Mammalian Integral Membrane Proteins Research Articles

Genetic and Biochemical Approaches for In Vivo and In Vitro Assessment of Protein Oligomerization: The Ryanodine Receptor Case Study.

Oligomerization is often a structural requirement for proteins to accomplish their specific cellular function. For instance, tetramerization of the ryanodine receptor (RyR) is necessary for the formation of a functional Ca2+ release channel pore. Here, we describe detailed protocols for the assessment of protein self-association, including yeast two-hybrid (Y2H), co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP) and chemical cross-linking assays. In the Y2H system, protein self-interaction is detected by β-galactosidase assay in yeast co-expressing GAL4 bait and target fusions of the test protein. Protein self-interaction is further assessed by co-IP using HA- and cMyc-tagged fusions of the test protein co-expressed in mammalian HEK293 cells. The precise stoichiometry of the protein homo-oligomer is examined by cross-linking and SDS-PAGE analysis following expression in HEK293 cells. Using these different but complementary techniques, we have consistently observed the self-association of the RyR N-terminal domain and demonstrated its intrinsic ability to form tetramers. These methods can be applied to protein-protein interaction and homo-oligomerization studies of other mammalian integral membrane proteins.

Mapping the dynamic Interactomes of “druggable” membrane proteins: roles in human health and disease (1095.20)

Despite extensive research in the past decade, there is a lack of in‐depth understanding of protein networks associated with integral membrane proteins because of their unique biochemical features, enormous complexity and multiplicity. This is a major obstacle to understanding the biology of deregulation of these integral membrane proteins which leads to numerous human diseases, and consequently hinders our development of improved and more targeted therapies to help treat these diseases. To address this challenge, we previously developed an in vivo genetic system, called the Membrane Yeast Two‐Hybrid (MYTH) assay, to identify and characterize protein interactors of all yeast ABC transporters and human receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs), as well as selected cancer stem cell receptors (CSCRs)5 and G‐protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). However, despite MYTH being a robust technology suitable for mapping the PPIs of a wide‐range of membrane proteins, we have found that a significant percentage of mammalian integral membrane proteins cannot be properly analyzed using this system.To address this, we have recently developed a new variant of MYTH suitable for use in mammalian cells, which we have called the Mammalian Membrane Two‐Hybrid (MaMTH) system. During my talk, I will discuss exciting new findings indicating that MaMTH can detect stimuli (hormone/agonist)‐ and phosphorylation‐dependent PPIs. In addition, I will show that MaMTH allows for monitoring of the phosphorylation states of ErbB‐receptor mutants and drug‐induced activity changes of oncogenic variants of the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR). In conclusion, our study illustrates that MaMTH is a powerful tool for investigating dynamic interactomes of human integral membrane proteins and promises significant contributions to therapeutic research.

Thermostabilisation of the Serotonin Transporter in a Cocaine-Bound Conformation

Structure determination of mammalian integral membrane proteins is challenging due to their instability upon detergent solubilisation and purification. Recent successes in the structure determination of G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) resulted from the development of GPCR-specific protein engineering strategies. One of these, conformational thermostabilisation, could in theory facilitate structure determination of other membrane proteins by improving their tolerance to detergents and locking them in a specific conformation. We have therefore used this approach on the cocaine-sensitive rat serotonin transporter (SERT). Out of a panel of 554 point mutants throughout SERT, 10 were found to improve its thermostability. The most stabilising mutations were combined to make the thermostabilised mutants SAH6 (L99A+G278A+A505L) and SAH7 (L405A+P499A+A505L) that were more stable than SERT by 18°C and 16°C, respectively. Inhibitor binding assays showed that both of the thermostabilised SERT mutants bound [125I]RTI55 (β-CIT) with affinity similar to that of the wild-type transporter, although cocaine bound with increased affinity (17- to 56-fold) whilst ibogaine, imipramine and paroxetine all bound with lower affinity (up to 90-fold). Neither SAH6 nor SAH7 was capable of transporting [3H]serotonin into HEK293 cell lines stably expressing the mutants, although serotonin bound to them with an apparent Ki of 155μM or 82μM, respectively. These data combined suggest that SAH6 and SAH7 are thermostabilised in a specific cocaine-bound conformation, making them promising candidates for crystallisation. Conformational thermostabilisation is thus equally applicable to membrane proteins that are transporters in addition to those that are GPCRs.

