Observation of pH-Induced Protein Reorientation at the Water Surface

Intermolecular Protein-Water Coupling Impedes the Coupling Between the Amide A and Amide I Mode in Interfacial Proteins

The coupling between different vibrational modes in proteins is essential for chemical dynamics and biological functions and is linked to the propagation of conformational changes and pathways of allosteric communication. However, little is known about the influence of intermolecular protein-H2O coupling on the vibrational coupling between amide A (NH) and amide I (C═O) bands. Here, we investigate the NH/CO coupling strength in various peptides with different secondary structures at the lipid cell membrane/H2O interface using femtosecond time-resolved sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy (SFG-VS) in which a femtosecond infrared pump is used to excite the amide A band, and SFG-VS is used to probe transient spectral evolution in the amide A and amide I bands. Our results reveal that the NH/CO coupling strength strongly depends on the bandwidth of the amide I mode and the coupling of proteins with water molecules. A large extent of protein-water coupling significantly reduces the delocalization of the amide I mode along the peptide chain and impedes the NH/CO coupling strength. A large NH/CO coupling strength is found to show a strong correlation with the high energy transfer rate found in the light-harvesting proteins of green sulfur bacteria, which may understand the mechanism of energy transfer through a molecular system and assist in controlling vibrational energy transfer by engineering the molecular structures to achieve high energy transfer efficiency.

The growth of marine fungi on seaweed polysaccharides produces cerato-platanin and hydrophobin self-assembling proteins

The marine fungi Paradendryphiela salina and Talaromyces pinophilus degrade and assimilate complex substrates from plants and seaweed. Additionally, these fungi secrete surface-active proteins, identified as cerato-platanins and hydrophobins. These hydrophobic proteins have the ability to self-assemble forming amyloid-like aggregates and play an essential role in the growth and development of the filamentous fungi. It is the first time that one cerato-platanin (CP) is identified and isolated from P. salina (PsCP) and two Class I hydrophobins (HFBs) from T. pinophilus (TpHYD1 and TpHYD2). Furthermore, it is possible to extract cerato-platanins and hydrophobins using marine fungi that can feed on seaweed biomass, and through a submerged liquid fermentation process. The propensity to aggregate of these proteins has been analyzed using different techniques such as Thioflavin T fluorescence assay, Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy, and Atomic Force Microscopy. Here, we show that the formation of aggregates of PsCP and TpHYD, was influenced by the carbon source from seaweed. This study highlighted the potential of these self-assembling proteins generated from a fermentation process with marine fungi and with promising properties such as conformational plasticity with extensive applications in biotechnology, pharmacy, nanotechnology, and biomedicine.

Quantifying biomolecular hydrophobicity: Single molecule force spectroscopy of class II hydrophobins

Hydrophobins are surface-active proteins produced by filamentous fungi. The amphiphilic structure of hydrophobins is very compact, containing a distinct hydrophobic patch on one side of the molecule, locked by four intramolecular disulfide bridges. Hydrophobins form dimers and multimers in solution to shield these hydrophobic patches from water exposure. Multimer formation in solution is dynamic, and hydrophobin monomers can be exchanged between multimers. Unlike class I hydrophobins, class II hydrophobins assemble into highly ordered films at the air-water interface. In order to increase our understanding of the strength and nature of the interaction between hydrophobins, we used atomic force microscopy for single molecule force spectroscopy to explore the molecular interaction forces between class II hydrophobins from Trichoderma reesei under different environmental conditions. A genetically engineered hydrophobin variant, NCys-HFBI, enabled covalent attachment of proteins to the apex of the atomic force microscopy cantilever tip and sample surfaces in controlled orientation with sufficient freedom of movement to measure molecular forces between hydrophobic patches. The measured rupture force between two assembled hydrophobins was ∼31 pN, at a loading rate of 500 pN/s. The results indicated stronger interaction between hydrophobins and hydrophobic surfaces than between two assembling hydrophobin molecules. Furthermore, this interaction was stable under different environmental conditions, which demonstrates the dominance of hydrophobicity in hydrophobin-hydrophobin interactions. This is the first time that interaction forces between hydrophobin molecules, and also between naturally occurring hydrophobic surfaces, have been measured directly at a single-molecule level.

