Hydrophobic Membrane Domain Research Articles

Functional and topological analysis of PSENEN, the fourth subunit of the γ-secretase complex

The γ-secretase complexes are intramembrane cleaving proteases involved in the generation of the Aβ peptides in Alzheimer's disease. The complex consists of four subunits, with Presenilin harboring the catalytic site. Here, we study the role of the smallest subunit, PSENEN or Presenilin enhancer 2, encoded by the gene Psenen, invivo and invitro. We find a profound Notch deficiency phenotype in Psenen-/- embryos confirming the essential role of PSENEN in the γ-secretase complex. We used Psenen-/- fibroblasts to explore the structure-function of PSENEN by the scanning cysteine accessibility method. Glycine 22 and proline 27, which border the membrane domains 1 and 2 of PSENEN, are involved in complex formation and stabilization of γ-secretase. The hairpin structured hydrophobic membrane domains 1 and 2 are exposed to a water-containing cavity in the complex, while transmembrane domain 3 is not water exposed. We finally demonstrate the essential role of PSENEN for the cleavage activity of the complex. PSENEN is more than a structural component of the γ-secretase complex and might contribute to the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme.

Structural Contribution of C-terminal Segments of NuoL (ND5) and NuoM (ND4) Subunits of Complex I from Escherichia coli

The proton-translocating NADH-quinone oxidoreductase (complex I/NDH-1) is a multisubunit enzymatic complex. It has a characteristic L-shaped form with two domains, a hydrophilic peripheral domain and a hydrophobic membrane domain. The membrane domain contains three antiporter-like subunits (NuoL, NuoM, and NuoN, Escherichia coli naming) that are considered to be involved in the proton translocation. Deletion of either NuoL or NuoM resulted in an incomplete assembly of NDH-1 and a total loss of the NADH-quinone oxidoreductase activity. We have truncated the C terminus segments of NuoM and NuoL by introducing STOP codons at different locations using site-directed mutagenesis of chromosomal DNA. Our results suggest an important structural role for the C-terminal segments of both subunits. The data further advocate that the elimination of the last transmembrane helix (TM14) of NuoM and the TM16 (at least C-terminal seven residues) or together with the HL helix and the TM15 of the NuoL subunit lead to reduced stability of the membrane arm and therefore of the whole NDH-1 complex. A region of NuoL critical for stability of NDH-1 architecture has been discussed.

Novel Nuclear-encoded Subunits of the Chloroplast NAD(P)H Dehydrogenase Complex

The NAD(P)H dehydrogenase (NDH) complex functions in photosystem I cyclic electron transfer in higher plant chloroplasts and is crucial for plant responses to environmental stress. Chloroplast NDH complex is a close relative to cyanobacterial NDH-1L complex, and all fifteen subunits so far identified in NDH-1L have homologs in the chloroplast NDH complex. Here we report on the identification of two nuclear-encoded proteins NDH48 and NDH45 in higher plant chloroplasts and show their intimate association with the NDH complex. These two membrane proteins are shown to interact with each other and with the NDH complex enriched in stroma thylakoids. Moreover, the deficiency of either the NDH45 protein or the NDH48 protein in respective mutant plants leads to severe defects in both the accumulation and the function of the NDH complex. The NDH48 and NDH45 proteins are not components of the hydrophilic connecting domain of the NDH complex but are strongly attached to the hydrophobic membrane domain. We conclude that NDH48 and NDH45 are novel nuclear-encoded subunits of the chloroplast NDH complex and crucial both for the stable structure and function of the NDH complex.

