitter). Understanding how channels switch between these states is important for designing drugs that correct problems that cause the channels to work incorrectly. Problems that affect the desensitized state have been linked to neurological disorders such as epilepsy. Medically important molecules such as anesthetics and alcohols are thought to affect desensitization, and drugs that target desensitized ion channels may present ways of treating neurological disorders with fewer side effects. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an abundant lipid molecule that is present in the membranes of neurons. It is one of the key ingredients in fish oil supplements and is thought to enhance learning and memory. DHA affects the desensitization of pLGICs but it is not clear exactly how it does so. Basak et al. now show that DHA affects a bacterial pLGIC in the same way as it affects human channels – by enhancing desensitization. Using a technique called X-ray crystallography to analyze the channel while bound to DHA revealed a previously unobserved channel structure. The DHA molecule binds to a site at the edge of the channel and causes a change in its structure that leaves the upper part of the channel open while the lower part is constricted. Basak et al. predict that molecules such as anesthetics target this desensitized state. The next step will be to obtain the structures of bacterial and human pLGIC channels in a natural membrane environment. This will allow us to better understand the changes in structure that the channels go through as they transmit signals between neurons, and so help in the development of new treatments for neurological disorders. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.23886.002
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandip Basak
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
| | - Nicolaus Schmandt
- Department of Neuroscience, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
| | - Yvonne Gicheru
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
| | - Sudha Chakrapani
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, United States
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24
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Samanta D, Widom J, Borbat PP, Freed JH, Crane BR. Bacterial Energy Sensor Aer Modulates the Activity of the Chemotaxis Kinase CheA Based on the Redox State of the Flavin Cofactor. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:25809-25814. [PMID: 27803157 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.c116.757492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Revised: 10/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Flagellated bacteria modulate their swimming behavior in response to environmental cues through the CheA/CheY signaling pathway. In addition to responding to external chemicals, bacteria also monitor internal conditions that reflect the availability of oxygen, light, and reducing equivalents, in a process termed "energy taxis." In Escherichia coli, the transmembrane receptor Aer is the primary energy sensor for motility. Genetic and physiological data suggest that Aer monitors the electron transport chain through the redox state of its FAD cofactor. However, direct biochemical data correlating FAD redox chemistry with CheA kinase activity have been lacking. Here, we test this hypothesis via functional reconstitution of Aer into nanodiscs. As purified, Aer contains fully oxidized FAD, which can be chemically reduced to the anionic semiquinone (ASQ). Oxidized Aer activates CheA, whereas ASQ Aer reversibly inhibits CheA. Under these conditions, Aer cannot be further reduced to the hydroquinone, in contrast to the proposed Aer signaling model. Pulse ESR spectroscopy of the ASQ corroborates a potential mechanism for signaling in that the resulting distance between the two flavin-binding PAS (Per-Arnt-Sim) domains implies that they tightly sandwich the signal-transducing HAMP domain in the kinase-off state. Aer appears to follow oligomerization patterns observed for related chemoreceptors, as higher loading of Aer dimers into nanodiscs increases kinase activity. These results provide a new methodological platform to study Aer function along with new mechanistic details into its signal transduction process.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dipanjan Samanta
- From the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and.,the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
| | - Joanne Widom
- From the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and
| | - Peter P Borbat
- From the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and.,the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
| | - Jack H Freed
- From the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and.,the National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853
| | - Brian R Crane
- From the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 and
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25
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Bender G, Schexnaydre EE, Murphy RC, Uhlson C, Newcomer ME. Membrane-dependent Activities of Human 15-LOX-2 and Its Murine Counterpart: IMPLICATIONS FOR MURINE MODELS OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS. J Biol Chem 2016; 291:19413-24. [PMID: 27435673 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m116.741454] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The enzyme encoded by the ALOX15B gene has been linked to the development of atherosclerotic plaques in humans and in a mouse model of hypercholesterolemia. In vitro, these enzymes, which share 78% sequence identity, generate distinct products from their substrate arachidonic acid: the human enzyme, a 15-S-hydroperoxy product; and the murine enzyme, an 8-S-product. We probed the activities of these enzymes with nanodiscs as membrane mimics to determine whether they can access substrate esterified in a bilayer and characterized their activities at the membrane interface. We observed that both enzymes transform phospholipid-esterified arachidonic acid to a 15-S-product. Moreover, when expressed in transfected HEK cells, both enzymes result in significant increases in the amounts of 15-hydroxyderivatives of eicosanoids detected. In addition, we show that 15-LOX-2 is distributed at the plasma membrane when the HEK293 cells are stimulated by the addition Ca(2+) ionophore and that cellular localization is dependent upon the presence of a putative membrane insertion loop. We also report that sequence differences between the human and mouse enzymes in this loop appear to confer distinct mechanisms of enzyme-membrane interaction for the homologues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gunes Bender
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
| | - Erin E Schexnaydre
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
| | - Robert C Murphy
- the Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, Colorado 80045
| | - Charis Uhlson
- the Department of Pharmacology, University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, Colorado 80045
| | - Marcia E Newcomer
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
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26
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Martens C, Stein RA, Masureel M, Roth A, Mishra S, Dawaliby R, Konijnenberg A, Sobott F, Govaerts C, Mchaourab HS. Lipids modulate the conformational dynamics of a secondary multidrug transporter. Nat Struct Mol Biol 2016; 23:744-51. [PMID: 27399258 DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.3262] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2015] [Accepted: 06/16/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Direct interactions with lipids have emerged as key determinants of the folding, structure and function of membrane proteins, but an understanding of how lipids modulate protein dynamics is still lacking. Here, we systematically explored the effects of lipids on the conformational dynamics of the proton-powered multidrug transporter LmrP from Lactococcus lactis, using the pattern of distances between spin-label pairs previously shown to report on alternating access of the protein. We uncovered, at the molecular level, how the lipid headgroups shape the conformational-energy landscape of the transporter. The model emerging from our data suggests a direct interaction between lipid headgroups and a conserved motif of charged residues that control the conformational equilibrium through an interplay of electrostatic interactions within the protein. Together, our data lay the foundation for a comprehensive model of secondary multidrug transport in lipid bilayers.