Interfacial Water Ordering Is Insufficient to Explain Ice-Nucleating Protein Activity

Ice-nucleating proteins (INPs) found in bacteria are the most effective ice nucleators known, enabling the crystallization of water at temperatures close to 0 °C. Although their function has been known for decades, the underlying mechanism is still under debate. Here, we show that INPs from Pseudomonas syringae in aqueous solution exhibit a defined solution structure and show no significant conformational changes upon cooling. In contrast, irreversible structural changes are observed upon heating to temperatures exceeding ∼55 °C, leading to a loss of the ice-nucleation activity. Sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy reveals that active and heat-inactivated INPs impose similar structural ordering of interfacial water molecules upon cooling. Our results demonstrate that increased water ordering is not sufficient to explain INPs' high ice-nucleation activity and confirm that intact three-dimensional protein structures are critical for bacterial ice nucleation, supporting a mechanism that depends on the INPs' supramolecular interactions.

Unsaturated Lipid Accelerates Formation of Oligomeric β-Sheet Structure of GP41 Fusion Peptide in Model Cell Membrane

Membrane fusion of the viral and host cell membranes is the initial step of virus infection and is catalyzed by fusion peptides. Although the β-sheet structure of fusion peptides has been proposed to be the most important fusion-active conformation, it is still very challenging to experimentally identify different types of β-sheet structures at the cell membrane surface in situ and in real time. In this work, we demonstrate that the interface-sensitive amide II spectral signals of protein backbones, generated by the sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy, provide a sensitive probe for directly capturing the formation of oligomeric β-sheet structure of fusion peptides. Using human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) glycoprotein GP41 fusing peptide (FP23) as the model, we find that formation speed of oligomeric β-sheet structure depends on lipid unsaturation. The unsaturated lipid such as POPG can accelerate formation of oligomeric β-sheet structure of FP23. The β-sheet structure is more deeply inserted into the hydrophobic region of the POPG bilayer than the α-helical segment. This work will pave the way for future researches on capturing intermediate structures during membrane fusion processes and revealing the fusion mechanism.

Orientational Switch of the Lipase A Enzyme at the Oil-Water Interface: An Order of Magnitude Increase in Turnover Rate with a Single Surfactant Tag Explained

Interfacially active lipases can be immobilized at a biphasic interface to enhance turnover recyclability and to facilitate product separation. Extensive coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of lipase A (LipA) from Bacillus subtilis show a bimodal orientational distribution of the enzyme at an oil-water interface, arising from its ellipsoidal Janus particle-like character. The relative orientational preference can be tuned by pH. The simulations rationalize a rare experimental observation of an order of magnitude increase in the turnover rate of this lipase upon its noncovalent tagging by a single surfactant molecule at the interface, compared to its rate in bulk water. The adsorption free energy, the interfacial activation, a decrease in the number of orientational fluctuations, and an increased rate of translational diffusion, to all of which the Janus character of LipA contributes, are the factors responsible for this enhancement. This study can spur further investigations of the Janus behavior of enzymes to enhance their activity as well as to stabilize the biphasic emulsion needed for interfacial catalysis.

A New Strategy for Reporting Specific Protein Binding Events at Aqueous-Liquid Crystal Interfaces in the Presence of Non-Specific Proteins

Aqueous-liquid crystal (LC) interfaces offer promise as responsive interfaces at which biomolecular recognition events can be amplified into macroscopic signals. However, the design of LC interfaces that distinguish between specific and non-specific protein interactions remains an unresolved challenge. Herein, we report the synthesis of amphiphilic monomers, dimers, and trimers conjugated to sulfonamide ligands via triazole rings, their assembly at aqueous-LC interfaces, and the orientational response of LCs to the interactions of carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) and serum albumin with the oligomer-decorated LC interfaces. Of six oligomers synthesized, only dimers without amide methylation were found to assemble at aqueous interfaces of nematic 4-cyano-4'-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) to induce perpendicular LC orientations. At dimer-decorated LC interfaces, we found that concentrations of CAII less than 4 μM did not measurably perturb the LC but prevented non-specific adsorption and penetration of serum albumin into the dimer-decorated interface that otherwise triggered bright, globular LC optical domains. These experiments and others (including competitive adsorption of CAII, BSA, and lysozyme) support our hypothesis that specific binding of CAII to the dimer prevents LC anchoring transitions triggered by non-specific adsorption of serum albumin. We illustrate the utility of the approach by reporting (i) the relative activity of two small-molecule inhibitors (6-ethoxy-2-benzothiazolesulfonamide and benzenesulfonamide) of CAII to sulfonamide and (ii) proteolytic digestion of a protein (CAII) by thermolysin. Overall, the results in this paper provide new insight into the interactions of proteins at aqueous-LC interfaces and fresh ideas for either blocking non-specific interactions of proteins at surfaces or reporting specific binding events at LC interfaces in the presence of non-specific proteins.