Role of the Coronavirus E Viroporin Protein Transmembrane Domain in Virus Assembly

Coronavirus envelope (E) proteins are small (approximately 75- to 110-amino-acid) membrane proteins that have a short hydrophilic amino terminus, a relatively long hydrophobic membrane domain, and a long hydrophilic carboxy-terminal domain. The protein is a minor virion structural component that plays an important, not fully understood role in virus production. It was recently demonstrated that the protein forms ion channels. We investigated the importance of the hydrophobic domain of the mouse hepatitis coronavirus (MHV) A59 E protein. Alanine scanning insertion mutagenesis was used to examine the effect of disruption of the domain on virus production in the context of the virus genome by using a MHV A59 infectious clone. Mutant viruses exhibited smaller plaque phenotypes, and virus production was significantly crippled. Analysis of recovered viruses suggested that the structure of the presumed alpha-helical structure and positioning of polar hydrophilic residues within the predicted transmembrane domain are important for virus production. Generation of viruses with restored wild-type helical pitch resulted in increased virus production, but some exhibited decreased virus release. Viruses with the restored helical pitch were more sensitive to treatment with the ion channel inhibitor hexamethylene amiloride than were the more crippled parental viruses with the single alanine insertions, suggesting that disruption of the transmembrane domain affects the functional activity of the protein. Overall the results indicate that the transmembrane domain plays a crucial role during biogenesis of virions.

Oestrogen-mediated tyrosine phosphorylation of caveolin-1 and its effect on the oestrogen receptor localisation: An in vivo study

Recently, it has been shown that 17β estradiol (E2) induces a rapid and transient activation of the Src ERK phosphorylation cascade: a clear indication that the α oestrogen receptor (ERα) is able to associate with the plasma membrane. Increasing evidence suggests that caveolae, which are caveolin-1 containing, highly hydrophobic membrane domains, play an important role in E2 induced signal transduction. Caveolae can accumulate signalling molecules preferentially; thus, they may have a regulatory role in signalling processes. Results from previous experiments have shown that E2 treatment decreased the number of surface connected caveolae significantly in uterine smooth muscle cells and also downregulated the expression of caveolin-1. In addition to providing further evidence that ERα interacts with caveolin/caveolae in uterine smooth muscle cells, this study also shows that the interaction between caveolin-1 and ERα is actually facilitated by E2. One of the signal transduction components found to accumulate in caveolae is Src kinase in an amount that increases simultaneously with increases in the amount of ERα. Upon E2 treatment, Src kinase is tyrosine phosphorylated, which, in turn, stimulates Src kinase to phosphorylate caveolin-1. Phosphorylation of caveolin-1 can drive caveolae to pinch off from the plasma membrane, thereby decreasing the amount of plasma membrane-associated caveolin-1. This loss of caveolin/caveolae activates the signal cascade that triggers cell proliferation.

Roles of Individual Amino Acids in Helix 14 of the Membrane Domain of Proton-Translocating Transhydrogenase from Escherichia coli As Deduced from Cysteine Mutagenesis

Proton-translocating nicotinamide nucleotide transhydrogenase is a membrane-bound protein composed of three domains: the hydrophilic NAD(H)-binding domain, the hydrophilic NADP(H)-binding domain, and the hydrophobic membrane domain. The latter harbors the proton channel. In Escherichia coli transhydrogenase, the membrane domain is composed of 13 transmembrane alpha helices, of which especially helices 13 and 14 contain conserved residues. To characterize the roles of the individual residues betaLeu240 to betaSer260 in helix 14, these were mutated as single mutants to cysteines in the cysteine-free background, and in the case of betaGly245, betaGly249, and betaGly252, also to leucines. In addition to the residues forming the helix, residues betaAsn238 and betaAsp239 were also mutated. Except for betaI242C, all mutants were normally expressed, purified, and characterized with respect to, e.g., catalytic activities and proton pumping. The results show that mutation of the conserved glycines betaGly245, betaGly249, and betaGly252, located on the same face of the helix, led to a general inhibition of all activities, especially in the case of betaGly252, suggesting a role of these glycines in helix-helix interactions. In contrast, mutation of the conserved serines betaSer250, betaSer251, and betaSer256 led to enhanced activities of all reactions, including the cyclic reaction which was mediated by bound NADP(H). Mutation of the remaining residues resulted in intermediate inhibitory effects. The results strongly support an important regulatory role of the membrane domain on the NADP(H)-binding site.