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Bartelli NL, Hazelbauer GL. Bacterial Chemoreceptor Dynamics: Helical Stability in the Cytoplasmic Domain Varies with Functional Segment and Adaptational Modification. J Mol Biol 2016; 428:3789-804. [PMID: 27318193 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2016.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2016] [Revised: 06/06/2016] [Accepted: 06/07/2016] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Dynamics are thought to be important features of structure and signaling in the cytoplasmic domain of bacterial chemoreceptors. However, little is known about which structural features are dynamic. For this largely helical domain, comprising a four-helix bundle and an extended four-helix coiled coil, functionally important structural dynamics likely involves helical mobility and stability. To investigate, we used continuous wave EPR spectroscopy and site-specific spin labels that directly probed, in essentially physiological conditions, the mobility of helical backbones in the cytoplasmic domain of intact chemoreceptor Tar homodimers inserted into lipid bilayers of Nanodiscs. We observed differences among functional regions, between companion helices in helical hairpins of the coiled coil and between receptor conformational states generated by adaptational modification. Increased adaptational modification decreased helical dynamics while preserving dynamics differences among functional regions and between companion helices. In contrast, receptor ligand occupancy did not have a discernable effect on dynamics to which our approach was sensitive, implying that the two sensory inputs alter different chemoreceptor features. Spectral fitting indicated that differences in helical dynamics we observed for ensemble spin-label mobility reflected differences in proportions of a minority receptor population in which the otherwise helical backbone was essentially disordered. We suggest that our measurements provided site-specific snapshots of equilibria between a majority state of well-ordered helix and a minority state of locally disordered polypeptide backbone. Thus, the proportion of polypeptide chain that is locally and presumably transiently disordered is a structural feature of cytoplasmic domain dynamics that varies with functional region and modification-induced signaling state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas L Bartelli
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Gerald L Hazelbauer
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
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Huang Z, Ni B, Jiang CY, Wu YF, He YZ, Parales RE, Liu SJ. Direct sensing and signal transduction during bacterial chemotaxis toward aromatic compounds inComamonas testosteroni. Mol Microbiol 2016; 101:224-37. [DOI: 10.1111/mmi.13385] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhou Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049 China
| | - Bin Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
| | - Cheng-Ying Jiang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
- IMCAS-RCEECAS Joint Laboratory for Environmental Microbial Technology; Beijing China
| | - Yu-Fan Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049 China
| | - Yun-Zhe He
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049 China
| | - Rebecca E. Parales
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics; University of California; Davis CA 95616 USA
| | - Shuang-Jiang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources and Environmental Microbiology Research Center, Institute of Microbiology; Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100101 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing 100049 China
- IMCAS-RCEECAS Joint Laboratory for Environmental Microbial Technology; Beijing China
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Bartelli NL, Hazelbauer GL. Differential backbone dynamics of companion helices in the extended helical coiled-coil domain of a bacterial chemoreceptor. Protein Sci 2015; 24:1764-76. [PMID: 26257396 DOI: 10.1002/pro.2767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2015] [Revised: 07/31/2015] [Accepted: 08/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Cytoplasmic domains of transmembrane bacterial chemoreceptors are largely extended four-helix coiled coils. Previous observations suggested the domain was structurally dynamic. We probed directly backbone dynamics of this domain of the transmembrane chemoreceptor Tar from Escherichia coli using site-directed spin labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Spin labels were positioned on solvent-exposed helical faces because EPR spectra for such positions reflect primarily polypeptide backbone movements. We acquired spectra for spin-labeled, intact receptor homodimers solubilized in detergent or inserted into native E. coli lipid bilayers in Nanodiscs, characterizing 16 positions distributed throughout the cytoplasmic domain and on both helices of its helical hairpins, one amino terminal to the membrane-distal tight turn (N-helix), and the other carboxyl terminal (C-helix). Detergent solubilization increased backbone dynamics for much of the domain, suggesting that loss of receptor activities upon solubilization reflects wide-spread destabilization. For receptors in either condition, we observed an unanticipated difference between the N- and C-helices. For bilayer-inserted receptors, EPR spectra from sites in the membrane-distal protein-interaction region and throughout the C-helix were typical of well-structured helices. In contrast, for approximately two-thirds of the N-helix, from its origin as the AS-2 helix of the membrane-proximal HAMP domain to the beginning of the membrane-distal protein-interaction region, spectra had a significantly mobile component, estimated by spectral deconvolution to average approximately 15%. Differential helical dynamics suggests a four-helix bundle organization with a pair of core scaffold helices and two more dynamic partner helices. This newly observed feature of chemoreceptor structure could be involved in receptor function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas L Bartelli
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Missouri, 65211
| | - Gerald L Hazelbauer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Missouri, 65211
