Serine Headgroups Research Articles

Phosphatidyl serine preconditions the A2AAR for G-protein coupling via a conserved motif on TM6 and TM7.

19F NMR of A2AAR in nanodiscs of defined composition indicates that negative charge modulates activation of the receptor. The fully active state is obtained either when bound to G-protein, or without G-protein but in a membrane environment containing negatively charged headgroups. Mutagenesis indicates that a trio of residues on the intracellular ends of TM6 and TM7 are responsible for the lipid-dependent activity. In order to determine the mechanism, a series of molecular dynamics simulations were performed. Comparison of simulations of the inactive and the active, G-protein bound state shows that a glutamic acid on the helix of the G-protein coordinates interactions between these three residues. This suggested a hypothesis in which a negatively charged headgroup can stand-in for the glutamic acid side chain, coordinating the ends of TM6 and TM7 and preconditioning the receptor for G-protein coupling. To test this idea, simulations of the fully active state were performed with and without phosphatidyl serine headgroups, but without the G-protein. Consistent with our hypothesis, the TM6 -- TM7 interactions are similar to the G-protein coupled state in the presence of PS, but similar to the inactive state in the absence of PS. Moreover, the interaction of a PS headgroup with a key residue on TM6 recapitulates the same interaction with the glutamic acid, but only when the receptor is in the active state.

Palmitic and Stearic Free Fatty Acids Are Consistently Found in Materials used for Dried Blood Spot Collection

BackgroundDried blood spotting has been used to collect samples for fatty acid analysis, particularly when access to analytical laboratories or ultra‐cold storage is limited. However, the materials used to collect dried blood spots are often contaminated with lipids and/or fatty acids.ObjectiveTo measure background/containment fatty acid and lipids on materials used to collect dried blood spots.MethodsThree materials used for dried blood spot collection that included 903 protein saver cards (Fischer Scientific, St. Louis, USA), chromatography paper cut into strips (Analtech Inc., Newark, DE), and novel Mitra Microsamplers (Neoteryx, California, USA). Blank collection materials as purchased were handled with nitrile gloves and preexisting lipids were extracted using 2:1 chloroform:methanol (v/v) solution. Lipid extracts were divided into two, with one portion for gas chromatography (GC) analysis of fatty acids and the other portion for lipidomic analyses using ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC‐MS/MS) in a quadrupole‐orbitrap system (Q‐Exactive, Thermo Scientific, New York, USA). Fatty acid methyl esters were prepared for GC analysis by direct transesterification of the lipid extracts using boron trifluoride. Lipid extracts were dried and re‐suspended in 65:35:5 acetonitrile:isopropanol:water + 0.1% formic acid and analyzed using a 47‐minute reversed‐phase UHPLC multi‐step binary protocol with top‐5 data dependent MS/MS acquisition. Samples were run twice, once under positive ESI‐MS/MS and once under negative ESI‐MS/MS to enable the identification of compounds that preferentially ionize with different polarities.ResultsGC analysis identified 0.64±0.05 μg of palmitic acid (C16:0) and 0.88±0.04 μg stearic acid (C18:0) per 6mm punch from 903 protein saver cards, 0.97±0.08 μg 16:0 and 1.43±0.16 μg 18:0 per 6mm punch of Whatman chromatography paper and 0.64±0.08 μg 16:0 and 0.88±0.10 μg 18:0 per Mitra tip. In the positive ESI‐MS/MS analyses, scanning for fragment losses of phospholipids (choline, ethanolamine, serine head groups) did not result in extracted ion chromatograms that would indicate that these compounds were present. Neutral‐loss scanning of fatty acids like palmitate and stearate in positive ESI also showed no evidence of other complex lipids such as triacylglycerols or cholesteryl esters in the blank samples. However, negative ESI‐MS/MS experiments confirmed that the palmitate and stearate that were identified using GC are found as free fatty acids and not as part of complex lipids.ConclusionsMaterials used to collect dried blood spots appear consistently contaminated with palmitic and stearic free fatty acids. GC determinations of fatty acids from dried blood spots samples need to consider this contamination and/or take steps to prewash sample collecting materials. For lipidomic analysis, these contaminants can be ignored if complex lipids and not free fatty acids are being examined.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Discovery grant (327149, to K.D.S), and an NSERC doctoral scholarship to J.J.A.H. K.D.S. is also supported by a Canada Research Chair in Nutritional Lipidomics.