Acidic Environment Significantly Alters Aggregation Pathway of Human Islet Amyloid Polypeptide at Negative Lipid Membrane

The misfolding and aggregation of human islet amyloid polypeptide (hIAPP) at cell membrane has a close relationship with the development of type 2 diabetes (T2DM). This aggregation process is susceptible to various physiologically related factors, and systematic studies on condition-mediated hIAPP aggregation are therefore essential for a thorough understanding of the pathology of T2DM. In this study, we combined surface-sensitive amide I and amide II spectral signals from the protein backbone, generated simultaneously in a highly sensitive femtosecond broad-band sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy system, to examine the effect of environmental pH on the dynamical structural changes of hIAPP at membrane surface in situ and in real time. Such a combination can directly discriminate the formation of β-hairpin-like monomer and oligomer/fibril at the membrane surface. It is evident that, in an acidic milieu, hIAPP slows down its conformational evolution and alters its aggregation pathway, leading to the formation of off-pathway oligomers. When matured hIAPP aggregates are exposed to basic subphase, partial conversion from β-sheet oligomers into ordered β-sheet fibrillar structures is observed. When exposed to acidic environment, however, hIAPP fibrils partially converse into more loosely patterned β-sheet oligomeric structures.

Ultrafast energy relaxation dynamics of amide I vibrations coupled with protein-bound water molecules

The influence of hydration water on the vibrational energy relaxation in a protein holds the key to understand ultrafast protein dynamics, but its detection is a major challenge. Here, we report measurements on the ultrafast vibrational dynamics of amide I vibrations of proteins at the lipid membrane/H₂O interface using femtosecond time-resolved sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy. We find that the relaxation time of the amide I mode shows a very strong dependence on the H₂O exposure, but not on the D₂O exposure. This observation indicates that the exposure of amide I bond to H₂O opens up a resonant relaxation channel and facilitates direct resonant vibrational energy transfer from the amide I mode to the H₂O bending mode. The protein backbone motions can thus be energetically coupled with protein-bound water molecules. Our findings highlight the influence of H₂O on the ultrafast structure dynamics of proteins.

Hydrophobins: multifunctional biosurfactants for interface engineering

Hydrophobins are highly surface-active proteins that have versatile potential as agents for interface engineering. Due to the large and growing number of unique hydrophobin sequences identified, there is growing potential to engineer variants for particular applications using protein engineering and other approaches. Recent applications and advancements in hydrophobin technologies and production strategies are reviewed. The application space of hydrophobins is large and growing, including hydrophobic drug solubilization and delivery, protein purification tags, tools for protein and cell immobilization, antimicrobial coatings, biosensors, biomineralization templates and emulsifying agents. While there is significant promise for their use in a wide range of applications, developing new production strategies is a key need to improve on low recombinant yields to enable their use in broader applications; further optimization of expression systems and yields remains a challenge in order to use designed hydrophobin in commercial applications.

Charge-Controlled Surface Properties of Native and Fluorophore-Labeled Bovine Serum Albumin at the Air-Water Interface

Proteins at interfaces are important for protein formulations and in soft materials such as foam. Here, interfacial stability and physicochemical properties are key elements, which drive macroscopic foam properties through structure–property relations. Native and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA) were used to modify air–water interfaces as a function of pH. Characterizations were performed with tensiometry and sum-frequency generation (SFG). SFG spectra of O–H stretching vibrations reveal a phase reversal and a pronounced minimum in O–H intensity at pH values of 5.3 and 4.7 for native and labeled BSA, respectively. This minimum is attributed to the interfacial isoelectric point (IEP) and is accompanied by a minimum in surface tension and negligible ζ-potentials in the bulk. Interfacial proteins at pH values close to the IEP can promote macroscopic foam stability and are predominately located in the lamellae between individual gas bubbles as evidenced by confocal fluorescence microscopy. Different from the classical stabilization mechanisms, for example, via the electrostatic disjoining pressure, we propose that the presence of more close-packed BSA, because of negligible net charges, inside the foam lamellae is more effective in reducing foam drainage as compared to a situation with strong repulsive electrostatic interactions.