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Sugano M, Morisaki H, Negishi Y, Endo-Takahashi Y, Kuwata H, Miyazaki T, Yamamoto M. Potential effect of cationic liposomes on interactions with oral bacterial cells and biofilms. J Liposome Res 2015; 26:156-62. [PMID: 26152278 DOI: 10.3109/08982104.2015.1063648] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT Although oral infectious diseases have been attributed to bacteria, drug treatments remain ineffective because bacteria and their products exist as biofilms. Cationic liposomes have been suggested to electrostatically interact with the negative charge on the bacterial surface, thereby improving the effects of conventional drug therapies. However, the electrostatic interaction between oral bacteria and cationic liposomes has not yet been examined in detail. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study was to examine the behavior of cationic liposomes and Streptococcus mutans in planktonic cells and biofilms. MATERIALS AND METHODS Liposomes with or without cationic lipid were prepared using a reverse-phase evaporation method. The zeta potentials of conventional liposomes (without cationic lipid) and cationic liposomes were -13 and 8 mV, respectively, and both had a mean particle size of approximately 180 nm. We first assessed the interaction between liposomes and planktonic bacterial cells with a flow cytometer. We then used a surface plasmon resonance method to examine the binding of liposomes to biofilms. We confirmed the binding behavior of liposomes with biofilms using confocal laser scanning microscopy. RESULTS The interactions between cationic liposomes and S. mutans cells and biofilms were stronger than those of conventional liposomes. Microscopic observations revealed that many cationic liposomes interacted with the bacterial mass and penetrated the deep layers of biofilms. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION In this study, we demonstrated that cationic liposomes had higher affinity not only to oral bacterial cells, but also biofilms than conventional liposomes. This electrostatic interaction may be useful as a potential drug delivery system to biofilms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marika Sugano
- a Division of Biomaterials & Engineering , Department of Conservative Dentistry, Showa University School of Dentistry , Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo , Japan .,b Department of Periodontology , Showa University School of Dentistry , Ohta-ku, Tokyo , Japan .,c Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) , Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo , Japan
| | - Hirobumi Morisaki
- d Department of Oral Microbiology , Showa University School of Dentistry , Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo , Japan , and
| | - Yoichi Negishi
- e Department of Drug Delivery and Molecular Biopharmaceutics , School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences , Hachioji , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Yoko Endo-Takahashi
- e Department of Drug Delivery and Molecular Biopharmaceutics , School of Pharmacy, Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences , Hachioji , Tokyo , Japan
| | - Hirotaka Kuwata
- d Department of Oral Microbiology , Showa University School of Dentistry , Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo , Japan , and
| | - Takashi Miyazaki
- a Division of Biomaterials & Engineering , Department of Conservative Dentistry, Showa University School of Dentistry , Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo , Japan
| | - Matsuo Yamamoto
- b Department of Periodontology , Showa University School of Dentistry , Ohta-ku, Tokyo , Japan
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Parkinson JS, Hazelbauer GL, Falke JJ. Signaling and sensory adaptation in Escherichia coli chemoreceptors: 2015 update. Trends Microbiol 2015; 23:257-66. [PMID: 25834953 DOI: 10.1016/j.tim.2015.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 245] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2015] [Revised: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 03/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Motile Escherichia coli cells track gradients of attractant and repellent chemicals in their environment with transmembrane chemoreceptor proteins. These receptors operate in cooperative arrays to produce large changes in the activity of a signaling kinase, CheA, in response to small changes in chemoeffector concentration. Recent research has provided a much deeper understanding of the structure and function of core receptor signaling complexes and the architecture of higher-order receptor arrays, which, in turn, has led to new insights into the molecular signaling mechanisms of chemoreceptor networks. Current evidence supports a new view of receptor signaling in which stimulus information travels within receptor molecules through shifts in the dynamic properties of adjoining structural elements rather than through a few discrete conformational states.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S Parkinson
- Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
| | - Gerald L Hazelbauer
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| | - Joseph J Falke
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
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Abstract
Bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by signaling complexes that sense chemical gradients and direct bacteria to favorable environments by controlling a histidine kinase as a function of chemoreceptor ligand occupancy. Core signaling complexes contain two trimers of transmembrane chemoreceptor dimers, each trimer binding a coupling protein CheW and a protomer of the kinase dimer. Core complexes assemble into hexagons, and these form hexagonal arrays. The notable cooperativity and amplification in bacterial chemotaxis is thought to reflect allosteric interactions in cores, hexagons, and arrays, but little is known about this presumed allostery. We investigated allostery in core complexes assembled with two chemoreceptor species, each recognizing a different ligand. Chemoreceptors were inserted in Nanodiscs, which rendered them water soluble and allowed isolation of individual complexes. Neighboring dimers in receptor trimers influenced one another's operational ligand affinity, indicating allosteric coupling. However, this coupling did not include the key function of kinase inhibition. Our data indicated that only one receptor dimer could inhibit kinase as a function of ligand occupancy. This selective allosteric coupling corresponded with previously identified structural asymmetry: only one dimer in a trimer contacts kinase and only one CheW. We suggest one of these dimers couples ligand occupancy to kinase inhibition. Additionally, we found that kinase protomers are allosterically coupled, conveying inhibition across the dimer interface. Because kinase dimers connect core complex hexagons, allosteric communication across dimer interfaces provides a pathway for receptor-generated kinase inhibition in one hexagon to spread to another, providing a crucial step for the extensive amplification characteristic of chemotactic signaling.