Atomic view of calcium-induced clustering of phosphatidylserine in mixed lipid bilayers.

Membranes play key regulatory roles in biological processes, with bilayer composition exerting marked effects on binding affinities and catalytic activities of a number of membrane-associated proteins. In particular, proteins involved in diverse processes such as vesicle fusion, intracellular signaling cascades, and blood coagulation interact specifically with anionic lipids such as phosphatidylserine (PS) in the presence of Ca(2+) ions. While Ca(2+) is suspected to induce PS clustering in mixed phospholipid bilayers, the detailed structural effects of this ion on anionic lipids are not established. In this study, combining magic angle spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR (SSNMR) measurements of isotopically labeled serine headgroups in mixed lipid bilayers with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of PS lipid bilayers in the presence of different counterions, we provide site-resolved insights into the effects of Ca(2+) on the structure and dynamics of lipid bilayers. Ca(2+)-induced conformational changes of PS in mixed bilayers are observed in both liposomes and Nanodiscs, a nanoscale membrane mimetic of bilayer patches. Site-resolved multidimensional correlation SSNMR spectra of bilayers containing (13)C,(15)N-labeled PS demonstrate that Ca(2+) ions promote two major PS headgroup conformations, which are well resolved in two-dimensional (13)C-(13)C, (15)N-(13)C, and (31)P-(13)C spectra. The results of MD simulations performed on PS lipid bilayers in the presence or absence of Ca(2+) provide an atomic view of the conformational effects underlying the observed spectra.

Salt Tolerance of Archaeal Extremely Halophilic Lipid Membranes

The membranes of extremely halophilic Archaea are characterized by the abundance of a diacidic phospholipid, archaetidylglycerol methylphosphate (PGP-Me), which accounts for 50-80 mol% of the polar lipids, and by the absence of phospholipids with choline, ethanolamine, inositol, and serine head groups. These membranes are stable in concentrated 3-5 m NaCl solutions, whereas membranes of non-halophilic Archaea, which do not contain PGP-Me, are unstable and leaky under such conditions. By x-ray diffraction and vesicle permeability measurements, we demonstrate that PGP-Me contributes in an essential way to membrane stability in hypersaline environments. Large unilamellar vesicles (LUV) prepared from the polar lipids of extreme halophiles, Halobacterium halobium and Halobacterium salinarum, retain entrapped carboxyfluorescein and resist aggregation in the whole range 0-4 m NaCl, similarly to LUV prepared from purified PGP-Me. By contrast, LUV made of polar lipid extracts from moderately halophilic and non-halophilic Archaea (Methanococcus jannaschii, Methanosarcina mazei, Methanobrevibacter smithii) are leaky and aggregate at high salt concentrations. However, adding PGP-Me to M. mazei lipids results in gradual enhancement of LUV stability, correlating with the PGP-Me content. The LUV data are substantiated by the x-ray results, which show that H. halobium and M. mazei lipids have dissimilar phase behavior and form different structures at high NaCl concentrations. H. halobium lipids maintain an expanded lamellar structure with spacing of 8.5-9 nm, which is stable up to at least 100 degrees C in 2 m NaCl and up to approximately 60 degrees C in 4 m NaCl. However, M. mazei lipids form non-lamellar structures, represented by the Pn3m cubic phase and the inverted hexagonal H(II) phase. From these data, the forces preventing membrane aggregation in halophilic Archaea appear to be steric repulsion, because of the large head group of PGP-Me, or possibly out-of-plane bilayer undulations, rather than electrostatic repulsion attributed to the doubly charged PGP-Me head group.

Gene Transfer Efficacies of Novel Cationic Amphiphiles with Alanine, β-Alanine, and Serine Headgroups: A Structure−Activity Investigation

