The Thermodynamic Stability of Membrane Proteins in Micelles and Lipid Bilayers Investigated with the Ferrichrom Receptor FhuA.

Extraction of integral membrane proteins into detergents for structural and functional studies often leads to a strong loss in protein stability. The impact of the lipid bilayer on the thermodynamic stability of an integral membrane protein in comparison to its solubilized form in detergent was examined and compared for FhuA from Escherichia coli and for a mutant, FhuAΔ5-160, lacking the N-terminal cork domain. Urea-induced unfolding was monitored by fluorescence spectroscopy to determine the effective free energies [Formula: see text] of unfolding. To obtain enthalpic and entropic contributions of unfolding of FhuA, [Formula: see text] were determined at various temperatures. When solubilized in LDAO detergent, wt-FhuA and FhuAΔ5-160 unfolded in a single step. The 155-residue cork domain stabilized wt-FhuA by [Formula: see text]~ 40 kJ/mol. Reconstituted into lipid bilayers, wt-FhuA unfolded in two steps, while FhuAΔ5-160 unfolded in a single step, indicating an uncoupled unfolding of the cork domain. For FhuAΔ5-160 at 35 °C, [Formula: see text] increased from ~ 5 kJ/mol in LDAO micelles to about ~ 20 kJ/mol in lipid bilayers, while the temperature of unfolding increased from TM ~ 49 °C in LDAO micelles to TM ~ 75 °C in lipid bilayers. Enthalpies [Formula: see text]were much larger than free energies [Formula: see text], for FhuAΔ5-160 and for wt-FhuA, and compensated by a large gain of entropy upon unfolding. The gain in conformational entropy is expected to be similar for unfolding of FhuA from micelles or bilayers. The strongly increased TM and [Formula: see text] observed for the lipid bilayer-reconstituted FhuA in comparison to the LDAO-solubilized forms, therefore, very likely arise from a much-increased solvation entropy of FhuA in bilayers.

The ZIP5 ectodomain co-localizes with PrP and may acquire a PrP-like fold that assembles into a dimer.

The cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) was recently observed to co-purify with members of the LIV-1 subfamily of ZIP zinc transporters (LZTs), precipitating the surprising discovery that the prion gene family descended from an ancestral LZT gene. Here, we compared the subcellular distribution and biophysical characteristics of LZTs and their PrP-like ectodomains. When expressed in neuroblastoma cells, the ZIP5 member of the LZT subfamily was observed to be largely directed to the same subcellular locations as PrP(C) and both proteins were seen to be endocytosed through vesicles decorated with the Rab5 marker protein. When recombinantly expressed, the PrP-like domain of ZIP5 could be obtained with yields and levels of purity sufficient for structural analyses but it tended to aggregate, thereby precluding attempts to study its structure. These obstacles were overcome by moving to a mammalian cell expression system. The subsequent biophysical characterization of a homogeneous preparation of the ZIP5 PrP-like ectodomain shows that this protein acquires a dimeric, largely globular fold with an α-helical content similar to that of mammalian PrP(C). The use of a mammalian cell expression system also allowed for the expression and purification of stable preparations of Takifugu rubripes PrP-1, thereby overcoming a key hindrance to high-resolution work on a fish PrP(C).

Folding and stability of outer membrane protein A (OmpA) from Escherichia coli in an amphipathic polymer, amphipol A8-35.

Amphipols are a class of amphipathic polymers designed to maintain membrane proteins in aqueous solutions in the absence of detergents. Denatured ß-barrel membrane proteins, like outer membrane proteins OmpA from Escherichia coli and FomA from Fusobacterium nucleatum, can be folded by dilution of the denaturant urea in the presence of amphipol A8-35. Here, the folding kinetics and stability of OmpA in A8-35 have been investigated. Folding is well described by two parallel first-order processes, whose half-times, ~5 and ~70 min, respectively, are independent of A8-35 concentration. The faster process contributed ~55-64 % to OmpA folding. Folding into A8-35 was faster than into dioleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers and complete at ratios as low as ~0.17 g/g A8-35/OmpA, corresponding to ~1-2 A8-35 molecules per OmpA. Activation energies were determined from the temperature dependence of folding kinetics, monitored both by electrophoresis, which reports on the formation of stable OmpA tertiary structure, and by fluorescence spectroscopy, which reflects changes in the environment of tryptophan side chains. The two methods yielded consistent estimates, namely ~5-9 kJ/mol for the fast process and ~29-37 kJ/mol for the slow one, which is lower than is observed for OmpA folding into dioleoylphosphatidylcholine bilayers. Folding and unfolding titrations with urea demonstrated that OmpA folding into A8-35 is reversible and that amphipol-refolded OmpA is thermodynamically stable at room temperature. Comparison of activation energies for folding and unfolding in A8-35 versus detergent indicates that stabilization of A8-35-trapped OmpA against denaturation by urea is a kinetic, not a thermodynamic phenomenon.