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Mishra S, Verhalen B, Stein RA, Wen PC, Tajkhorshid E, Mchaourab HS. Conformational dynamics of the nucleotide binding domains and the power stroke of a heterodimeric ABC transporter. eLife 2014; 3:e02740. [PMID: 24837547 PMCID: PMC4046567 DOI: 10.7554/elife.02740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Multidrug ATP binding cassette (ABC) exporters are ubiquitous ABC transporters that extrude cytotoxic molecules across cell membranes. Despite recent progress in structure determination of these transporters, the conformational motion that transduces the energy of ATP hydrolysis to the work of substrate translocation remains undefined. Here, we have investigated the conformational cycle of BmrCD, a representative of the heterodimer family of ABC exporters that have an intrinsically impaired nucleotide binding site. We measured distances between pairs of spin labels monitoring the movement of the nucleotide binding (NBD) and transmembrane domains (TMD). The results expose previously unobserved structural intermediates of the NBDs arising from asymmetric configuration of catalytically inequivalent nucleotide binding sites. The two-state transition of the TMD, from an inward- to an outward-facing conformation, is driven exclusively by ATP hydrolysis. These findings provide direct evidence of divergence in the mechanism of ABC exporters.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.02740.001.
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Affiliation(s)
- Smriti Mishra
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
| | - Brandy Verhalen
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
| | - Richard A Stein
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
| | - Po-Chao Wen
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Unites States
| | - Emad Tajkhorshid
- Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, United States The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Unites States
| | - Hassane S Mchaourab
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, United States
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Abstract
Atherosclerosis is associated with chronic inflammation occurring over decades. The enzyme 15-lipoxygenase-2 (15-LOX-2) is highly expressed in large atherosclerotic plaques, and its activity has been linked to the progression of macrophages to the lipid-laden foam cells present in atherosclerotic plaques. We report here the crystal structure of human 15-LOX-2 in complex with an inhibitor that appears to bind as a substrate mimic. 15-LOX-2 contains a long loop, composed of hydrophobic amino acids, which projects from the amino-terminal membrane-binding domain. The loop is flanked by two Ca(2+)-binding sites that confer Ca(2+)-dependent membrane binding. A comparison of the human 15-LOX-2 and 5-LOX structures reveals similarities at the active sites, as well striking differences that can be exploited for design of isoform-selective inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J. Kobe
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
| | - David B. Neau
- Northeastern Collaborative Access Team, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439
| | - Caitlin E. Mitchell
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
| | - Sue G. Bartlett
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and
| | - Marcia E. Newcomer
- From the Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 and , To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803. Tel.: 225-578-738; Fax: 225-578-7258; E-mail:
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Hartley MD, Schneggenburger PE, Imperiali B. Lipid bilayer nanodisc platform for investigating polyprenol-dependent enzyme interactions and activities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2013; 110:20863-70. [PMID: 24302767 PMCID: PMC3876266 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1320852110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Membrane-bound polyprenol-dependent pathways are important for the assembly of essential glycoconjugates in all domains of life. However, despite their prevalence, the functional significance of the extended linear polyprenyl groups in the interactions of the glycan substrates, the biosynthetic enzymes that act upon them, and the membrane bilayer in which they are embedded remains a mystery. These interactions are investigated simultaneously and uniquely through application of the nanodisc membrane technology. The Campylobacter jejuni N-linked glycosylation pathway has been chosen as a model pathway in which all of the enzymes and substrates are biochemically accessible. We present the functional reconstitution of two enzymes responsible for the early membrane-committed steps in glycan assembly. Protein stoichiometry analysis, fluorescence-based approaches, and biochemical activity assays are used to demonstrate the colocalization of the two enzymes in nanodiscs. Isotopic labeling of the substrates reveals that undecaprenyl-phosphate is coincorporated into discs with the two enzymes, and furthermore, that both enzymes are functionally reconstituted and can sequentially convert the coembedded undecaprenyl-phosphate into undecaprenyl-diphosphate-linked disaccharide. These studies provide a proof-of-concept demonstrating that the nanodisc model membrane system represents a promising experimental platform for analyzing the multifaceted interactions among the enzymes involved in polyprenol-dependent glycan assembly pathways, the membrane-associated substrates, and the lipid bilayer. The stage is now set for exploration of the roles of the conserved polyprenols in promoting protein-protein interactions among pathway enzymes and processing of substrates through sequential steps in membrane-associated glycan assembly.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Barbara Imperiali
- Department of Biology and Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139
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Thiruvengadathan R, Korampally V, Ghosh A, Chanda N, Gangopadhyay K, Gangopadhyay S. Nanomaterial processing using self-assembly-bottom-up chemical and biological approaches. Rep Prog Phys 2013; 76:066501. [PMID: 23722189 DOI: 10.1088/0034-4885/76/6/066501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Nanotechnology is touted as the next logical sequence in technological evolution. This has led to a substantial surge in research activities pertaining to the development and fundamental understanding of processes and assembly at the nanoscale. Both top-down and bottom-up fabrication approaches may be used to realize a range of well-defined nanostructured materials with desirable physical and chemical attributes. Among these, the bottom-up self-assembly process offers the most realistic solution toward the fabrication of next-generation functional materials and devices. Here, we present a comprehensive review on the physical basis behind self-assembly and the processes reported in recent years to direct the assembly of nanoscale functional blocks into hierarchically ordered structures. This paper emphasizes assembly in the synthetic domain as well in the biological domain, underscoring the importance of biomimetic approaches toward novel materials. In particular, two important classes of directed self-assembly, namely, (i) self-assembly among nanoparticle-polymer systems and (ii) external field-guided assembly are highlighted. The spontaneous self-assembling behavior observed in nature that leads to complex, multifunctional, hierarchical structures within biological systems is also discussed in this review. Recent research undertaken to synthesize hierarchically assembled functional materials have underscored the need as well as the benefits harvested in synergistically combining top-down fabrication methods with bottom-up self-assembly.