Combined in-gel tryptic digestion and CNBr cleavage for the generation of peptide maps of an integral membrane protein with MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry

A limitation of the in-gel approaches for the generation of peptides of membrane proteins is the size and hydrophobicity of the fragments generated. For membrane proteins like the lactose transporter (LacS) of Streptococcus thermophilus, tryptic digestion or CNBr cleavage yields several hydrophobic fragments larger than 3.5 kDa. As a result, the sequence coverage of the membrane domain is low when the in-gel tryptic-digested or CNBr-cleaved fragments are analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry (MS). The combination of tryptic digestion and subsequent CNBr cleavage on the same gel pieces containing LacS approximately doubled the coverage of the hydrophobic membrane domain compared to the individual cleavage methods, while the coverage of the soluble domain remained complete. The fragments formed are predominantly below m/ z 2500, which allows accurate mass measurement.

Molecular interactions in ribose transport: the binding protein module symmetrically associates with the homodimeric membrane transporter.

The Escherichia coli high-affinity ribose transporter is composed of the periplasmic ribose-binding protein (RBP or RbsB), the membrane component (RbsC) and the ATP-binding protein (RbsA). In order to dissect the molecular interactions initiating the transport process, RbsC suppressors for transport-defective rbsB mutations were isolated. These suppressors are localized in two regions of RbsC, which are allele-specific to N- or C-terminal domain mutations of RBP, suggesting that there are two distinct regions of RbsC, each interacting with one of the two domains of RBP. To demonstrate that these two regions provide a homodimeric binding surface for RBP we constructed a dimeric rbsC in which two genes are joined tandemly from head to tail with the addition of a linker. The dimeric RbsC protein is stable and functional in growth and ribose uptake. By exploiting the allele specificity between the domain-specific mutations and their suppressors, we generated all mutation-suppressor combinations in a single rbsB plus the dimeric rbsC genes. Their phenotypes are consistent with the proposal that the binding protein module interacts symmetrically with homodimeric RbsC. The mode of association proposed here for the ribose transport components could be extended to other ABC transporters with similar structural organizations.

6] Erwinia metalloprotease permease: Aspects of secretion pathway and secretion functions

This chapter discusses the secretion pathway and secretion functions of Erwinia chrysanthemi , which is a phytopathogenic gram-negative enterobacterium that causes soft rot disease among various plants. It secretes several hydrolytic enzymes, among which pectinases and cellulases are the main constituents of its pathogenicity. E . chrysanthemi also secretes several metalloproteases. The chapter reviews the E . chrysanthemi metalloprotease secretion pathway and describes different techniques used to study in this pathway. Protein secretion by the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) pathway in gram-negative bacteria is widespread in many species, allowing the secretion of several classes of proteins and presents several distinctive features. The secretion apparatus is made up of three proteins, the ABC protein itself being made of the ABC domain fused to a hydrophobic membrane domain and functioning as a dimer localized in the cytoplasmic membrane.

Wetting and capillary condensation as means of protein organization in membranes

Wetting and capillary condensation are thermodynamic phenomena in which the special affinity of interfaces to a thermodynamic phase, relative to the stable bulk phase, leads to the stabilization of a wetting phase at the interfaces. Wetting and capillary condensation are here proposed as mechanisms that in membranes may serve to induce special lipid phases in between integral membrane proteins leading to long-range lipid-mediated joining forces acting between the proteins and hence providing a means of protein organization. The consequences of wetting in terms of protein aggregation and protein clustering are derived both within a simple phenomenological theory as well as within a concrete calculation on a microscopic model of lipid-protein interactions that accounts for the lipid bilayer phase equilibria and direct lipid-protein interactions governed by hydrophobic matching between the lipid bilayer hydrophobic thickness and the length of the hydrophobic membrane domain. The theoretical results are expected to be relevant for optimizing the experimental conditions required for forming protein aggregates and regular protein arrays in membranes.

