1
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Flack CE, Parkinson JS. Structural signatures of Escherichia coli chemoreceptor signaling states revealed by cellular crosslinking. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2204161119. [PMID: 35787052 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2204161119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The chemotaxis machinery of Escherichia coli has served as a model for exploring the molecular signaling mechanisms of transmembrane chemoreceptors known as methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs). Yet, fundamental questions about signal transmission through MCP molecules remain unanswered. Our work with the E. coli serine chemoreceptor Tsr has developed in vivo reporters that distinguish kinase-OFF and kinase-ON structures in the cytoplasmic methylation helix (MH) cap, which receives stimulus signals from an adjoining, membrane-proximal histidine kinase, adenylyl cyclases, MCPs, and phosphatases (HAMP) domain. The cytoplasmic helices of the Tsr homodimer interact mainly through packing interactions of hydrophobic residues at a and d heptad positions. We investigated the in vivo crosslinking properties of Tsr molecules bearing cysteine replacements at functionally tolerant g heptad positions in the N-terminal and C-terminal cap helices. Upon treatment of cells with bismaleimidoethane (BMOE), a bifunctional thiol-reagent, Tsr-G273C/Q504C readily formed a doubly crosslinked product in the presence of serine but not in its absence. Moreover, a serine stimulus combined with BMOE treatment during in vivo Förster resonance energy transfer-based kinase assays locked Tsr-G273C/Q504C in kinase-OFF output. An OFF-shifting lesion in MH1 (D269P) promoted the formation of the doubly crosslinked species in the absence of serine, whereas an ON-shifting lesion (G268P) suppressed the formation of the doubly crosslinked species. Tsr-G273C/Q504C also showed output-dependent crosslinking patterns in combination with ON-shifting and OFF-shifting adaptational modifications. Our results are consistent with a helix breathing-axial rotation-bundle repacking signaling mechanism and imply that in vivo crosslinking tools could serve to probe helix-packing transitions and their output consequences in other regions of the receptor molecule.
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2
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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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3
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Muok AR, Chua TK, Srivastava M, Yang W, Maschmann Z, Borbat PP, Chong J, Zhang S, Freed JH, Briegel A, Crane BR. Engineered chemotaxis core signaling units indicate a constrained kinase-off state. Sci Signal 2020; 13:13/657/eabc1328. [PMID: 33172954 DOI: 10.1126/scisignal.abc1328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors, the histidine kinase CheA, and the coupling protein CheW form transmembrane molecular arrays with remarkable sensing properties. The receptors inhibit or stimulate CheA kinase activity depending on the presence of attractants or repellants, respectively. We engineered chemoreceptor cytoplasmic regions to assume a trimer of receptor dimers configuration that formed well-defined complexes with CheA and CheW and promoted a CheA kinase-off state. These mimics of core signaling units were assembled to homogeneity and investigated by site-directed spin-labeling with pulse-dipolar electron-spin resonance spectroscopy (PDS), small-angle x-ray scattering, targeted protein cross-linking, and cryo-electron microscopy. The kinase-off state was especially stable, had relatively low domain mobility, and associated the histidine substrate and docking domains with the kinase core, thus preventing catalytic activity. Together, these data provide an experimentally restrained model for the inhibited state of the core signaling unit and suggest that chemoreceptors indirectly sequester the kinase and substrate domains to limit histidine autophosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alise R Muok
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,Institute for Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Teck Khiang Chua
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Madhur Srivastava
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies (ACERT), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Wen Yang
- Institute for Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Zach Maschmann
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Petr P Borbat
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies (ACERT), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jenna Chong
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Sheng Zhang
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Jack H Freed
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.,National Biomedical Center for Advanced ESR Technologies (ACERT), Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
| | - Ariane Briegel
- Institute for Biology, Leiden University, Sylviusweg 72, 2333 BE Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Brian R Crane
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
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4
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Li X, Eyles SJ, Thompson LK. Hydrogen exchange of chemoreceptors in functional complexes suggests protein stabilization mediates long-range allosteric coupling. J Biol Chem 2019; 294:16062-16079. [PMID: 31506298 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.ra119.009865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [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: 06/26/2019] [Revised: 09/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chemotaxis receptors form extended hexagonal arrays that integrate and amplify signals to control swimming behavior. Transmembrane signaling begins with a 2-Å ligand-induced displacement of an α helix in the periplasmic and transmembrane domains, but it is unknown how the cytoplasmic domain propagates the signal an additional 200 Å to control the kinase CheA bound to the membrane-distal tip of the receptor. The receptor cytoplasmic domain has previously been shown to be highly dynamic as both a cytoplasmic fragment (CF) and within the intact chemoreceptor; modulation of its dynamics is thought to play a key role in signal propagation. This hydrogen deuterium exchange-MS (HDX-MS) study of functional complexes of CF, CheA, and CheW bound to vesicles in native-like arrays reveals that the CF is well-ordered only in its protein interaction region where it binds CheA and CheW. We observe rapid exchange throughout the rest of the CF, with both uncorrelated (EX2) and correlated (EX1) exchange patterns, suggesting the receptor cytoplasmic domain retains disorder even within functional complexes. HDX rates are increased by inputs that favor the kinase-off state. We propose that chemoreceptors achieve long-range allosteric control of the kinase through a coupled equilibrium: CheA binding in a kinase-on conformation stabilizes the cytoplasmic domain, and signaling inputs that destabilize this domain (ligand binding and demethylation) disfavor CheA binding such that it loses key contacts and reverts to a kinase-off state. This study reveals the mechanistic role of an intrinsically disordered region of a transmembrane receptor in long-range allostery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuni Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
| | - Stephen J Eyles
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
| | - Lynmarie K Thompson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003 .,Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003
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Kashefi M, Malik N, Struppe JO, Thompson LK. Carbon-nitrogen REDOR to identify ms-timescale mobility in proteins. J Magn Reson 2019; 305:5-15. [PMID: 31158793 PMCID: PMC6656615 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmr.2019.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2019] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Protein dynamics play key mechanistic roles but are difficult to measure in large proteins and protein complexes. INEPT and CP solid-state NMR experiments have often been used to obtain spectra of protein regions that are mobile and rigid, respectively, on the nanosecond timescale. To complement this approach, we have implemented 13C{15N} REDOR to detect protein regions with backbone dynamics on the millisecond time scale that average the ≈1 kHz carbon-nitrogen dipolar coupling. REDOR-filtering of carbon correlation spectra removes signals from rigid backbone carbons and retains signals from backbone carbons with ms-timescale dynamics that would be missing in dipolar-driven NCA/NCO spectra. We use these experiments to investigate functionally important dynamics within the E coli Asp receptor cytoplasmic fragment (U-13C, 15N-CF) in native-like complexes with CheA and CheW. The CF backbone carbons exhibit only 60-75% of the expected REDOR dephasing, suggesting that 40-25% of the backbone experiences significant mobility that averages the 13C15N dipolar couplings to zero. Furthermore, the extent of this mobility changes with signaling state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Kashefi
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 710 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Nikita Malik
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 710 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01003, USA
| | - Jochem O Struppe
- Bruker BioSpin Corporation, 15 Fortune Drive, Billerica, MA 01821, USA
| | - Lynmarie K Thompson
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 710 N Pleasant St, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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6
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Gao Q, Cheng A, Parkinson JS. Conformational shifts in a chemoreceptor helical hairpin control kinase signaling in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:15651-60. [PMID: 31315979 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1902521116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Motile bacteria use chemoreceptor signaling arrays to track chemical gradients with high precision. The Escherichia coli chemotaxis system offers an ideal model for probing the molecular mechanisms of transmembrane and intracellular signaling. In this study, we characterized the signaling properties of mutant E. coli receptors that had amino acid replacements in residues that form a salt-bridge connection between the cytoplasmic tips of receptor molecules. The mutant signaling defects suggested that the chemoreceptor tip operates as a two-state device with discrete active and inactive conformations and that the level of output activity modulates connections between receptor signaling units that produce highly cooperative responses to attractant stimuli. These findings shed important light on the nature and control of receptor signaling states. Motile Escherichia coli cells use chemoreceptor signaling arrays to track chemical gradients with exquisite precision. Highly conserved residues in the cytoplasmic hairpin tip of chemoreceptor molecules promote assembly of trimer-based signaling complexes and modulate the activity of their CheA kinase partners. To explore hairpin tip output states in the serine receptor Tsr, we characterized the signaling consequences of amino acid replacements at the salt-bridge residue pair E385-R388. All mutant receptors assembled trimers and signaling complexes, but most failed to support serine chemotaxis in soft agar assays. Small side-chain replacements at either residue produced OFF- or ON-shifted outputs that responded to serine stimuli in wild-type fashion, suggesting that these receptors, like the wild-type, operate as two-state signaling devices. Larger aliphatic or aromatic side chains caused slow or partial kinase control responses that proved dependent on the connections between core signaling units that promote array cooperativity. In a mutant lacking one of two key adapter-kinase contacts (interface 2), those mutant receptors exhibited more wild-type behaviors. Lastly, mutant receptors with charged amino acid replacements assembled signaling complexes that were locked in kinase-ON (E385K|R) or kinase-OFF (R388D|E) output. The hairpin tips of mutant receptors with these more aberrant signaling properties probably have nonnative structures or dynamic behaviors. Our results suggest that chemoeffector stimuli and adaptational modifications influence the cooperative connections between core signaling units. This array remodeling process may involve activity-dependent changes in the relative strengths of interface 1 and 2 interactions between the CheW and CheA.P5 components of receptor core signaling complexes.