LIV-1 ZIP ectodomain shedding in prion-infected mice resembles cellular response to transition metal starvation.

We recently documented the co-purification of members of the LIV-1 subfamily of ZIP (Zrt-, Irt-like Protein) zinc transporters (LZTs) with the cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) and, subsequently, established that the prion gene family descended from an ancestral LZT gene. Here, we begin to address whether the study of LZTs can shed light on the biology of prion proteins in health and disease. Starting from an observation of an abnormal LZT immunoreactive band in prion-infected mice, subsequent cell biological analyses uncovered a surprisingly coordinated biology of ZIP10 (an LZT member) and prion proteins that involves alterations to N-glycosylation and endoproteolysis in response to manipulations to the extracellular divalent cation milieu. Starving cells of manganese or zinc, but not copper, causes shedding of the N1 fragment of PrP(C) and of the ectodomain of ZIP10. For ZIP10, this posttranslational biology is influenced by an interaction between its PrP-like ectodomain and a conserved metal coordination site within its C-terminal multi-spanning transmembrane domain. The transition metal starvation-induced cleavage of ZIP10 can be differentiated by an immature N-glycosylation signature from a constitutive cleavage targeting the same site. Data from this work provide a first glimpse into a hitherto neglected molecular biology that ties PrP to its LZT cousins and suggest that manganese or zinc starvation may contribute to the etiology of prion disease in mice.

The ZIP-prion connection.

The evolutionary origins of vertebrate prion genes had remained elusive until recently when multiple lines of evidence converged to the proposition that members of the prion gene family represent an ancient branch of a larger family of ZIP metal ion transporters. (1) A follow-up investigation which explored the mechanism of evolution in more detail led to the surprising conclusion that the emergence of the prion founder gene likely involved the reverse transcription of a spliced transcript of a LIV-1 ZIP predecessor gene. (2) The objective of this perspective is to discuss the possible significance of this reunion of ZIP and prion gene subfamilies for understanding the biology of the prion protein in health and disease. While a recent review article broadly introduced this area of research, (3) the emphasis here is to comment on some of the more pertinent concepts, experimental paradigms, ongoing developments and challenges.

Evidence for retrogene origins of the prion gene family.

The evolutionary origin of prion genes, only known to exist in the vertebrate lineage, had remained elusive until recently. Following a lead from interactome investigations of the murine prion protein, our previous bioinformatic analyses revealed the evolutionary descent of prion genes from an ancestral ZIP metal ion transporter. However, the molecular mechanism of evolution remained unexplored. Here we present a computational investigation of this question based on sequence, intron-exon, synteny and pseudogene analyses. Our data suggest that during the emergence of metazoa, a cysteine-flanked core domain was modularly inserted, or arose de novo, in a preexisting ZIP ancestor gene to generate a prion-like ectodomain in a subbranch of ZIP genes. Approximately a half-billion years later, a genomic insertion of a spliced transcript coding for such a prion-like ZIP ectodomain may have created the prion founder gene. We document that similar genomic insertions involving ZIP transcripts, and probably relying on retropositional elements, have indeed occurred more than once throughout evolution.

Structural and functional relationships between the lectin and arm domains of calreticulin.

Calreticulin and calnexin are key components in maintaining the quality control of glycoprotein folding within the endoplasmic reticulum. Although their lectin function of binding monoglucosylated sugar moieties of glycoproteins is well documented, their chaperone activity in suppressing protein aggregation is less well understood. Here, we use a series of deletion mutants of calreticulin to demonstrate that its aggregation suppression function resides primarily within its lectin domain. Using hydrophobic peptides as substrate mimetics, we show that aggregation suppression is mediated through a single polypeptide binding site that exhibits a K(d) for peptides of 0.5-1 µM. This site is distinct from the oligosaccharide binding site and differs from previously identified sites of binding to thrombospondin and GABARAP (4-aminobutyrate type A receptor-associated protein). Although the arm domain of calreticulin was incapable of suppressing aggregation or binding hydrophobic peptides on its own, it did contribute to aggregation suppression in the context of the whole molecule. The high resolution x-ray crystal structure of calreticulin with a partially truncated arm domain reveals a marked difference in the relative orientations of the arm and lectin domains when compared with calnexin. Furthermore, a hydrophobic patch was detected on the arm domain that mediates crystal packing and may contribute to calreticulin chaperone function.

Family reunion--the ZIP/prion gene family.