Herein, we report on the relative in vitro efficacies of nine novel non-glycerol based cationic amphiphiles with increasing hydrophobic tails and the amino acids serine, alanine and beta-alanine as the headgroup functionalities (lipids 1-9, Scheme 1) in transfecting multiple cultured cells including CHO, COS-1, MCF-7, and HepG2. The gene transfer efficiencies of lipids 1-9 were evaluated using the reporter gene assays in all the four cell lines and the whole cell histochemical X-gal staining assays in representative CHO cells. In CHO, HepG2, and MCF-7 cells, cationic lipids with alanine (4-6) and beta-alanine (7-9) headgroups were found to be remarkably more transfection efficient than their serine headgroup counterparts (1-3). Most notably, in CHO, HepG2, and MCF-7 cells, in combination with cholesterol as auxiliary lipid, the transfection efficiencies of the cationic lipids with alanine and beta-alanine headgroups and myristyl and palmityl tails (lipids 4, 5, 7 and 8) were significantly higher (2-3-fold) than that of LipofectAmine-2000, a widely used commercially available liposomal tranfection vectors. Surprisingly, in COS-1 cells, although cationic lipids with beta-alanine headgroups (7-9) were strikingly transfection efficient (3-4-fold more efficacious than LipofectAmine-2000), the gene transfer properties of both their structural isomers (4-6) and their serine headgroup counterparts (1-3) were adversely affected. In summary, the present structure-activity investigation demonstrate that high gene delivery efficacies of cationic amphiphiles containing alanine or beta-alanine headgroups can get seriously compromised by substituting the alanine or beta-alanine with serine presumably due to the enhanced sensitivity of DNA associated with such serine-head-containing cationic lipids.

Altering Substrate Specificity of Phosphatidylcholine-Preferring Phospholipase C of Bacillus cereus by Random Mutagenesis of the Headgroup Binding Site

PLC(Bc) is a 28.5 kDa monomeric enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of the phosphodiester bond of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine to provide a diacylglycerol and the corresponding phosphorylated headgroup. Because single replacements of Glu4, Tyr56, and Phe66 in the headgroup binding pocket led to changes in substrate specificity [Martin et al. (2000) Biochemistry 39, 3410-3415], a combinatorial library of approximately 6000 maltose binding protein-PLC(Bc) fusion protein mutants containing random permutations of these three residues was generated to identify PLC(Bc) mutants with altered specificity profiles and high catalytic activities. Members of this library were screened for hydrolytic activity toward the water soluble substrates C6PC, C6PE, and C6PS using a novel protocol that was conducted in a 96-well format and featured the in situ cleavage of the fusion protein to release the mutant PLC(Bc)s. Ten mutant enzymes that exhibited significant preferences toward C6PE or C6PS were selected and analyzed by steady-state kinetics to determine their specificity constants, k(cat)/K(M). The C6PS selective clones E4G, E4Q/Y56T/F66Y, and E4K/Y56V exhibited higher specificity constants toward C6PS than wt, whereas Y56T, F66Y, and Y56T/F66Y were C6PE selective and had comparable or higher specificity constants than wt for C6PE. The corresponding wt residues were singly reinserted back into the E4Q/Y56T/F66Y and E4K/Y56V mutants via site-directed mutagenesis, and the E4Q/F66Y mutant thus obtained exhibited a 10-fold higher specificity constant toward C6PS than wt, a value significantly higher than other PLC(Bc) mutants. On the basis of available data, an aromatic residue at position 66 appears important for significant catalytic activity toward all three substrates, especially C6PC and C6PE. The charge of residue 4 also appears to be a determinant of enzyme specificity as a negatively charged residue at this position endows the enzyme with C6PC and C6PE preference, whereas a polar neutral or positively charged residue results in C6PS selectivity. Replacing Tyr56 with Val, Ala, Thr, or Ser greatly reduces activity toward C6PC. Thus, the substrate specificity of PLC(Bc) can be modulated by varying three of the amino acid residues that constitute the headgroup binding pocket, and it is now apparent that this enzyme is not evolutionarily optimized to hydrolyze phospholipids with ethanolamine or serine headgroups.

Multiple Bilayer Dipalmitoylphosphatidylserine LB Films Stabilized with Transition Metal Ions

Langmuir−Blodgett films of dipalmitoyl-dl-α-phosphatidyl-l-serine (DPPS) have been transferred from aqueous subphases containing the 0.1 mM transition metal compounds K2PdCl4, K2PtCl4, K2Pt(CN)4, KAuCl4, and Cd[ClO4]2. This report provides a detailed description of the formation and structural characterization of the multiple bilayer films of DPPS that are formed. The films were characterized through a combination of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and solid-state 31P NMR. The results show that the films are layered, there are two types of DPPS molecule in the films, and the metals are incorporated as positive ions that bridge phospholipids by complexing amines of the serine headgroups. Water molecules likely occupy the remaining coordination sites of the metal complexes, leading to a proposed stoichiometry of [Pt(DPPS-)2(OH2)2](DPPS)4. The metal ions stabilize film formation by screening repulsive interactions betw...

