Chiwook Park

Pulse proteolysis: a simple method for quantitative determination of protein stability and ligand binding.

Thermodynamic stability is fundamental to the biology of proteins. Information on protein stability is essential for studying protein structure and folding and can also be used indirectly to monitor protein-ligand or protein-protein interactions. While clearly valuable, the experimental determination of a proteins stability typically requires biophysical instrumentation and substantial quantities of purified protein, which has limited the use of this technique as a general laboratory method. We report here a simple new method for determining protein stability by using pulse proteolysis with varying concentrations of denaturant. Pulse proteolysis is designed to digest only the unfolded proteins in an equilibrium mixture of folded and unfolded proteins that relaxes on a time scale longer than the proteolytic pulse. We used this method to study the stabilities of Escherichia coli ribonuclease H and its variants, both in purified form and directly from cell lysates. The ΔGunf° values obtained by this technique were in agreement with those determined by traditional methods. We also successfully used this method to monitor the binding of maltose-binding protein to maltose, as well as to rapidly screen cognate ligands for this protein. The simplicity of pulse proteolysis suggests that it is an excellent strategy for the high-throughput determination of protein stability in protein engineering and drug discovery applications.

Revisiting the folding kinetics of bacteriorhodopsin

The elucidation of the physical principles that govern the folding and stability of membrane proteins is one of the greatest challenges in protein science. Several insights into the folding of α‐helical membrane proteins have come from the investigation of the conformational equilibrium of H. halobium bacteriorhodopsin (bR) in mixed micelles using SDS as a denaturant. In an effort to confirm that folded bR and SDS‐denatured bR reach the same conformational equilibrium, we found that bR folding is significantly slower than has been previously known. Interrogation of the effect of the experimental variables on folding kinetics reveals that the rate of folding is dependent not only on the mole fraction of SDS but also on the molar concentrations of mixed micelle components, a variable that was not controlled in the previous study of bR folding kinetics. Moreover, when the molar concentrations of mixed micelle components are fixed at the concentrations commonly employed for bR equilibrium studies, conformational relaxation in the transition zone is slower than hydrolysis of the retinal Schiff base. As a result, the conformational equilibrium between folded bR and SDS‐denatured bR cannot be achieved under the conventional condition. Our finding suggests that the molar concentrations of mixed micelle components are important experimental variables in the investigation of the kinetics and thermodynamics of bR folding and should be accounted for to ensure the accurate assessment of the conformational equilibrium of bR without the interference of retinal hydrolysis.

Energetics-Based Discovery of Protein-Ligand Interactions on a Proteomic Scale

Biochemical functions of proteins in cells frequently involve interactions with various ligands. Proteomic methods for the identification of proteins that interact with specific ligands such as metabolites, signaling molecules, and drugs are valuable in investigating the regulatory mechanisms of cellular metabolism, annotating proteins with unknown functions, and elucidating pharmacological mechanisms. Here we report an energetics-based target identification method in which target proteins in a cell lysate are identified by exploiting the effect of ligand binding on their stabilities. Urea-induced unfolding of proteins in cell lysates is probed by a short pulse of proteolysis, and the effect of a ligand on the amount of folded protein remaining is monitored on a proteomic scale. As proof of principle, we identified proteins that interact with ATP in the Escherichia coli proteome. Literature and database mining confirmed that a majority of the identified proteins are indeed ATP-binding proteins. Four identified proteins that were previously not known to interact with ATP were cloned and expressed to validate the result. Except for one protein, the effects of ATP on urea-induced unfolding were confirmed. Analyses of the protein sequences and structure models were also employed to predict potential ATP binding sites in the identified proteins. Our results demonstrate that this energetics-based target identification approach is a facile method to identify proteins that interact with specific ligands on a proteomic scale.