Generation of functional antibodies for mammalian membrane protein crystallography

Membrane proteins act as gateways to cells, and they are responsible for much of the communication between cells and their environments. Crystallography of membrane proteins is often limited by the difficulty of crystallization in detergent micelles. Co-crystallization with antibody fragments has been reported as a method to facilitate the crystallization of membrane proteins; however, it is widely known that the generation of mouse monoclonal antibodies that recognize the conformational epitopes of mammalian integral membrane proteins is typically difficult. Here, we present our protocols to generate functional mouse antibodies for the membrane protein crystallography, which have enabled us to solve crystal structures of mammalian receptors and transporters complexed with antibody fragments.

A Conserved, Lipid‐Mediated Sorting Mechanism of Yeast Ist2 and Mammalian STIM Proteins to the Peripheral ER

Sorting of yeast Ist2 to the plasma membrane (PM) or the cortical endoplasmic reticulum (ER) requires a cortical sorting signal (CSS(Ist2)) that interacts with lipids including phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PI(4,5)P(2)) at the PM. Here, we show that the expression of Ist2 in mammalian cells resulted in a peripheral patch-like localization without any detection of Ist2 at the cell surface. Attached to C-termini of mammalian integral membrane proteins, the CSS(Ist2) targeted these proteins to PM-associated domains of the ER and abolished trafficking via the classical secretory pathway. The interaction of integral membrane proteins with PI(4,5)P(2) at the PM created ER-PM contacts. This process is similar to the regulated coupling of ER domains to the PM via stromal interaction molecule (STIM) proteins during store-operated Ca(2+) entry (SOCE). The CSS(Ist2) and the C-terminus of the ER-located Ca(2+) sensor STIM2 were sufficient to bind PI(4,5)P(2) and PI(3,4,5)P(3) at the PM, showing that an evolutionarily conserved mechanism is involved in the sorting of integral membrane proteins to PM-associated domains of the ER. Yeast Ist2 and STIM2 share a common basic and amphipathic signal at their extreme C-termini. STIM1 showed binding preference for liposomes containing PI(4,5)P(2), suggesting a specific contribution of lipids to the recruitment of ER domains to the PM during SOCE.

Co-evolving stability and conformational homogeneity of the human adenosine A 2a receptor

Structural studies on mammalian integral membrane proteins have long been hampered by their instability in detergent. This is particularly true for the agonist conformation of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), where it is thought that the movement of helices that occurs upon agonist binding results in a looser and less stable packing in the protein. Here, we show that mutagenesis coupled to a specific selection strategy can be used to stabilize the agonist and antagonist conformations of the adenosine A(2a) receptor. Of the 27 mutations identified that improve the thermostability of the agonist conformation, only three are also present in the 17 mutations identified that improve the thermostability of the antagonist conformation, suggesting that the selection strategies used were specific for each conformation. Combination of the stabilizing mutations for the antagonist- or agonist-binding conformations resulted in mutants that are more stable at higher temperatures than the wild-type receptor by 17 degrees C and 9 degrees C, respectively. The mutant receptors both showed markedly improved stability in short-chain alkyl-glucoside detergents compared with the wild-type receptor, which will facilitate their structural analysis.

Targeting the expression of functional murine CMP-sialic acid transporter to the E. coli inner membrane

The heterologous expression of functional mammalian integral membrane proteins still represents a significant hurdle towards their crystallization and structure elucidation. We have therefore explored the use of the OmpA signal sequence to deliberately target the expression of the murine CMP-sialic acid transporter, a Golgi-resident protein with 10 putative transmembrane domains, to the Escherichia coli inner membrane. Here, we show that the expression of an OmpA signal sequence-FLAG-CMP-sialic acid transporter fusion protein in E. coli results in the targeting and insertion of recombinant protein within the inner membrane. Significantly, functionality was confirmed by the ability of spheroplasted E. coli and mixed phosphatidylcholine– E. coli inner membrane proteoliposomes incorporating recombinant CMP-sialic acid transporter to accumulate CMP-sialic acid in vitro.