Diversity of structure, signaling and regulation within the family of muscarinic cholinergic receptors

Acetylcholine signals through two types of unrelated membrane receptors referred to as nicotinic (nAChR) and muscarinic (mAChR) acetylcholine receptors. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors were the first neurotransmitter receptors to be purified, cloned, and sequenced, and much is known about these proteins. In contrast, until 5 years ago relatively little was known about the muscarinic receptors. Since then there has been an explosion of information concerning the structure, signaling, and regulation of what is now known to be a family of muscarinic receptors. This review discusses the five identified members of the mAChR family and their coupling to the multiple G proteins that allow mAChRs to modulate many different types of signal transduction pathways. The five members of this family that have been identified so far have striking homology in their hydrophobic membrane domains but possess distinct cytoplasmic domains between the fifth and sixth membrane-spanning regions. These cytoplasmic domains appear to contain important determinants for receptor/G protein interaction and are likely to contain phosphorylation sites that regulate these interactions. mAChR agonists have been shown to induce phosphorylation of mAChR in intact cells, and the evidence that suggests that receptor phosphorylation may play a role in the regulation of receptor function is discussed.

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic porins

Porins form water-filled, voltage-controlled channels across bacterial outer membranes. The trimeric protein resides within the hydrophobic membrane domain with unusual stability despite its hydrophilicity. Its channels are formed by β-barrels (one per monomer) that consist of single antiparallel pleated sheets. This motif is found over a considerable evolutionary distance. The general significance of this folding pattern in membrane proteins can only be evaluated once more high-resolution structures have been determined.

Topography and functions of sulfhydryl groups of the human erythrocyte glucose transport mechanism.

Membrane-impermeant and -permeant maleimides were applied to characterize the location and function of the sulfhydryl (SH) groups essential for the facilitated diffusion mediated by the human erythrocyte glucose transport protein. Three such classes have been identified. Type I SH is accessible to membrane-impermeant reagents at the outer (exofacial) surface of the intact erythrocyte. Alkylation of this class inhibits glucose transport; D-glucose and cytochalasin B protect against the alkylation. Type II SH is located at the inner (endofacial) surface of the membrane and is accessible to the membrane-impermeant reagent glutathione maleimide only after lysis of the erythrocyte. D-glucose enhances, while cytochalasin B reduces, the alkylation of Type II SH by maleimides. Reaction of Types I and II SH with an impermeant maleimide increases the half-saturation concentration for binding of D-glucose to erythrocyte membranes. By contrast, inactivation of Type III SH markedly decreases the half-saturation concentration for the binding of D-glucose and other transported sugars. Type III SH is inactivated by the relatively lipid-soluble reagents N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) and dipyridyl disulfide, but not by the impermeant glutathione maleimide. Type III SH is thus located in a hydrophobic membrane domain. A kinetic model constructed to explain these observations indicates that Type III SH is required for the translocation event in a hydrophobic membrane domain which leads to the dissociation of glucose bound to transport sites at the membrane surfaces.

Group-directed modification of bacteriorhodopsin by arylisothiocyanates: Labeling, identification of the binding site and topology

Group-directed hydrophobic modification of membrane-integrated protein segments by arylisothiocyanates is applied to bacteriorhodopsin. Labeling of purple membrane with phenylisothiocyanate and 4- N,N′-dimethyl-amino-azobenzene-4′-isothiocyanate results in covalent modification of a unique lysine ε-amino group of bacteriorhodopsin. Lysine residue 41, located in the amino-terminal chymotryptic fragment, has been identified as the arylisothio-cyanate binding site by established sequencing techniques. The phenylisothiocyanate binding site is not accessible for the aqueously soluble analog p-sulfophenylisothiocyanate. Furthermore, the acid-induced bathochromic shift of the bound chromophore reagent is not observed following acidification of 4- N,N′-dimethylamino-azobenzene-4′-isothiocyanate-labeled purple membrane. The modification thus occurs in the hydrophobic membrane domain, providing further evidence for intramembraneous disposition of the modified protein segment. Light-induced proton translocation is preserved in reconstituted vesicles containing either phenylisothiocyanate-modified or 4- N,N′-dimethylamino-azobenzene-4′-isothiocyanate-modified bacteriorhodopsin.