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Inagaki S, Ghirlando R, Grisshammer R. Biophysical characterization of membrane proteins in nanodiscs. Methods 2013; 59:287-300. [PMID: 23219517 PMCID: PMC3608844 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2012.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2012] [Revised: 11/20/2012] [Accepted: 11/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Nanodiscs are self-assembled discoidal phospholipid bilayers surrounded and stabilized by membrane scaffold proteins (MSPs), that have become a powerful and promising tool for the study of membrane proteins. Even though their reconstitution is highly regulated by the type of MSP and phospholipid input, a biophysical characterization leading to the determination of the stoichiometry of MSP, lipid and membrane protein is essential. This is important for biological studies, as the oligomeric state of membrane proteins often correlates with their functional activity. Typically combinations of several methods are applied using, for example, modified samples that incorporate fluorescent labels, along with procedures that result in nanodisc disassembly and lipid dissolution. To obtain a comprehensive understanding of the native properties of nanodiscs, modification-free analysis methods are required. In this work we provide a strategy, using a combination of dynamic light scattering and analytical ultracentrifugation, for the biophysical characterization of unmodified nanodiscs. In this manner we characterize the nanodisc preparation in terms of its overall polydispersity and characterize the hydrodynamically resolved nanodisc of interest in terms of its sedimentation coefficient, Stokes' radius and overall protein and lipid stoichiometry. Functional and biological applications are also discussed for the study of the membrane protein embedded in nanodiscs under defined experimental conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sayaka Inagaki
- Membrane Protein Structure Function Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 5625 Fishers Lane, Room 4S12, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA
| | - Rodolfo Ghirlando
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Building 5, Room 208, 5 Memorial Drive, Bethesda, Maryland, 20814, USA
| | - Reinhard Grisshammer
- Membrane Protein Structure Function Unit, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 5625 Fishers Lane, Room 4S12, Rockville, Maryland 20852, USA
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Sánchez-Martín MJ, Ramon E, Torrent-Burgués J, Garriga P. Improved Conformational Stability of the Visual G Protein-Coupled Receptor Rhodopsin by Specific Interaction with Docosahexaenoic Acid Phospholipid. Chembiochem 2013; 14:639-44. [DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201200687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2012] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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Shen HH, Lithgow T, Martin LL. Reconstitution of membrane proteins into model membranes: seeking better ways to retain protein activities. Int J Mol Sci 2013; 14:1589-607. [PMID: 23344058 PMCID: PMC3565336 DOI: 10.3390/ijms14011589] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2012] [Revised: 01/09/2013] [Accepted: 01/10/2013] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The function of any given biological membrane is determined largely by the specific set of integral membrane proteins embedded in it, and the peripheral membrane proteins attached to the membrane surface. The activity of these proteins, in turn, can be modulated by the phospholipid composition of the membrane. The reconstitution of membrane proteins into a model membrane allows investigation of individual features and activities of a given cell membrane component. However, the activity of membrane proteins is often difficult to sustain following reconstitution, since the composition of the model phospholipid bilayer differs from that of the native cell membrane. This review will discuss the reconstitution of membrane protein activities in four different types of model membrane - monolayers, supported lipid bilayers, liposomes and nanodiscs, comparing their advantages in membrane protein reconstitution. Variation in the surrounding model environments for these four different types of membrane layer can affect the three-dimensional structure of reconstituted proteins and may possibly lead to loss of the proteins activity. We also discuss examples where the same membrane proteins have been successfully reconstituted into two or more model membrane systems with comparison of the observed activity in each system. Understanding of the behavioral changes for proteins in model membrane systems after membrane reconstitution is often a prerequisite to protein research. It is essential to find better solutions for retaining membrane protein activities for measurement and characterization in vitro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsin-Hui Shen
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia; E-Mail:
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; E-Mail:
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: ; Tel.: +61-3-9545-8159
| | - Trevor Lithgow
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Melbourne 3800, Australia; E-Mail:
| | - Lisandra L. Martin
- School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; E-Mail:
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Abstract
Nanodiscs are self-assembled discoidal fragments of lipid bilayers 8-16 nm in diameter, stabilized in solution by two amphipathic helical scaffold proteins. As stable and highly soluble membrane mimetics with controlled lipid composition and ability to add affinity tags to the scaffold protein, nanodiscs represent an attractive model system for solubilization, isolation, purification, and biophysical and biochemical studies of membrane proteins. In this chapter we overview various approaches to structural and functional studies of different classes of integral membrane proteins such as ion channels, transporters, GPCR and other receptors, membrane enzymes, and blood coagulation cascade proteins which have been incorporated into nanodiscs. We outline the advantages provided by homogeneity, ability to control oligomerization state of the target protein and lipid composition of the bilayer. Special attention is paid to the opportunities afforded by nanodisc system for the detailed studies of the role of different lipid properties and protein-lipid interactions in the functional behavior of membrane proteins.
