Implications of Surface Charge and Curvature for the Binding Orientation ofThermomyces lanuginosusLipase on Negatively Charged or Zwitterionic Phospholipid Vesicles As Studied by ESR Spectroscopy

Abstract

The triglyceride lipase (EC 3.1.1.3) Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) binds with high affinity to unilamellar phospholipid vesicles that serve as a diluent interface for both lipase and substrate, but it displays interfacial activation on only small and negatively charged such vesicles [Cajal, Y., et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 413-423]. The productive-mode binding orientation of TLL at the lipid-water interface of small unilamellar vesicles (SUV) consisting of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) was previously determined using electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy in combination with site-directed spin-labeling [Hedin, E. M. K., et al. (2002) Biochemistry 41, 14185-14196]. In our investigation, we have studied the interfacial orientation of TLL when bound to large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) consisting of POPG, and bound to SUV consisting of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylcholine (POPC). Eleven single-cysteine TLL mutants were spin-labeled as previously described, and studied upon membrane binding using the water soluble spin-relaxation agent chromium(III) oxalate (Crox). Furthermore, dansyl-labeled vesicles revealed the intermolecular fluorescence quenching efficiency between each spin-label positioned on TLL, and the lipid membrane. ESR exposure and fluorescence quenching data show that TLL associates closer to the negatively charged PG surface than the zwitterionic PC surface, and binds to both POPG LUV and POPC SUV predominantly through the concave backside of TLL opposite the active site, as revealed by the contact residues K74C-SL, R209C-SL, and T192C-SL. This orientation is significantly different compared to that on the POPG SUV, and might explain the differences in activation of the lipase. Evidently, both the charge and accessibility (curvature) of the vesicle surface determine the TLL orientation at the phospholipid interface.