Purification Of Integral Membrane Proteins Research Articles

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum as a novel platform for production and purification of integral membrane proteins using RseP as the benchmark

The present study describes a detailed procedure for expressing and purifying the integral membrane protein RseP using the pSIP system and Lactiplantibacillus plantarum as an expression host. RseP is a membrane-bound site-2-protease and a known antibacterial target in multiple human pathogens. In the present study, we screened five RseP orthologs from Gram-positive bacteria and found RseP from Enterococcus faecium (EfmRseP) to yield the highest protein levels. The production conditions were optimized and EfmRseP was purified by immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography followed by size-exclusion chromatography. The purification resulted in an overall yield of approximately 1 mg of pure protein per 3 g of wet-weight cell pellet. The structural integrity of the purified protein was confirmed using circular dichroism. We further assessed the expression and purification of RseP from E. faecium in the Gram-negative Escherichia coli. Detection of soluble protein failed in two of the three E. coli strains tested. Purification of EfmRseP expressed in E. coli C43(DE3) resulted in a protein with lower purity compared to EfmRseP expressed in L. plantarum. To our knowledge, this is the first time L. plantarum and the pSIP expression system have been applied for the production of membrane proteins.

Solving the Membrane Protein Expression Problem

The expression and purification of integral membrane proteins remains a major bottleneck in the characterization of this important class. Expression levels are currently unpredictable, which renders the pursuit of these targets challenging and highly inefficient. Evidence demonstrates that small changes in the nucleotide or amino-acid sequence can dramatically affect membrane protein biogenesis; yet these observations have not resulted in generalizable approaches to improve expression. In this talk, I will present two different but related approaches we have used to address this issue. For the first, using as a model system the protein TatC, we monitor the effect of sequence changes on experimentally observed expression levels demonstrating a strong correlation with the simulated integration efficiency obtained from coarse-grained modeling, which is directly confirmed using an in vivo assay. For the second, we develop a computational model that predicts membrane protein expression in E. coli directly from sequence. The model, trained on experimental data, combines a set of sequence-derived variables resulting in a score that predicts the likelihood of expression. The overall outcome are tools that will enable further investigation of these difficult to study proteins.

A Rapid and Efficient Luminescence-based Method for Assaying Phosphoglycosyltransferase Enzymes.

Phosphoglycosyltransferases (PGTs) are families of integral membrane proteins with intriguingly diverse architectures. These enzymes function to initiate many important biosynthetic pathways including those leading to peptidoglycan, N-linked glycoproteins and lipopolysaccharide O-antigen. In spite of tremendous efforts, characterization of these enzymes remains a challenge not only due to the inherent difficulties associated with the purification of integral membrane proteins but also due to the limited availability of convenient assays. Current PGT assays include radioactivity-based methods, which rely on liquid-liquid or solid-liquid extractions, multienzyme systems linked to lactate dehydrogenase and NAD+ generation, and HPLC-based approaches, all of which may suffer from low sensitivity and low throughput. Herein, we present the validation of a new luminescence-based assay (UMP-Glo) for measuring activities of PGT enzymes. This assay measures UMP, the by-product of PGT reactions, in a sensitive and quantitative manner by measuring the luminescence output in a discontinuous coupled assay system. The assay is rapid and robust in nature, and also compatible with microtiter plate formats. Activity and kinetic parameters of PglC, a PGT from Campylobacter jejuni, were quickly established using this assay. The efficacy of the assay was further corroborated using two different PGTs; PglC from Helicobacter pullorum and WecA from Thermatoga maritima.

A novel and simple method of production and biophysical characterization of a mini‐membrane protein, Ost4p: A Subunit of yeast oligosaccharyl transferase

Asparagine-linked glycosylation is an essential and highly conserved protein modification reaction. In eukaryotes, oligosaccharyl transferase (OT), a multi-subunit membrane-associated enzyme complex, catalyzes this reaction in newly synthesized proteins. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, OT consists of nine nonidentical membrane proteins. Ost4p, the smallest subunit, bridges the catalytic subunit Stt3p with Ost3p. Mutation of transmembrane residues 18-24 in Ost4p has negative effect on OT activity, disrupts the Stt3p-Ost4p-Ost3p complex, results in temperature-sensitive phenotype, and hypoglycosylation. Heterologous expression and purification of integral membrane proteins are the bottleneck in membrane protein research. The authors report the cloning, successful overexpression and purification of recombinant Ost4p with a novel but simple method producing milligram quantities of pure protein. GB1 protein was found to be the most suitable tag for the large scale production of Ost4p. The cleavage of Ost4p conveniently leaves GB1 protein in solution eliminating further purification. The precipitated pure Ost4p is reconstituted in appropriate membrane mimetic. The recombinant protein is highly helical as indicated by the far-UV CD spectrum. The well-dispersed heteronuclear single quantum coherence spectrum indicates that this minimembrane protein is well-folded. The successful production of pure recombinant Ost4p with a novel yet simple method may have important ramification for the production of other membrane proteins.