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41
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Abstract
Most bacterial chemoreceptors are transmembrane proteins. Although less than 10% of a transmembrane chemoreceptor is embedded in lipid, separation from the natural membrane environment by detergent solubilization eliminates most receptor activities, presumably because receptor structure is perturbed. Reincorporation into a lipid bilayer can restore these activities and thus functionally native structure. However, the extent to which specific lipid features are important for effective restoration is unknown. Thus we investigated effects of membrane lipid composition on chemoreceptor Tar from Escherichia coli using Nanodiscs, small (∼10-nm) plugs of lipid bilayer rendered water-soluble by an annulus of "membrane scaffold protein." Disc-enclosed bilayers can be made with different lipids or lipid combinations. Nanodiscs carrying an inserted receptor dimer have high protein-to-lipid ratios approximating native membranes and in this way mimic the natural chemoreceptor environment. To identify features important for functionally native receptor structure, we made Nanodiscs using natural and synthetic lipids, assaying extents and rates of adaptational modification. The proportion of functionally native Tar was highest in bilayers closest in composition to E. coli cytoplasmic membrane. Some other lipid compositions resulted in a significant proportion of functionally native receptor, but simply surrounding the chemoreceptor transmembrane segment with a lipid bilayer was not sufficient. Membranes effective in supporting functionally native Tar contained as the majority lipid phosphatidylethanolamine or a related zwitterionic lipid plus a rather specific proportion of anionic lipids, as well as unsaturated fatty acids. Thus the chemoreceptor is strongly influenced by its lipid environment and is tuned to its natural one.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya N Amin
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
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Hall BA, Armitage JP, Sansom MSP. Mechanism of bacterial signal transduction revealed by molecular dynamics of Tsr dimers and trimers of dimers in lipid vesicles. PLoS Comput Biol 2012; 8:e1002685. [PMID: 23028283 PMCID: PMC3447960 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2012] [Accepted: 07/22/2012] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors provide an important model for understanding signalling processes. In the serine receptor Tsr from E. coli, a binding event in the periplasmic domain of the receptor dimer causes a shift in a single transmembrane helix of roughly 0.15 nm towards the cytoplasm. This small change is propagated through the ∼22 nm length of the receptor, causing downstream inhibition of the kinase CheA. This requires interactions within a trimer of receptor dimers. Additionally, the signal is amplified across a 53,000 nm2 array of chemoreceptor proteins, including ∼5,200 receptor trimers-of-dimers, at the cell pole. Despite a wealth of experimental data on the system, including high resolution structures of individual domains and extensive mutagenesis data, it remains uncertain how information is communicated across the receptor from the binding event to the downstream effectors. We present a molecular model of the entire Tsr dimer, and examine its behaviour using coarse-grained molecular dynamics and elastic network modelling. We observe a large bending in dimer models between the linker domain HAMP and coiled-coil domains, which is supported by experimental data. Models of the trimer of dimers, built from the dimer models, are more constrained and likely represent the signalling state. Simulations of the models in a 70 nm diameter vesicle with a biologically realistic lipid mixture reveal specific lipid interactions and oligomerisation of the trimer of dimers. The results indicate a mechanism whereby small motions of a single helix can be amplified through HAMP domain packing, to initiate large changes in the whole receptor structure. To understand cell signalling events requires a physical model of the structure and behaviour of the signalling proteins involved. The methyl-accepting chemoreceptor proteins direct bacterial movement towards food sources and away from toxins. Based on experimental data we have built structural models of the serine chemoreceptor (Tsr) as a dimer, which is incapable of activating the downstream kinase CheA, and as a trimer of dimers, which can activate CheA. We have performed molecular dynamics simulation to reveal the behaviour of these two forms in a planar lipid bilayer and in a 70 nm diameter lipid vesicle with a mixture of lipids mimicking the E. coli inner membrane. We show that in isolation the dimers undergo a bending movement around the central HAMP domain, whereas the trimer-of-dimers model does not. Comparison with published experimental data suggests that these bending motions are real, and that they occur in the trimer of dimers only in response to ligand binding. Drawing together these observations with studies showing that the signalling event involves small piston motions in the transmembrane helices suggests that the bending motion is frustrated in the unliganded trimer of dimers, and that ligand binding induces bending by repacking the HAMP interface.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mark S. P. Sansom
- Oxford Centre for Integrative Systems Biology, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Abstract
The phototaxis receptor complex composed of sensory rhodopsin II (SRII) and the transducer subunit HtrII mediates photorepellent responses in haloarchaea. Light-activated SRII transmits a signal through two HAMP switch domains (HAMP1 and HAMP2) in HtrII that bridge the photoreceptive membrane domain of the complex and the cytoplasmic output kinase-modulating domain. HAMP domains, widespread signal relay modules in prokaryotic sensors, consist of four-helix bundles composed of two helices, AS1 and AS2, from each of two dimerized transducer subunits. To examine their molecular motion during signal transmission, we incorporated SRII-HtrII dimeric complexes in nanodiscs to allow unrestricted probe access to the cytoplasmic side HAMP domains. Spin-spin dipolar coupling measurements confirmed that in the nanodiscs, SRII photoactivation induces helix movement in the HtrII membrane domain diagnostic of transducer activation. Labeling kinetics of a fluorescein probe in monocysteine-substituted HAMP1 mutants revealed a light-induced shift of AS2 against AS1 by one-half α-helix turn with minimal other changes. An opposite shift of AS2 against AS1 in HAMP2 at the corresponding positions supports the proposal from x-ray crystal structures by Airola et al. (Airola, M. V., Watts, K. J., Bilwes, A. M., and Crane, B. R. (2010) Structure 18, 436-448) that poly-HAMP chains undergo alternating opposite interconversions to relay the signal. Moreover, we found that haloarchaeal cells expressing a HAMP2-deleted SRII-HtrII exhibit attractant phototaxis, opposite from the repellent phototaxis mediated by the wild-type di-HAMP SRII-HtrII complex. The opposite conformational changes and corresponding opposite output signals of HAMP1 and HAMP2 imply a signal transmission mechanism entailing small shifts in helical register between AS1 and AS2 alternately in opposite directions in adjacent HAMPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jihong Wang