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative diseases of humans and animals which, in addition to sporadic and familial modes of manifestation, can be acquired via an infectious route of propagation. In disease, the prion protein (PrP(C)) undergoes a structural transition to its disease-causing form (PrP(Sc)) with profoundly different physicochemical properties. Surprisingly, despite intense interest in the prion protein, its function in the context of other cellular activities has largely remained elusive. We recently employed quantitative mass spectrometry to characterize the interactome of the prion protein in a murine neuroblastoma cell line (N2a), an established cell model for prion replication. Extensive bioinformatic analyses subsequently established an evolutionary link between the prion gene family and the family of ZIP (Zrt-, Irt-like protein) metal ion transporters. More specifically, sequence alignments, structural threading data and multiple additional pieces of evidence placed a ZIP5/ZIP6/ZIP10-like ancestor gene at the root of the PrP gene family. In this review we examine the biology of prion proteins and ZIP transporters from the viewpoint of a shared phylogenetic origin. We summarize and compare available data that shed light on genetics, function, expression, signaling, post-translational modifications and metal binding preferences of PrP and ZIP family members. Finally, we explore data indicative of retropositional origins of the prion gene founder and discuss a possible function for the prion-like (PL) domain within ZIP transporters. While throughout the article emphasis is placed on ZIP proteins, the intent is to highlight connections between PrP and ZIP transporters and uncover promising directions for future research.

Structural basis of carbohydrate recognition by calreticulin.

The calnexin cycle is a process by which glycosylated proteins are subjected to folding cycles in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen via binding to the membrane protein calnexin (CNX) or to its soluble homolog calreticulin (CRT). CNX and CRT specifically recognize monoglucosylated Glc(1)Man(9)GlcNAc(2) glycans, but the structural determinants underlying this specificity are unknown. Here, we report a 1.95-Å crystal structure of the CRT lectin domain in complex with the tetrasaccharide α-Glc-(1→3)-α-Man-(1→2)-α-Man-(1→2)-Man. The tetrasaccharide binds to a long channel on CRT formed by a concave ß-sheet. All four sugar moieties are engaged in the protein binding via an extensive network of hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic contacts. The structure explains the requirement for glucose at the nonreducing end of the carbohydrate; the oxygen O(2) of glucose perfectly fits to a pocket formed by CRT side chains while forming direct hydrogen bonds with the carbonyl of Gly(124) and the side chain of Lys(111). The structure also explains a requirement for the Cys(105)-Cys(137) disulfide bond in CRT/CNX for efficient carbohydrate binding. The Cys(105)-Cys(137) disulfide bond is involved in intimate contacts with the third and fourth sugar moieties of the Glc(1)Man(3) tetrasaccharide. Finally, the structure rationalizes previous mutagenesis of CRT and lays a structural groundwork for future studies of the role of CNX/CRT in diverse biological pathways.

ERp57 does not require interactions with calnexin and calreticulin to promote assembly of class I histocompatibility molecules, and it enhances peptide loading independently of its redox activity.

ERp57 is a thiol oxidoreductase that catalyzes disulfide formation in heavy chains of class I histocompatibility molecules. It also forms a mixed disulfide with tapasin within the class I peptide loading complex, stabilizing the complex and promoting efficient binding of peptides to class I molecules. Since ERp57 associates with the lectin chaperones calnexin and calreticulin, it is thought that ERp57 requires these chaperones to gain access to its substrates. To test this idea, we examined class I biogenesis in cells lacking calnexin or calreticulin or that express an ERp57 mutant that fails to bind to these chaperones. Remarkably, heavy chain disulfides formed at the same rate in these cells as in wild type cells. Moreover, ERp57 formed a mixed disulfide with tapasin and promoted efficient peptide loading in the absence of interactions with calnexin and calreticulin. These findings suggest that ERp57 has the capacity to recognize its substrates directly in addition to being recruited through lectin chaperones. We also found that calreticulin could be recruited into the peptide loading complex in the absence of interactions with both ERp57 and substrate oligosaccharides, demonstrating the importance of its polypeptide binding site in substrate recognition. Finally, by inactivating the redox-active sites of ERp57, we demonstrate that its enzymatic activity is dispensable in stabilizing the peptide loading complex and in supporting efficient peptide loading. Thus, ERp57 appears to play a structural rather than catalytic role within the peptide loading complex.

Amphipathic polymers: tools to fold integral membrane proteins to their active form.

Among the major obstacles to pharmacological and structural studies of integral membrane proteins (MPs) are their natural scarcity and the difficulty in overproducing them in their native form. MPs can be overexpressed in the non-native state as inclusion bodies, but inducing them to achieve their functional three-dimensional structure has proven to be a major challenge. We describe here the use of an amphipathic polymer, amphipol A8-35, as a novel environment that allows both beta-barrel and alpha-helical MPs to fold to their native state, in the absence of detergents or lipids. Amphipols, which are extremely mild surfactants, appear to favor the formation of native intramolecular protein-protein interactions over intermolecular or protein-surfactant ones. The feasibility of the approach is demonstrated using as models OmpA and FomA, two outer membrane proteins from the eubacteria Escherichia coli and Fusobacterium nucleatum, respectively, and bacteriorhodopsin, a light-driven proton pump from the plasma membrane of the archaebacterium Halobacterium salinarium.