Amide I SFG Spectral Line Width Probes the Lipid-Peptide and Peptide-Peptide Interactions at Cell Membrane In Situ and in Real Time

The balance of lipid-peptide and peptide-peptide interactions at cell membrane is essential to a large variety of cellular processes. In this study, we have experimentally demonstrated for the first time that sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy can be used to probe the peptide-peptide and lipid-peptide interactions in cell membrane in situ and in real time by determination of the line width of amide I band of protein backbone. Using a "benchmark" model of α-helical WALP23, it is found that the dominated lipid-peptide interaction causes a narrow line width of the amide I band, whereas the peptide-peptide interaction can markedly broaden the line width. When WALP23 molecules insert into the lipid bilayer, a quite narrow line width of the amide I band is observed because of the lipid-peptide interaction. In contrast, when the peptide lies down on the bilayer surface, the line width of amide I band becomes very broad owing to the peptide-peptide interaction. In terms of the real-time change in the line width, the transition from peptide-peptide interaction to lipid-peptide interaction is monitored during the insertion of WALP23 into 1,2-dipalmitoyl- sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'- rac-glycerol) (DPPG) lipid bilayer. The dephasing time of a pure α-helical WALP23 in 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl- sn-glycero-3-phospho-(1'- rac-glycerol) and DPPG bilayer is determined to be 2.2 and 0.64 ps, respectively. The peptide-peptide interaction can largely accelerate the dephasing time.

pH-Induced Rotation of Lidless Lipase LipA from Bacillus subtilis at Lipase-Detergent Interface

Lipases exhibit a unique process during the catalysis of the hydrolysis of triglyceride substrates called interfacial activation. Surfactants are used as cosolvents with water not only to offer a less polar environment to the lipases needed for their interfacial activation but also to solvate the substrate which are poorly soluble in water. However, the presence of detergent in the medium can affect both the lipase and the substrate, making the construction of a microkinetic model for lipase activity in the presence of the detergent difficult. Herein, we study the interfacial activation of a lidless lipase LipA from Bacillus subtilis using extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulations at different concentrations of the surfactant, Thesit (C12E8), at two pH values. Residues which bind to the monomeric detergent are found to be the same as the ones which have been reported earlier to bind to the substrate. Very importantly, a pH-induced rotation of the enzyme with respect to surfactant aggregate has been observed which not only explains the experimentally observed pH-dependent enzymatic activity of this lidless lipase, but also suggests its reorientation at an aqueous-lipodophilic interface.

Coupled-cluster sum-frequency generation nonlinear susceptibilities of methyl (CH3) and methylene (CH2) groups

The first vibrational sum frequency generation (SFG) spectra based on molecular properties calculated at the coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) level of approximation have been simulated for interfacial model alkyl chains, providing benchmark data for comparisons with approximate methods, including density functional theory (DFT). The approach proceeds in three steps. In the first two steps, the molecular spectral properties are determined: the vibrational normal modes and frequencies and then the derivatives of the dipole moment and of the polarizability with respect to the normal coordinates. These derivatives are evaluated with a numerical differentiation approach, of which the accuracy was monitored using Romberg's procedure. Then, in the last step, a three-layer model is employed to evaluate the macroscopic second-order nonlinear optical responses and thereby the simulated SFG spectra of the alkyl interface. Results emphasize the following facts: (i) the dipole and polarizability derivatives calculated at the DFT level with the B3LYP exchange-correlation functional can differ, with respect to CCSD, by as much as ±10 to 20% and ±20 to 50% for the CH₃ and CH₂ vibrations, respectively; (ii) these differences are enhanced when considering the SFG intensities as well as their variations as a function of the experimental configuration (ppp versus ssp) and as a function of the tilt and rotation angles, defining the orientation of the alkyl chain at the interface; (iii) these differences originate from both the vibrational normal coordinates and the Cartesian derivatives of the dipole moment and polarizability; (iv) freezing the successive fragments of the alkyl chain strongly modifies the SFG spectrum and enables highlighting the delocalization effects between the terminal CH₃ group and its neighboring CH₂ units; and finally (v) going from the free chain to the free methyl model, and further to C_3v constraints on leads to large variations of two ratios that are frequently used to probe the molecular orientation at the interface, the (r + r)/r⁺ ratio for both antisymmetric and symmetric CH₃ vibrations and the I_ppp/I_ssp ratio.

Molecular Structure of Hydrophobins Studied with Site-Directed Mutagenesis and Vibrational Sum-Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

Hydrophobins are surface-active fungal proteins that adsorb to the water-air interface and self-assemble into amphiphilic, water-repelling films that have a surface elasticity that is an order of magnitude higher than other molecular films. Here we use surface-specific sum-frequency generation spectroscopy (VSFG) and site-directed mutagenesis to study the properties of class I hydrophobin (HFBI) films from Trichoderma reesei at the molecular level. We identify protein specific HFBI signals in the frequency region 1200-1700 cm-1 that have not been observed in previous VSFG studies on proteins. We find evidence that the aspartic acid residue (D30) next to the hydrophobic patch is involved in lateral intermolecular protein interactions, while the two aspartic acid residues (D40, D43) opposite to the hydrophobic patch are primarily interacting with the water solvent.