- Center for Membrane Biology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Houston, Texas 77030, USA
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Vu A, Wang X, Zhou H, Dahlquist FW. The receptor-CheW binding interface in bacterial chemotaxis. J Mol Biol 2011; 415:759-67. [PMID: 22155081 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2011.11.043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2011] [Revised: 11/19/2011] [Accepted: 11/27/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The basic structural unit of the signaling complex in bacterial chemotaxis consists of the chemotaxis kinase CheA, the coupling protein CheW, and chemoreceptors. These complexes play an important role in regulating the kinase activity of CheA and in turn controlling the rotational bias of the flagellar motor. Although individual three-dimensional structures of CheA, CheW, and chemoreceptors have been determined, the interaction between chemoreceptor and CheW is still unclear. We used nuclear magnetic resonance to characterize the interaction modes of chemoreceptor and CheW from Thermotoga maritima. We find that chemoreceptor binding surface is located near the highly conserved tip region of the N-terminal helix of the receptor, whereas the binding interface of CheW is placed between the β-strand 8 of domain 1 and the β-strands 1 and 3 of domain 2. The receptor-CheW complex shares a similar binding interface to that found in the "trimer-of-dimers" oligomer interface seen in the crystal structure of cytoplasmic domains of chemoreceptors from Escherichia coli. Based on the association constants inferred from fast exchange chemical shifts associated with receptor-CheW titrations, we estimate that CheW binds about four times tighter to its first binding site of the receptor dimer than to its second binding site. This apparent anticooperativity in binding may reflect the close proximity of the two CheW binding surfaces near the receptor tip or further, complicating the events at this highly conserved region of the receptor. This work describes the first direct observation of the interaction between chemoreceptor and CheW.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anh Vu
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University ofCalifornia Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA93106-9510, USA
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Bartelli NL, Hazelbauer GL. Direct evidence that the carboxyl-terminal sequence of a bacterial chemoreceptor is an unstructured linker and enzyme tether. Protein Sci 2011; 20:1856-66. [PMID: 21858888 DOI: 10.1002/pro.719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2011] [Revised: 08/07/2011] [Accepted: 08/09/2011] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Sensory adaptation in bacterial chemotaxis involves reversible methylation of specific glutamyl residues on chemoreceptors. The reactions are catalyzed by a dedicated methyltransferase and dedicated methylesterase. In Escherichia coli and related organisms, control of these enzymes includes an evolutionarily recent addition of interaction with a pentapeptide activator located at the carboxyl terminus of the receptor polypeptide chain. Effective enzyme activation requires not only the pentapeptide but also a segment of the receptor polypeptide chain between that sequence and the coiled-coil body of the chemoreceptor. This segment has features consistent with a role as a flexible and presumably unstructured linker and enzyme tether, but there has been no direct information about its structure. We used site-directed spin labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize structural features of the carboxyl-terminal 40 residues of E. coli chemoreceptor Tar. Beginning ∼ 35 residues from the carboxyl terminus and continuing to the end of the protein, spectra of spin-labeled Tar embedded in native membranes or in reconstituted proteoliposomes, exhibited mobilities characteristic of unstructured, disordered segments. Binding of methyltransferase substantially reduced mobility for positions in or near the pentapeptide but mobility for the linker sequence remained high, being only modestly reduced in a gradient of decreasing effects for 10-15 residues, a pattern consistent with the linker providing a flexible arm that would allow enzyme diffusion within defined limits. Thus, our data identify that the carboxyl-terminal linker between the receptor body and the pentapeptide is an unstructured, disordered segment that can serve as a flexible arm and enzyme tether.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas L Bartelli
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri 65211, USA
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46
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Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors, histidine kinase CheA, and coupling protein CheW form clusters of chemotaxis signaling complexes. In signaling complexes kinase activity is enhanced several hundredfold and placed under receptor control. Activation is necessary to poise enzyme activity such that receptor control has physiologically relevant effects. Thus kinase activation can be considered the underlying core activity of signaling complexes. We defined the minimal physical unit that generates this activity using chemoreceptor Tar from Escherichia coli rendered water soluble by insertion into nanodiscs to (i) measure saturable binding of CheA and CheW to the smallest kinase-activating groups of receptor dimers and (ii) purify and characterize core units of signaling complexes. Purified complexes activated kinase almost as well as signaling complexes formed on arrays of receptors in isolated native membrane. Purified complexes contained two receptor trimers of dimers and two CheW for each CheA dimer, consistent with the approximately 1:1 CheACheW ratio determined by binding measurements. The 2:2:1 stoichiometry implied that CheA dimers, the enzymatically active form, connect two chemoreceptor trimers of dimers by interaction of one CheA protomer and a CheW with each trimer, an organization for which specific molecular interactions have previously been identified. The core unit associates six receptor dimers with a CheA dimer, providing sufficient capacity to account for much of the cooperativity and interdimer influence observed experimentally. We conclude that the 221 organization is the core structural and functional unit of chemotaxis signaling complexes and postulate that hexagonal arrays characteristic of signaling complexes are built from this unit.