Equations of state for POPX lipids at the air/water interface. A comprehensive study

We have investigated monomolecular fluid-like films of palmitoyl oleoylphosphatidyl lipids with choline, glycerol and serine head groups, respectively. Conventional Langmuir trough experiments have been evaluated towards a thermodynamic analysis applying a novel approach that was recently developed in this laboratory. Our work involves elaborate efforts to exclude possible error sources of the basic measuring parameters. By means of pertinent mass conservation plots it could then be shown that the present lipids form a practically insoluble monolayer. Relative deviations of the lateral pressure from its ideal (gaseous) value are seen to be a very pronounced linear function of the surface concentration (between 1 and about 35 mN/m). They reveal a clearly manifested Boyle point around 4 mN/m, indicating formation of aggregates in the very low pressure range. The results are discussed in terms of a rather simple quantitative formulation of the underlying equation of state including fit curves of the related partial molecular area and Gibbs free energy.

Calcium, magnesium, lithium, sodium, and potassium distributions in the headgroup region of binary membranes of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine as seen by deuterium NMR

The binding of calcium, magnesium, lithium, potassium, and sodium to membrane bilayers of 5 to 1 (M/M) 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC) and 1-palmitoyl- 2-oleoylphosphatidylserine (POPS) was investigated by using deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (2H NMR). Both lipids were deuteriated on their polar headgroups, and spectra were obtained at 25 degrees C in the liquid-crystalline phase as a function of salt concentration. The spectra obtained with calcium were correlated with 45CaCl2 binding studies to determine the effective membrane-bound calcium at low calcium binding, up to 0.78 calcium per POPS. Deuterium quadrupolar splittings of both POPC and POPS headgroups were shown to be very sensitive to calcium binding. The behavior of these two headgroups over a wide range of CaCl2 concentrations suggests that Ca2+ binding occurs in at least two steps, the first step being achieved with 0.5 M CaCl2, with a stoichiometry of 0.5 Ca2+ per POPS. Correlations of the deuterium Ca2+ binding data with related data obtained after incorporation of a cationic integral peptide showed that the effects of these two cationic molecules of the POPS headgroup are qualitatively similar, and provided further support for two-step Ca2+ binding to the POPC/POPS 5:1 membranes. The corresponding data obtained with magnesium, lithium, and potassium indicate that these cations interact with both the choline and serine headgroups. The amplitudes of headgroup perturbations could be partly correlated to the relative affinities of the metallic cations for the lipid membrane. The two-step binding described with Ca2+ appears to be relevant to the Mg2+ data, and in certain limits to the Li+ data. The data were interpreted in terms of conformational changes of the lipid headgroups induced by an electric field due to the charges of the membrane-bound metallic cations. A conformational change of the serine headgroup induced by the membrane-bound charges is proposed. We propose that the metallic cations can be differentiated on the basis of their respective spatial distribution functions relative to the choline and serine headgroups. According to this interpretation, the divalent cations Ca2+ and Mg2+ are more deeply buried in the membrane than monovalent Na+ and K+, the case of Li+ being intermediate of the latter two. This conclusion is discussed in relation to fundamental theories of the spatial distribution of ions near the interface between water and smooth charged solid surfaces.

Conformational changes of phospholipid headgroups induced by a cationic integral membrane peptide as seen by deuterium magnetic resonance