Immunoglobulin heavy-chain constant-region genes

Antibodies are composed of two identical heavyand light-chain polypeptides. Each heavy and light chain contains an amino-terminal variable (V) region, responsible for antigen recognition, and a carboxy-proximal constant(C) region, which participates in a variety of immunological processes, including effector-cell recognition and complement fixation. The variable regions are encoded by several hundred germ-line genes, while a limited member of genes encode the constant regions. The mouse CH gene locus resides on the distal arm of chromosome 12 and consists of eight genes (p, 6, 73, yl , y2b, y2a, E and a) that span close to 200 kb of DNA (see figure) (Shimizu et al., Cell 28, 499-506, 1982). The mouse CH gene cluster contains no well conserved pseudo-& genes. &-coding regions are composed of either two (6) three (~3, yl , y2b, (II) or four (cl and E) structural domains, each consisting of -100 amino acids that are separated by small introns. Antibodies of immature B lymphocytes possess hydrophobic carboxy-terminal CH extensions, allowing these molecules to function as transmembrane proteins. Hydrophobic membrane domains are separated from the secreted termini of CH genes by a -2 kb intron (Early et al., Cell 20, 313-319, 1980). Membrane-bound or secreted antibody is thought to be expressed first by regulation of the site of transcriptional termination or poly(A) addition and then by sitespecific RNA splicing (Early et al., op. cit.; Rogers et al., Cell 26, 19-27, 1981). The human CH gene family consists of at least nine functional members (p, 6, yl , 72, y3,y4, c, al and a2). As in the mouse, the human CS gene is located several kilobases 3’ of C,” (Rabbitts et al., NAR 9,4509-4524, 1981). The four human gamma genes display more extensive homology to each other than is observed among the mouse gamma genes, and at least two Minireviews

Interactions of insecticides with erythrocyte membranes

Insecticides exert antilytic effects on pig erythrocytes by preventing osmotic disruption of membranes in critical hypotonic saline media. The order of effectiveness is the following: lindane > aldrin ≈ azinphos > parathion ≈ DDT > malathion; empirical protective indexes estimated for K + leakage, at 0.09 M NaCl, were 5.6, 3.9, 2.9, 2.8, and 2.0, respectively. Erythrocytes swell and hemolyze in solutions containing glycerol below 0.6 M. At higher concentrations and temperatures below 20°C, the extent of cell lysis is very limited and virtually nil in 1 M glycerol. In hypertonic glycerol solutions, cells swell until the initial equilibrium volume is reached and, then, the swelling process ceases. Swelling in 1 M glycerol is related to its permeation through hydrophobic membrane domains. The activation energies of permeation are similar to the dehydration energies of glycerol molecules. As the temperature is increased above 20°C, erythrocytes undergo lysis. The organophosphorus insecticides, parathion and azinphos (10 −4 M), significantly increase the swelling rates and the extent of cell lysis. Malathion and chlorinated insecticides do not exert apparent effects. However, these compounds are effective in liposomes reconstituted with lipids extracted from erythrocyte membranes.

Electrophysiological modifications induced by the fluorescent probe, pyrene, on Myxicola giant axons

Current- and voltage-clamp experiments on Myxicola giant axons labelled with pyrene showed decreased Na + and K + conductances. The low-frequency membrane capacity and the gating charge transfer were slightly reduced. It may be inferred that pyrene is incorporated in some hydrophobic membrane domains close to the ionic channels.