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Gao T, Blanchette CD, He W, Bourguet F, Ly S, Katzen F, Kudlicki WA, Henderson PT, Laurence TA, Huser T, Coleman MA. Characterizing diffusion dynamics of a membrane protein associated with nanolipoproteins using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Protein Sci 2011; 20:437-47. [PMID: 21280134 PMCID: PMC3048428 DOI: 10.1002/pro.577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2010] [Revised: 11/29/2010] [Accepted: 12/01/2010] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
Nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs) represent a unique nanometer-sized scaffold for supporting membrane proteins (MP). Characterization of their dynamic shape and association with MP in solution remains a challenge. Here, we present a rapid method of analysis by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) to characterize bacteriorhodopsin (bR), a membrane protein capable of forming a NLP complex. By selectively labeling individual components of NLPs during cell-free synthesis, FCS enabled us to measure specific NLP diffusion times and infer size information for different NLP species. The resulting bR-loaded NLPs were shown to be dynamically discoidal in solution with a mean diameter of 7.8 nm. The insertion rate of bR in the complex was ∼55% based on a fit model incorporating two separate diffusion properties to best approximate the FCS data. More importantly, based on these data, we infer that membrane protein associated NLPs are thermodynamically constrained as discs in solution, while empty NLPs appear to be less constrained and dynamically spherical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingjuan Gao
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
| | - Craig D Blanchette
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physics and Life SciencesLivermore, California 94550
| | - Wei He
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
| | - Feliza Bourguet
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physics and Life SciencesLivermore, California 94550
| | - Sonny Ly
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
| | | | | | - Paul T Henderson
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
| | - Ted A Laurence
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physics and Life SciencesLivermore, California 94550
| | - Thomas Huser
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
| | - Matthew A Coleman
- NSF Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, School of Medicine, University of California DavisSacramento, California 95817
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Physics and Life SciencesLivermore, California 94550
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Li M, Khursigara CM, Subramaniam S, Hazelbauer GL. Chemotaxis kinase CheA is activated by three neighbouring chemoreceptor dimers as effectively as by receptor clusters. Mol Microbiol 2010; 79:677-85. [PMID: 21255111 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07478.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Chemoreceptors are central to bacterial chemotaxis. These transmembrane homodimers form trimers of dimers. Trimers form clusters of a few to thousands of receptors. A crucial receptor function is 100-fold activation, in signalling complexes, of sensory histidine kinase CheA. Significant activation has been shown to require more than one receptor dimer but the number required for full activation was unknown. We investigated this issue using Nanodiscs, soluble, nanoscale (∼10 nm diameter) plugs of lipid bilayer, to limit the number of neighbouring receptors contributing to activation. Utilizing size-exclusion chromatography, we separated primary preparations of receptor-containing Nanodiscs, otherwise heterogeneous for number and orientation of inserted receptors, into fractions enriched for specific numbers of dimers per disc. Fractionated, clarified Nanodiscs carrying approximately five dimers per disc were as effective in activating kinase as native membrane vesicles containing many neighbouring dimers. At five independently inserted dimers per disc, every disc would have at least three dimers oriented in parallel and thus able act together as they would in native membrane. We conclude full kinase activation involves interaction of CheA with groups of three receptor dimers, presumably as a trimer of dimers, and that more extensive interactions among receptors are not necessary for full kinase activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingshan Li
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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Alvarez FJD, Orelle C, Davidson AL. Functional reconstitution of an ABC transporter in nanodiscs for use in electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. J Am Chem Soc 2010; 132:9513-5. [PMID: 20578693 DOI: 10.1021/ja104047c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is a powerful biophysical technique for study of the structural dynamics of membrane proteins. Many of these proteins interact with ligands or proteins on one or both sides of the membrane. Membrane proteins are typically reconstituted in proteoliposomes to observe their function in a physiologically relevant environment. However, membrane proteins can insert into liposomes in two different orientations, and surfaces facing the lumen of the vesicle can be inaccessible to ligands. This heterogeneity can lead to subpopulations that do not respond to ligand binding, complicating EPR spectral analysis, particularly for distance measurements. Using the well-characterized maltose transporter, an ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter that interacts with ligands on both sides of the membrane, we provide evidence that reconstitution into nanodiscs, which are soluble disk-shaped phospholipid bilayers, is an ideal solution to these problems. We describe the functional reconstitution of the maltose transporter into nanodiscs and demonstrate that this system is ideally suited to study conformational changes and intramolecular distances by EPR.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances Joan D Alvarez
- Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, 560 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USA
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50
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Abstract
Bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by signalling complexes of chemoreceptors, histidine kinase CheA and coupling protein CheW. Interactions in complexes profoundly affect the kinase. We investigated effects of these interactions on chemoreceptors by comparing receptors alone and in complexes. Assays of initial rates of methylation indicated that signalling complexes shifted receptor conformation towards the methylation-on, higher-ligand-affinity, kinase-off state, tuning receptors for greater sensitivity. In contrast, transmembrane and conformational signalling within chemoreceptors was essentially unaltered, consistent with other evidence identifying receptor dimers as the fundamental units of such signalling. In signalling complexes, coupling of ligand binding to kinase activity is cooperative and the dynamic range of kinase control expanded > 100-fold by receptor adaptational modification. We observed no cooperativity in influence of ligand on receptor conformation, only on kinase activity. However, receptor modification generated increased dynamic range in a stepwise fashion, partly in coupling ligand to receptor conformation and partly in coupling receptor conformation to kinase activity. Thus, receptors and kinase were not equivalently affected by interactions in signalling complexes or by ligand binding and adaptational modification, indicating asymmetrical coupling between them. This has implications for mechanisms of precise adaptation. Coupling might vary, providing a previously unappreciated locus for sensory control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya N Amin
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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