Determining protein stability in cell lysates by pulse proteolysis and Western blotting

Proteins require proper conformational energetics to fold and to function correctly. Despite the importance of having information on conformational energetics, the investigation of thermodynamic stability has been limited to proteins, which can be easily expressed and purified. Many biologically important proteins are not suitable for conventional biophysical investigation because of the difficulty of expression and purification. As an effort to overcome this limitation, we have developed a method to determine the thermodynamic stability of low abundant proteins in cell lysates. Previously, it was demonstrated that protein stability can be determined quantitatively by measuring the fraction of folded proteins with a pulse of proteolysis (Pulse proteolysis). Here, we show that thermodynamic stability of low abundant proteins can be determined reliably in cell lysates by combining pulse proteolysis with quantitative Western blotting (Pulse and Western). To demonstrate the reliability of this method, we determined the thermodynamic stability of recombinant human H‐ras added to lysates of E. coli and human Jurkat T cells. Comparison with the thermodynamic stability determined with pure H‐ras revealed that Pulse and Western is a reliable way to monitor protein stability in cell lysates and the stability of H‐ras is not affected by other proteins present in cell lysates. This method allows the investigation of conformational energetics of proteins in cell lysates without cloning, purification, or labeling.

Simplified proteomics approach to discover protein–ligand interactions

Identifying targets of biologically active small molecules is an essential but still challenging task in drug research and chemical genetics. Energetics‐based target identification is an approach that utilizes the change in the conformational stabilities of proteins upon ligand binding in order to identify target proteins. Different from traditional affinity‐based capture approaches, energetics‐based methods do not require any labeling or immobilization of the test molecule. Here, we report a surprisingly simple version of energetics‐based target identification, which only requires ion exchange chromatography, SDS PAGE, and minimal use of mass spectrometry. The complexity of a proteome is reduced through fractionation by ion exchange chromatography. Urea‐induced unfolding of proteins in each fraction is then monitored by the significant increase in proteolytic susceptibility upon unfolding in the presence and the absence of a ligand. Proteins showing a different degree of unfolding with the ligand are identified by SDS PAGE followed by mass spectrometry. Using this approach, we identified ATP‐binding proteins in the Escherichia coli proteome. In addition to known ATP‐binding proteins, we also identified a number of proteins that were not previously known to interact with ATP. To validate one such finding, we cloned and purified phosphoglyceromutase, which was not previously known to bind ATP, and confirmed that ATP indeed stabilizes this protein. The combination of fractionation and pulse proteolysis offers an opportunity to investigate protein–drug or protein–metabolite interactions on a proteomic scale with minimal instrumentation and without modification of a molecule of interest.

Investigating protein unfolding kinetics by pulse proteolysis

Investigation of protein unfolding kinetics of proteins in crude samples may provide many exciting opportunities to study protein energetics under unconventional conditions. As an effort to develop a method with this capability, we employed “pulse proteolysis” to investigate protein unfolding kinetics. Pulse proteolysis has been shown to be an effective and facile method to determine global stability of proteins by exploiting the difference in proteolytic susceptibilities between folded and unfolded proteins. Electrophoretic separation after proteolysis allows monitoring protein unfolding without protein purification. We employed pulse proteolysis to determine unfolding kinetics of E. coli maltose binding protein (MBP) and E. coli ribonuclease H (RNase H). The unfolding kinetic constants determined by pulse proteolysis are in good agreement with those determined by circular dichroism. We then determined an unfolding kinetic constant of overexpressed MBP in a cell lysate. An accurate unfolding kinetic constant was successfully determined with the unpurified MBP. Also, we investigated the effect of ligand binding on unfolding kinetics of MBP using pulse proteolysis. On the basis of a kinetic model for unfolding of MBP•maltose complex, we have determined the dissociation equilibrium constant (Kd) of the complex from unfolding kinetic constants, which is also in good agreement with known Kd values of the complex. These results clearly demonstrate the feasibility and the accuracy of pulse proteolysis as a quantitative probe to investigate protein unfolding kinetics.