Curvature elasticity and refolding of OmpA in large unilamellar vesicles.

The stability of OmpA in large unilamellar vesicles of dilauroyl phosphatidylcholine was studied using different concentrations of urea. The effective energy of unfolding, as determined from refolding experiments, is greater than that for small sonicated unilamellar vesicles by an amount that is compatible with estimates of the elastic energy of highly curved vesicles. The on-rate for refolding and insertion is slower for large unilamellar vesicles than for small unilamellar vesicles, which indicates a contribution of vesicle strain also to the free energy of the transition state.

The major outer membrane protein of Fusobacterium nucleatum (FomA) folds and inserts into lipid bilayers via parallel folding pathways.

Membrane protein insertion and folding was studied for the major outer membrane protein of Fusobacterium nucleatum (FomA), which is a voltage-dependent general diffusion porin. The transmembrane domain of FomA forms a beta-barrel that is predicted to consist of 14 beta-strands. Here, unfolded FomA is shown to insert and fold spontaneously and quantitatively into phospholipid bilayers upon dilution of the denaturant urea, which was shown previously only for outer membrane protein A (OmpA) of Escherichia coli. Folding of FomA is demonstrated by circular dichroism and fluorescence spectroscopy, by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and by single-channel recordings. Refolded FomA had a single-channel conductance of 1.1 nS at 1 M KCl, in agreement with the conductance of FomA isolated from membranes in native form. In contrast to OmpA, which forms a smaller eight-stranded beta-barrel domain, folding kinetics of the larger FomA were slower and provided evidence for parallel folding pathways of FomA into lipid bilayers. Two pathways were observed independent of membrane thickness with two different lipid bilayers, which were either composed of dicapryl phosphatidylcholine or dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine. This is the first observation of parallel membrane insertion and folding pathways of a beta-barrel membrane protein from an unfolded state in urea into lipid bilayers. The kinetics of both folding pathways depended on the chain length of the lipid and on temperature with estimated activation energies of 19 kJ/mol (dicapryl phosphatidylcholine) and 70 kJ/mol (dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine) for the faster pathways.

Orientation of beta-barrel proteins OmpA and FhuA in lipid membranes. Chain length dependence from infrared dichroism.

The outer-membrane proteins OmpA and FhuA of Escherichia coli are monomeric beta-barrels of widely differing size. Polarized attenuated total reflection infrared spectroscopy has been used to determine the orientation of the beta-barrels in phosphatidylcholine host matrices of different lipid chain lengths. The linear dichroism of the amide I band from OmpA and FhuA in hydrated membranes generally increases with increasing chain length from diC(12:0) to diC(17:0) phosphatidylcholine, in both the fluid and gel phases. Measurements of the amide I and amide II dichroism from dry samples are used to deduce the strand tilt (beta = 46 degrees for OmpA and beta = 44.5 degrees for FhuA). These values are then used to deduce the order parameters, P(2)(cos alpha), of the beta-barrels from the amide I dichroic ratios of the hydrated membranes. The orientational ordering of the beta-barrels and their assembly in the membrane are discussed in terms of hydrophobic matching with the lipid chains.

Association of spin-labeled lipids with beta-barrel proteins from the outer membrane of Escherichia coli.

The interaction of spin-labeled lipids with beta-barrel transmembrane proteins has been studied by the electron spin resonance (ESR) methods developed for alpha-helical integral proteins. The outer membrane protein OmpA and the ferrichrome-iron receptor FhuA from the outer membrane of Escherichia coli were reconstituted in bilayers of dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol. The ESR spectra from phosphatidylglycerol spin labeled on the 14-C atom of the sn-2 chain contain a second component from motionally restricted lipids contacting the intramembranous surface of the beta-barrel, in addition to that from the fluid bilayer lipids. The stoichiometry of motionally restricted lipids, 11 and 32 lipids/monomer for OmpA and FhuA, respectively, is constant irrespective of the total lipid/protein ratio. It is proportional to the number of transmembrane beta-strands, eight for OmpA and 22 for FhuA, and correlates reasonably well with the intramembranous perimeter of the protein. Spin-labeled lipids with different polar headgroups display a differential selectivity of interaction with the two proteins. The more pronounced pattern of lipid selectivity for FhuA than for OmpA correlates with the preponderance of positively charged residues facing the lipids in the extensions of the beta-sheet and shorter interconnecting loops on the extracellular side of FhuA.