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Ranaweera A, Ratnayake PU, Ekanayaka EAP, Declercq R, Weliky DP. Hydrogen-Deuterium Exchange Supports Independent Membrane-Interfacial Fusion Peptide and Transmembrane Domains in Subunit 2 of Influenza Virus Hemagglutinin Protein, a Structured and Aqueous-Protected Connection between the Fusion Peptide and Soluble Ectodomain, and the Importance of Membrane Apposition by the Trimer-of-Hairpins Structure. Biochemistry 2019; 58:2432-2446. [PMID: 31008587 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.8b01272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The influenza virus hemagglutinin (HA) protein has HA1 and HA2 subunits, which form an initial complex. HA1's bind host cell sialic acids, which triggers endocytosis, HA1/HA2 separation, and HA2-mediated fusion between virus and endosome membranes. We report hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) on the HA2 subunit without HA1. HA2 contains the fusion peptide (FP), soluble ectodomain (SE), transmembrane domain (TM), and endodomain. FP is a monomer by itself, while SE is a trimer of hairpins that includes an interior bundle of residue 38-105 helices, turns, and residue 154-178 strands packed antiparallel to the bundle. FP and TM extend from the same side of the SE hairpin, and fusion models often depict a FP/TM complex with membrane traversal of both domains that is important for membrane pore expansion. The HDX-MS data of this study do not support this complex and instead support independent FP and TM with respective membrane-interfacial and traversal locations. The data also show a low level of aqueous exposure of the 22-38 segment, consistent with retention of the 23-35 antiparallel β sheet observed in the initial HA1/HA2 complex. We propose the β sheet as a semirigid connector between FP and SE that enables close membrane apposition prior to fusion. The I173E mutant exhibits greater exchange for residues 22-69 and 150-191, consistent with dissociation of SE C-terminal strands from interior N-helices. Similar trends are observed for the G1E mutant as well as less exchange for G1E FP. Fusion is highly impaired with either mutant, which correlates with reduced membrane apposition and, for G1E, FP binding to SE rather than the target membrane.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahinsa Ranaweera
- Department of Chemistry , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
| | - Punsisi U Ratnayake
- Department of Chemistry , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
| | - E A Prabodha Ekanayaka
- Department of Chemistry , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
| | - Robin Declercq
- Department of Chemistry , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
| | - David P Weliky
- Department of Chemistry , Michigan State University , East Lansing , Michigan 48824 , United States
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Dikiy I, Edupuganti UR, Abzalimov RR, Borbat PP, Srivastava M, Freed JH, Gardner KH. Insights into histidine kinase activation mechanisms from the monomeric blue light sensor EL346. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:4963-72. [PMID: 30808807 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1813586116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Translation of environmental cues into cellular behavior is a necessary process in all forms of life. In bacteria, this process frequently involves two-component systems in which a sensor histidine kinase (HK) autophosphorylates in response to a stimulus before subsequently transferring the phosphoryl group to a response regulator that controls downstream effectors. Many details of the molecular mechanisms of HK activation are still unclear due to complications associated with the multiple signaling states of these large, multidomain proteins. To address these challenges, we combined complementary solution biophysical approaches to examine the conformational changes upon activation of a minimal, blue-light-sensing histidine kinase from Erythrobacter litoralis HTCC2594, EL346. Our data show that multiple conformations coexist in the dark state of EL346 in solution, which may explain the enzyme's residual dark-state activity. We also observe that activation involves destabilization of the helices in the dimerization and histidine phosphotransfer-like domain, where the phosphoacceptor histidine resides, and their interactions with the catalytic domain. Similar light-induced changes occur to some extent even in constitutively active or inactive mutants, showing that light sensing can be decoupled from activation of kinase activity. These structural changes mirror those inferred by comparing X-ray crystal structures of inactive and active HK fragments, suggesting that they are at the core of conformational changes leading to HK activation. More broadly, our findings uncover surprising complexity in this simple system and allow us to outline a mechanism of the multiple steps of HK activation.