MBP fusion protein with a viral protease cleavage site: one-step cleavage/purification of insoluble proteins.

MBP fusion protein with a viral protease cleavage site: one-step cleavage/purification of insoluble proteins.

Affinity partitioning of a poly(histidine)-tagged integral membrane protein, cytochrome bo3 ubiquinol oxidase, in a detergent–polymer aqueous two-phase system containing metal-chelating polymer

A system has been developed for selective partitioning of membrane proteins. For the first time, an integral membrane protein, cytochrome bo 3 ubiquinol oxidase from Escherichia coli, has been affinity partitioned in an aqueous two-phase system. The systems used were different detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems containing a metal-chelating polymer, such as poly(ethyleneglycol)–iminodiacetic acid–Cu(II) as well as dextran–iminodiacetic acid–Cu(II). Many non-ionic detergents, such as alkyl(polyethyleneoxide) (C mEO n), Triton, Tween and alkylglucosides, form two-phase systems in mixture with polymers, such as dextran and poly(ethyleneglycol), i.e., a micelle-enriched phase in equilibrium with a polymer-enriched phase are formed. In general, membrane proteins partition strongly to the micelle phase. We show that it is possible to selectively partition a poly(histidine)-tagged integral membrane protein into the polymer phase by metal affinity partitioning, with a shift in the partitioning coefficient from 0.015 to 4.8 (300-fold). The affinity partitioning was characterized and the effects of ligand concentration, pH, time, salts, buffer type, imidazole and charged detergent are discussed. Thus, a fast and mild affinity procedure for the purification of integral membrane proteins can be developed in affinity detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems, and the method is especially suitable for the purification of labile integral membrane proteins, such as receptors.

Mechanisms of phase behaviour and protein partitioning in detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems for purification of integral membrane proteins

Detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems are studied as a fast, mild and efficient general separation method for isolation of labile integral membrane proteins. Mechanisms for phase behaviour and protein partitioning of both membrane-bound and hydrophilic proteins have been examined in a large number of detergent/polymer aqueous two-phase systems. Non-ionic detergents such as the Triton series (polyoxyethylene alkyl phenols), alkyl polyoxyethylene ethers (C m EO n ), Tween series (polyoxyethylene sorbitol esters) and alkylglucosides form aqueous two-phase systems in mixtures with hydrophilic polymers, such as PEG or dextran, at low and moderate temperatures. Phase diagrams for these mixtures are shown and phase behaviour is discussed from a thermodynamic model. Membrane proteins, such as bacteriorhodopsin and cholesterol oxidase, were partitioned strongly to the micelle phase, while hydrophilic proteins, BSA and lysozyme, were partitioned to the polymer phase. The partitioning of membrane protein is mainly determined by non-specific hydrophobic interactions between detergent and membrane protein. An increased partitioning of membrane proteins to the micelle phase was found with an increased detergent concentration difference between the phases, lower polymer molecular weight and increased micelle size. Partitioning of hydrophilic proteins is mainly related to excluded volume effects, i.e. increased phase component size made the hydrophilic proteins partition more to the opposite phase. Addition of ionic detergent to the system changed the partitioning of membrane proteins slightly, but had a strong effect on hydrophilic proteins, and can be used for enhanced separation between hydrophilic proteins and membrane protein.

Detergent extraction of herpes simplex virus type 1 glycoprotein D by zwitterionic and non-ionic detergents and purification by ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography

Detergents (surfactants) are the key reagents in the extraction and purification of integral membrane proteins. Zwitterionic and non-ionic detergents were used for the extraction of recombinant glycoprotein D (gD-1) of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) from insect cells infected with recombinant baculovirus. The highest yield was obtained with the two alkyl carboxybetaine detergents ( N-dodecyl- N, N-dimethylammonio)undecanoate [DDMAU, critical micelle concentration (CMC)=0.13 m M] and ( N-dodecyl- N, N-dimethylammonio)butyrate (DDMAB, CMC=4.3 m M). Therefore these zwitterionic detergents were used as additives to the elution buffers in ion-exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPIEC) to purify gD-1 of HSV-1 from the extracts. The non-ionic detergent pentaethyleneglycol monodecyl ether (C 10E 5) that was used in earlier studies [R.A. Damhof, M. Feijlbrief, S. Welling-Wester, G.W. Welling, J. Chromatogr. A, 676 (1994) 43] was used for comparison. Two columns were used, Mono Q and Resource Q, at 1 and 5 ml/min flow-rates, respectively. The results show that the detergents DDMAU and C 10E 5 are superior to DDMAB, when the detergents were used as additives to the elution buffers at 0.2% (w/v). With 0.2% DDMAB in the eluent, purification of HSV gD-1 was not possible. Detergents with a high CMC may be less suitable as additives in elution buffers. HPIEC at flow-rates of 1 and at 5 ml/min showed satisfactory results. At 5 ml/min HSV gD-1 was mainly concentrated in two eluent fractions. The highest recovery of gD-1 was obtained either by chromatography of a C 10E 5 extract using a Mono Q column at a flow-rate of 1 ml/min or by chromatography of a DDMAU extract using a Resource Q column at a flow-rate of 5 ml/min.