Revisiting absorbance at 230 nm as a protein unfolding probe

Thermodynamic stability and unfolding kinetics of proteins are typically determined by monitoring protein unfolding with spectroscopic probes, such as circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence. UV absorbance at 230nm (A(230)) is also known to be sensitive to protein conformation. However, its feasibility for quantitative analysis of protein energetics has not been assessed. Here we evaluate A(230) as a structural probe to determine thermodynamic stability and unfolding kinetics of proteins. By using Escherichia coli maltose binding protein (MBP) and E. coli ribonuclease H (RNase H) as our model proteins, we monitored their unfolding in urea and guanidinium chloride with A(230). Significant changes in A(230) were observed with both proteins on unfolding in the chemical denaturants. The global stabilities were successfully determined by measuring the change in A(230) in varying concentrations of denaturants. Also, unfolding kinetics was investigated by monitoring the change in A(230) under denaturing conditions. The results were quite consistent with those determined by CD. Unlike CD, A(230) allowed us to monitor protein unfolding in a 96-well microtiter plate with a UV plate reader. Our finding suggests that A(230) is a valid and convenient structural probe to determine thermodynamic stability and unfolding kinetics of proteins with many potential applications.

Quantitative Determination of Protein Stability and Ligand Binding by Pulse Proteolysis

Pulse proteolysis exploits the difference in proteolytic susceptibility between folded and unfolded proteins for facile but quantitative determination of protein stability. The method requires only common biochemistry and molecular biology lab equipment. Pulse proteolysis also can be used to determine the affinity of a ligand to its protein target by monitoring the change in protein stability upon ligand binding. The Basic Protocol describes the detailed procedure for determining protein stability using pulse proteolysis. For pulse proteolysis to be used for determining a proteins stability, the protein should not be digested significantly by pulse proteolysis when it is in the folded conformation. The Support Protocol describes a procedure for determining whether a protein satisfies this requirement. The principles of protein stability determination using denaturant and pulse proteolysis are also discussed.

Analysis of the stability of multimeric proteins by effective ΔG and effective m‐values

Analyzing the stability of a multimeric protein is challenging because of the intrinsic difficulty in handling the mathematical model for the folded multimer‐unfolded monomer equilibrium. To circumvent this problem, we introduce the concept of effective stability, ΔGeff (= −RTlnKeff), where Keff is the equilibrium constant expressed in monomer units. Analysis of the denaturant effect on ΔGeff gives new insight into the stability of multimeric proteins. When a multimeric protein is mostly folded, the dependence of effective stability on denaturant concentration (effective m‐value) is simply the m‐value of its monomeric unit. However, when the protein is mostly unfolded, its stability depends on denaturant concentration with the m‐value of its multimeric form. We also find that the effective m‐value at the Cm is a good approximation of the apparent m‐value determined by fitting the equilibrium unfolding data from multimeric proteins with a two‐state monomer model. Moreover, when the m‐value of a monomeric unit is estimated from its size, the effective stability of a multimeric protein can be determined simply from Cm and this estimated m‐value. These simple and intuitive approaches will allow a facile analysis of the stability of multimeric proteins. These analyses are also applicable for high‐throughput analysis of protein stability on a proteomic scale.

Bacteriorhodopsin Folds through a Poorly Organized Transition State

The folding mechanisms of helical membrane proteins remain largely uncharted. Here we characterize the kinetics of bacteriorhodopsin folding and employ φ-value analysis to explore the folding transition state. First, we developed and confirmed a kinetic model that allowed us to assess the rate of folding from SDS-denatured bacteriorhodopsin (bRU) and provides accurate thermodynamic information even under influence of retinal hydrolysis. Next, we obtained reliable φ-values for 16 mutants of bacteriorhodopsin with good coverage across the protein. Every φ-value was less than 0.4, indicating the transition state is not uniquely structured. We suggest that the transition state is a loosely organized ensemble of conformations.