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9
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Abstract
Environmental awareness is an essential attribute for all organisms. The chemotaxis system of Escherichia coli provides a powerful experimental model for the investigation of stimulus detection and signaling mechanisms at the molecular level. These bacteria sense chemical gradients with transmembrane proteins [methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs)] that have an extracellular ligand-binding domain and intracellular histidine kinases, adenylate cyclases, methyl-accepting proteins, and phosphatases (HAMP) and signaling domains that govern locomotor behavior. HAMP domains are versatile input-output elements that operate in a variety of bacterial signaling proteins, including the sensor kinases of two-component regulatory systems. The MCP HAMP domain receives stimulus information and in turn modulates output signaling activity. This study describes mutants of the Escherichia coli serine chemoreceptor, Tsr, that identify a heptad-repeat structural motif (LLF) at the membrane-proximal end of the receptor signaling domain that is critical for HAMP output control. The homodimeric Tsr signaling domain is an extended, antiparallel, four-helix bundle that controls the activity of an associated kinase. The N terminus of each subunit adjoins the HAMP domain; the LLF residues lie at the C terminus of the methylation-helix bundle. We found, by using in vivo Förster resonance energy transfer kinase assays, that most amino acid replacements at any of the LLF residues abrogate chemotactic responses to serine and lock Tsr output in a kinase-active state, impervious to HAMP-mediated down-regulation. We present evidence that the LLF residues may function like a leucine zipper to promote stable association of the C-terminal signaling helices, thereby creating a metastable helix-packing platform for the N-terminal signaling helices that facilitates conformational control by the HAMP domains in MCP-family chemoreceptors.
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10
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Abstract
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Bacteria employ remarkable
membrane-bound nanoarrays to sense their
environment and direct their swimming. Arrays consist of chemotaxis
receptor trimers of dimers that are bridged at their membrane-distal
tips by rings of two cytoplasmic proteins, a kinase CheA and a coupling
protein CheW. It is not clear how ligand binding to the periplasmic
domain of the receptor deactivates the CheA kinase bound to the cytoplasmic
tip ∼300 Å away, but the mechanism is thought to involve
changes in dynamics within the cytoplasmic domain. To test these proposals,
we applied solid-state NMR mobility-filtered experiments to functional
complexes of the receptor cytoplasmic fragment (U–13C,15N-CF), CheA, and CheW. Assembly of these proteins
into native-like, homogeneous arrays is mediated by either vesicle
binding or molecular crowding agents, and paramagnetic relaxation
enhancement is used to overcome sensitivity challenges in these large
complexes. INEPT spectra reveal that a significant fraction of the
receptor is dynamic on the nanosecond or shorter time scale, and these
dynamics change with signaling state. The mobile regions are identified
through a combination of biochemical and NMR approaches (protein truncations
and unique chemical shifts). The INEPT spectra are consistent with
an asymmetric mobility in the methylation region (N-helix mobility
≫ C-helix mobility) and reveal an increase in the mobility
of the N-helix in the kinase-off state. This finding identifies functionally
relevant dynamics in the receptor, and suggests that this N-helix
segment plays a key role in propagating the signal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Kashefi
- Department of Chemistry, ‡Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
| | - Lynmarie K Thompson
- Department of Chemistry, ‡Program in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst , Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, United States
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Deng B, Lento C, Wilson DJ. Hydrogen deuterium exchange mass spectrometry in biopharmaceutical discovery and development – A review. Anal Chim Acta 2016; 940:8-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2016.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2016] [Revised: 07/25/2016] [Accepted: 08/07/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
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Harrison RA, Engen JR. Conformational insight into multi-protein signaling assemblies by hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2016; 41:187-193. [PMID: 27552080 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2016.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2016] [Revised: 07/08/2016] [Accepted: 08/08/2016] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Hydrogen-deuterium exchange (HDX) mass spectrometry (MS) can provide information about proteins that can be challenging to obtain by other means. Structure/function relationships, binding interactions, and the effects of modification have all been measured with HDX MS for a diverse and growing array of signaling proteins and multiprotein signaling complexes. As a result of hardware and software improvements, receptors and complexes involved in cellular signaling-including those associated with membranes-can now be studied. The growing body of HDX MS studies of signaling complexes at membranes is particularly exciting. Recent examples are presented to illustrate what can be learned about signaling proteins with this technique.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rane A Harrison
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - John R Engen
- Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
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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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14
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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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Prüβ BM, Liu J, Higgs PI, Thompson LK. Lessons in Fundamental Mechanisms and Diverse Adaptations from the 2015 Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction Meeting. J Bacteriol 2015; 197:3028-40. [PMID: 26195592 DOI: 10.1128/JB.00384-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
In response to rapid changes in their environment, bacteria control a number of processes, including motility, cell division, biofilm formation, and virulence. Research presented in January 2015 at the biennial Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction (BLAST) meeting in Tucson, AZ, illustrates the elegant complexity of the nanoarrays, nanomachines, and networks of interacting proteins that mediate such processes. Studies employing an array of biophysical, genetic, cell biology, and mathematical methods are providing an increasingly detailed understanding of the mechanisms of these systems within well-studied bacteria. Furthermore, comparisons of these processes in diverse bacterial species are providing insight into novel regulatory and functional mechanisms. This review summarizes research presented at the BLAST meeting on these fundamental mechanisms and diverse adaptations, including findings of importance for applications involving bacteria of medical or agricultural relevance.
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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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