Application of high-performance liquid chromatography to the purification of the putative intestinal peptide transporter

A membrane protein of relative molecular mass ( M r) 127 000 was identified by photoaffinity labelling as (a component of) the uptake system for small peptides and β-lactam antibiotics in rabbit small intestine. This binding protein is a microheterogeneous glycosylated integral membrane protein which could be solubilized with non-ionic detergents and enriched by lectin affinity chromatography on wheat germ lectin agarose. For the final purification of this protein and separation from aminopeptidase N of M r 127 000, fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) was used. Gel permeation, hydroxyapatite and hydrophobic interaction chromatography were not successful for the purification of the 127 000-dalton binding protein. By anion-exchange chromatography on a Mono Q column with either Triton X-100 or n-octylglucoside as detergent, a partial separation of the 127 000-dalton binding protein from aminopeptidase N was achieved. By cation-exchange chromatography on a Mono S HR 5 5 column at pH 4.5 using Triton X-100 as detergent also only a partial separation from aminopeptidase N could be achieved. If, however, Triton X-100 was replaced with n-octylglucoside, the binding protein for β-lactam antibiotics and small peptides of M r 127 000 could be completely separated from aminopeptidase N. These results indicate that Triton X-100 should be avoided for the purification of integral membrane proteins because mixed protein-detergent micelles of high molecular weight prevent a separation into the individual membrane proteins. The putative peptide transport protein was finally purified by rechromatography on Mono S and was obtained more than 95% pure as determined densitometrically after sodium dodecyl sulphate gel electrophoresis. By application of FPLC even microheterogeneous membrane glycoproteins from the intestinal mucosa can be purified to such an extent that a sequence analysis and immunohistochemical localization with antibodies prepared from the purified protein is possible.

Immunoblotting analysis of the major integral membrane protein antigens of Schistosoma japonicum

Triton X-114 has been employed to isolate integral membrane proteins from Schistosoma japonicum and Schistosoma mansoni adult worms. Suitable marker molecules and antisera directed or raised against schistosome proteins partitioned by Triton X-114 extraction indicated that the phase separation and purification of integral membrane proteins had been successful and this fraction was free of contamination with aqueous (soluble) or secretory antigens. Two dimensional immunoblots further exemplified differences between antigens in the integral membrane protein extract and those of the aqueous fraction. Seven S. japonicum integral membrane proteins have been identified on immunoblots by serum from a hyperimmune and an infected rabbit and by sera from Philippine patients with a history of schistosomiasis japonica. Integral membrane proteins of S. mansoni and S. japonicum had surprisingly little conformity in the molecular weights and electrophoretic mobilities between the two species.

18] Purification of integral membrane proteins

18] Purification of integral membrane proteins

Isolation of rhodopsin by the combined action of cardiotoxin and phospholipase A2 on rod outer segment membranes

Freeze-fracture electron microscopy was used to follow morphological changes induced by Naja mossambica mossambica venom V4II cardiotoxin in rod outer segment membrane preparations. The extent of the morphological changes depended on the purity of the cardiotoxin. Pure cardiotoxin had no detectable effect upon the preparation, but, when contaminated with venom phospholipase A2, let to a rapid disintegration of the membrane vesicles. With trace amounts (up to about 0.5% of the cardiotoxin) of phospholipase A2, the membrane vesicles disintegrated into smooth lamellae and particles in solution. These two components were separated by centrifugation. The pellet, which showed the presence of smooth lamellae and aggregated particles, was composed of unbleached rhodopsin, initial membrane lipids, lysolipids and cardiotoxin. The supernatant, which showed only the presence of dispersed particles, was composed of unbleached rhodopsin, lysolipids and cardiotoxin. With cardiotoxin containing larger amounts of phospholipase A2 (more than 0.5% of the cardiotoxin), membrane vesicles were disintegrated into large aggregates of amorphous material, composed of bleached rhodopsin, initial membrane lipids, lysolipids and cardiotoxin. These results confirm our previous observation on the release of integral membrane proteins from membrane vesicles by the action of cardiotoxin containing traces of phospholipase A2 (Gulik-Krzywicki, T., Balerna, M., Vincent, J.P. and Lazdunski, M. (1981) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 643, 101–114) and suggest its possible use for isolation and purification of integral membrane proteins.