A faster way to make GFP-based biosensors: Two new transposons for creating multicolored libraries of fluorescent fusion proteins

BackgroundThere are now several ways to generate fluorescent fusion proteins by randomly inserting DNA encoding the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) into another protein's coding sequence. These approaches can be used to map regions in a protein that are permissive for GFP insertion or to create novel biosensors. While remarkably useful, the current insertional strategies have two major limitations: (1) they only produce one kind, or color, of fluorescent fusion protein and (2) one half of all GFP insertions within the target coding sequence are in the wrong orientation.ResultsWe have overcome these limitations by incorporating two different fluorescent proteins coding sequences in a single transposon, either in tandem or antiparallel. Our initial tests targeted two mammalian integral membrane proteins: the voltage sensitive motor, Prestin, and an ER ligand gated Ca2+ channel (IP3R).ConclusionsThese new designs increase the efficiency of random fusion protein generation in one of two ways: (1) by creating two different fusion proteins from each insertion or (2) by being independent of orientation.

Overexpression of mammalian integral membrane proteins for structural studies

Recent successes in the determination of atomic resolution structures of integral membrane proteins have relied on purifying the proteins from abundant natural sources. In contrast, the majority of mammalian receptors, ion channels and transporters need to be overexpressed to obtain sufficient material for structural studies. This has often proved to be very difficult. Overexpression studies on a wide range of mammalian membrane proteins have shown that a few can be expressed functionally in bacteria, but many others require an insect or mammalian cell host for activity or high level expression. The serotonin transporter, which has been expressed in all the major hosts available, is a good example that has given insights into the problem of overexpressing mammalian membrane proteins for structural studies.

A distance measurement between specific sites on the cytoplasmic surface of bovine rhodopsin in rod outer segment disk membranes

Structural information on mammalian integral membrane proteins is scarce. As part of work on an alternative approach to the structure of bovine rhodopsin, a method was devised to obtain an intramolecular distance between two specific sites on rhodopsin while in the rod outer segment disk membrane. In this report, the distance between the rhodopsin kinase phosphorylation site(s) on the carboxyl terminal and the top of the third transmembrane helix was measured on native rhodopsin. Rhodopsin was labeled with a nuclear spin label ( 31P) by limited phosphorylation with rhodopsin kinase. Major phosphorylation occurs at serines 343 and 338 on the carboxyl terminal. The phosphorylated rhodopsin was then specifically labeled on cysteine 140 with an electron spin label. Magic angle spinning 31P-nuclear magnetic resonance revealed the resonance arising from the phosphorylated protein. The enhancement of the transverse relaxation of this resonance by the paramagnetic spin label was observed. The strength of this perturbation was used to determine the through-space distance between the phosphorylation site(s) and the spin label position. A distance of 18±3 Å was obtained.

Glycophorin A as an erythroid marker in normal and malignant hematopoiesis.

Glycophorin A (GpA), which is the major sialoglycoprotein on human red cells, is one of the best characterized mammalian integral membrane proteins (Marchesi et al. 1972; Tomita and Marchesi 1975). Its amino acid sequence is known. The protein molecule contains three distinct domains. A large hydrophilic portion, carrying the NH2-terminal, is located on the external surface of the red cell, and the COOH-terminal is located in the cytoplasm (Bretscher 1975) and probably interacts with peripheral proteins on the inner aspect of the membrane. These two hydrophilic sequences are connected by a hydrophobic segment of 23 amino acids which must be embedded within the lipid bilayer.KeywordsAcute Lymphocytic LeukemiaApparent Molecular WeightFetal HemoglobinMalignant HematopoiesisErythroid MarkerThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.