ABSTRACT
Most membrane proteins function through interactions with other proteins in the phospholipid bilayer, the cytosol or the extracellular milieu. Understanding the molecular basis of these interactions is key to understanding membrane protein function and dysfunction. Here we demonstrate for the first time how a nano-encapsulation method based on styrene maleic acid lipid particles (SMALPs) can be used in combination with native gel electrophoresis to separate membrane protein complexes in their native state. Using four model proteins, we show that this separation method provides an excellent measure of protein quaternary structure, and that the lipid environment surrounding the protein(s) can be probed using mass spectrometry. We also show that the method is complementary to immunoblotting. Finally we show that intact membrane protein-SMALPs extracted from a band on a gel could be visualised using electron microscopy (EM). Taken together these results provide a novel and elegant method for investigating membrane protein complexes in a native state.
Subject(s)
Membrane Proteins/chemistry , Nanotechnology , Native Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis/methods , Blotting, Western , Lipids/chemistry , Mass Spectrometry , Microscopy, Electron , Protein Structure, QuaternaryABSTRACT
Biological characterisation of membrane proteins lags behind that of soluble proteins. This reflects issues with the traditional use of detergents for extraction, as the surrounding lipids are generally lost, with adverse structural and functional consequences. In contrast, styrene maleic acid (SMA) copolymers offer a detergent-free method for biological membrane solubilisation to produce SMA-lipid particles (SMALPs) containing membrane proteins together with their surrounding lipid environment. We report the development of a reverse-phase LC-MS/MS method for bacterial phospholipids and the first comparison of the profiles of SMALP co-extracted phospholipids from three exemplar bacterial membrane proteins with different topographies: FtsA (associated membrane protein), ZipA (single transmembrane helix), and PgpB (integral membrane protein). The data showed that while SMA treatment per se did not preferentially extract specific phospholipids from the membrane, SMALP-extracted ZipA showed an enrichment in phosphatidylethanolamines and depletion in cardiolipins compared to the bulk membrane lipid. Comparison of the phospholipid profiles of the 3 SMALP-extracted proteins revealed distinct lipid compositions for each protein: ZipA and PgpB were similar, but in FtsA samples longer chain phosphatidylglycerols and phosphatidylethanolamines were more abundant. This method offers novel information on the phospholipid interactions of these membrane proteins.
Subject(s)
Bacterial Proteins/chemistry , Bacterial Proteins/metabolism , Membrane Proteins/chemistry , Membrane Proteins/metabolism , Phospholipids/chemistry , Phospholipids/metabolism , Cardiolipins/chemistry , Cardiolipins/metabolism , Carrier Proteins/chemistry , Carrier Proteins/metabolism , Cell Cycle Proteins/chemistry , Cell Cycle Proteins/metabolism , Chromatography, Liquid , Escherichia coli Proteins/chemistry , Escherichia coli Proteins/metabolism , Maleates/chemistry , Phosphatidate Phosphatase/chemistry , Phosphatidate Phosphatase/metabolism , Phosphatidylethanolamines/chemistry , Phosphatidylethanolamines/metabolism , Phosphatidylglycerols/chemistry , Phosphatidylglycerols/metabolism , Tandem Mass SpectrometryABSTRACT
Membrane proteins remain a somewhat enigmatic group of biomolecules. On the one hand they mediate some of the most important processes in biology with molecular mechanisms that are often elegantly complex. On the other hand they are exceptionally challenging to produce, making studies of membrane protein structure and function among the most difficult projects undertaken by biochemists. The central issue with studies of a membrane protein has been the need to extract them from their native lipid environment before purification and production of a homogenous sample. Historical approaches have utilized detergent solubilisation but these often lead to a sample with low activity and stability. In the past 15â¯years a new approach that focuses on preserving the local lipid environment surrounding the membrane proteins has been developed. The latest, and perhaps most complete, incarnation of this method has been the use of polymers based on styrene maleic acid (SMA) to stabilise nanoscale discs of lipid that contain membrane proteins. In this review we examine the range of SMA-related polymers that have now been shown to have utility in the production of membrane proteins. We discuss the differences between the polymers and attempt to discover rules and trends that explain their behavior.