Deuterium nuclear magnetic resonance (2H NMR) was used to study the interaction of a cationic amphiphilic peptide with pure DMPC membranes and with mixed bilayers of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) and dimyristoylphosphatidylserine (DMPS). The choline and serine headgroups were selectively deuteriated at the alpha and beta positions. The amphiphilic peptide, with 20 leucine residues in the hydrophobic core and two cationic hydrophilic lysine residues at each end, spanned the lipid bilayer. Although 2H NMR experiments using DMPC with perdeuteriated fatty acyl chains showed that the average order parameter of the hydrophobic region was not significantly modified by the incorporation of the amphiphilic peptide, for either DMPC or DMPC/DMPS (5:1) bilayers, large perturbations of the quadrupolar splittings of the choline and serine headgroups were observed. The results obtained with the DMPC headgroup suggest that the incorporation of the cationic peptide in both DMPC and DMPC/DMPS (5:1) bilayers leads to a structural perturbation directly related to the net charge on the membrane surface. The magnitude of the observed effect seems to be similar to those observed previously with other cationic molecules [Seelig, J., MacDonald, P.M., & Scherer, P.G. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 7535-7541]. Two of the three quadrupolar splittings of the PS headgroup exhibited large variations in the presence of the amphiphilic peptide, while the third one remained unchanged. Our data have led us to propose a model describing the influence of membrane surface charges on headgroup conformation. In this model, the surface charge is represented as a uniform charge distribution. The electric field due to the charges produces a torque which rotates the polar headgroups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Motions and interactions of phospholipid head groups at the membrane surface. 3. Dynamic properties of amine-containing head groups.

The dynamic properties of the amine-containing head groups of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylserine, and a new phospholipid, phosphatidylserine methyl ester, were studied. Deuterium NMR spin-lattice (T1) relaxation times of deuterium labels specifically incorporated in the head groups were measured in multilamellar dispersions of these phospholipids. As a reference point, the data were compared with T1 values from a phospholipid with a simple phosphopropanol head group. In the liquid-crystalline state at both the alpha (P--O--CD2--CH) and beta (P--O--CH2--CD) head-group segments, the values of the T1 relaxation times decreased in the order propyl greater than choline greater than ethanolamine greater than serine = serine methyl ester. In the propyl and choline head groups, the beta-segment T1 values were longer than those of the alpha segment, indicating increasing flexibility as one progressed toward the free end of the head group. The ethanolamine and serine head groups had essentially identical T1 values at all positions. Phosphorus-31 NMR spin-lattice relaxation times were found to parallel the deuterium results for the neighboring alpha segment. These data indicate that the phosphatidylserine head group is less flexible than that of phosphatidylethanolamine which in turn was more rigid than the phosphatidylcholine head group. The phosphatidylserine head-group T1 values were as short as those of the glycerol backbone moiety of phosphatidylcholine which is known to be a relatively rigid section of the phospholipid molecule. The relaxation time data for liquid-crystalline phase phosphatidylserine and gel phase phosphatidylglycerol were quantitatively similar, indicating that for those motions which contribute to T1 relaxation, the two head groups are in similar states. These differences in head-group rigidity are discussed in terms of the capacity of the various head groups to bind noncovalently to their neighbors in the plane of the membrane surface.

Lipid--protein multiple binding equilibria in membranes.

Phospholipids at the lipid--protein interface of membrane proteins are in dynamic equilibrium with fluid bilayer. In order to express the number of binding sites (N) and the relative binding constants (K) in terms of measurable quantities, the equilibrium is formulated as an exchange reaction between lipid molecules competing for hydrophobic sites on the protein surface. Experimental data are reported on two integral membrane proteins, cytochrome oxidase and (Na,-K)-ATPase, reconstituted into defined phospholipids. Electron spin resonance measurements on reconstituted preparations of beef heart cytochrome oxidase in 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-3-phosphatidylcholine containing small quantities of the spin-labeled phospholipid 1-palmitoyl-2-(14-proxylstearoyl)-sn-3-phosphatidylcholine (PC*) gave a linear plot of bilayer/bound PC* vs. the lipid/protein ratio as predicted by the theory, with K congruent to 1 and N = 40 (normalized to heme aa3). This demonstrates that the spin-label moiety attached to the hydrocarbon chain does not significantly perturb the binding equilibria. In the second experimental system, (Na,K)-ATPase purified from rectal glands of Squalus acanthias was reconstituted with defined phosphatidylcholines as the lipid solvent and spin-labeled phospholipids with choline or serine head groups (PC*, PS*) as the solute. The (Na,K)-ATPase has a larger number of lipid binding or contact sites (N = 60-65 per alpha 2 beta 2 dimer) and exhibits a detectably larger average binding constant for the negatively charged phosphatidylserine than for the corresponding phosphatidylcholine. These results show that a multiple equilibria, noninteracting site binding treatment can account for the behavior of lipids exchanging between the protein surface and the lipid bilayer. Selective sites among a background of nonselective sites are experimentally detectable as a change in the measured relative binding constant.