Inca Ghosh

Zinc Inhibition of Protein trans-Splicing and Identification of Regions Essential for Splicing and Association of a Split Intein*

Two important aspects of protein splicing were investigated by employing the trans-splicing intein from the dnaE gene of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. First, we demonstrated that both protein splicing and cleavage at the N-terminal splice junction were inhibited in the presence of zinc ion. The trans-splicing reaction was partially blocked at a concentration of 1–10 μm Zn2+ and completely inhibited at 100 μm Zn2+; the inhibition by zinc was reversed in the presence of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. We propose that inactivation of Cys160 at the C-terminal splice junction by the chelation of zinc affects both the N-S acyl rearrangement and the transesterification steps in the splicing pathway. Furthermore,in vivo and in vitro assays were established for the determination of intein residues and regions required for splicing or association between the N- and C-terminal intein halves. N-terminal truncation of the intein C-terminal segment inhibited both splicing and association activities, suggesting this region is crucial for the formation of an interface between the two intein halves. The replacement of conserved residues in blocks B and F with alanine abolished splicing but allowed for association. This is the first evidence showing that the conserved residues in block F are required for protein splicing.

Site-Specific Protein Labeling by Intein-Mediated Protein Ligation

Intein-mediated protein ligation (IPL) employs an intein to create a protein possessing a C-terminal thioester that can be ligated to a protein or peptide with an amino-terminal cysteine via a native peptide bond. Here we present a procedure to conduct isolation and labeling of recombinant proteins expressed in E. coli using synthetic short peptides possessing a fluorescent moiety. This approach can be readily utilized for site-specific conjugation of a fluorophore to the C-terminus of a protein of interest, without the drawback of non-specific chemical labeling. This chapter also gives a general review of the critical parameters of intein-mediated cleavage and ligation reactions.

Producing peptide arrays for epitope mapping by intein-mediated protein ligation

Peptide arrays are increasingly used to define antibody epitopes and substrate specificities of protein kinases. Their use is hampered, however, by ineffective and variable binding efficiency of peptides, which often results in low sensitivity and inconsistent results. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a novel method for making arrays of synthetic peptides on various membranes after ligating the peptide substrates to an intein-generated carrier protein. We have conducted screening for optimal carrier proteins by immunoreactivity and direct assessment of binding using a peptide derivatized at a lysine sidechain with fluorescein, CDPEK(fluorescein)DS. Ligation of a synthetic peptide antigen to a carrier protein, HhaI methylase, resulted in an improved retention of peptides and an increased sensitivity of up to 10(4)-fold in immunoassay- and epitope-scanning experiments. Denaturing the ligation products with 2% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or an organic solvent (20% methanol) prior to arraying did not significantly affect the immunoreactivity of the HhaI methylase-peptide product. Because the carrier protein dominates the binding of ligation products and contains one peptide reactive site, the amount of peptide arrayed onto the membranes can be effectively normalized. This technique was utilized in the alanine scanning of hemagglutinin (HA) antigen using two monoclonal antibodies, resulting in distinguishing the different antigen epitope profiles. Furthermore, we show that this method can be used to characterize the antibodies that recognize phosphorylated peptides. This novel approach allows for synthetic peptides to be uniformly arrayed onto membranes, compatible with a variety of applications.

Western blot analysis of Src kinase assays using peptide substrates ligated to a carrier protein

We have applied intein-mediated peptide ligation (IPL) to the use of peptide substrates for kinase assays and subsequent Western blot analysis. IPL allows for the efficient ligation of a synthetic peptide with an N-terminal cysteine residue to an intein-generated carrier protein containing a cysteine reactive C-terminal thioester through a native peptide bond. A distinct advantage of this procedure is that each carrier protein molecule ligates only one peptide, ensuring that the ligation product forms a sharp band on sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). We demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach by mutational analysis of peptide substrates derived from human cyclin-dependent kinase, Cdc2, which contains a phosphorylation site of human c-Src protein tyrosine kinase.

Use of intein-mediated phosphoprotein arrays to study substrate specificity of protein phosphatases

Synthetic peptides incorporating various chemical moieties, for example, phosphate groups, are convenient tools for investigating protein modification enzymes, such as protein phosphatases (PPs). However, short peptides are sometimes poor substrates, and their binding to commonly used matrices is unpredictable and variable. In general, protein substrates for PPs are superior for enzymatic assays, binding to various matrices, and Western blot analysis. The preparation and characterization of phosphoproteins, however can be difficult and technically demanding. In this study, the intein-mediated protein ligation (IPL) technique was used to readily generate phosphorylated protein substrates by ligating a synthetic phosphopeptide to an intein-generated carrier protein (CP) possessing a carboxyl-terminal thioester with a one-to-one stoichiometry. The ligated phosphoprotein (LPP) substrate was treated with a PP and subsequently subjected to array or Western blot analysis with a phospho-specific antibody. This approach is highly effective in producing arrays of protein substrates containing phosphorylated amino acid residues and has been applied for screening of PPs with specificity toward phosphorylated tyrosine, serine, or threonine residues, resulting in an approximately 240-fold increase in sensitivity in dot blot analysis compared with the use of synthetic peptides. The IPL technique overcomes the disadvantages of current methods and is a versatile system for the facile production of protein substrates containing well-defined structural motifs for the study of protein modification enzymes.

Fluorescent Site-Specific Labeling of Escherichia coli Expressed Proteins with Sfp Phosphopantetheinyl Transferase

Fluorescent tagging of proteins has become a critical step in optical analysis of protein function in vitro and in living cells. Here we describe a two-tag system for expression and isolation of a protein of interest from Escherichia coli and subsequent site-specific fluorescent labeling with Sfp phosphopantetheinyl transferase (Sfp synthase). In the example presented, adenoviral protein E3-14.7 K (E14.7) was expressed as a tripartite fusion protein with a fluorophore-targeting peptide tag and a chitin-binding domain. This system allows for rapid isolation of the recombinant fusion protein from crude bacterial cell lysate via a single chitin column. Sfp synthase-mediated labeling with fluorophore conjugated to coenzyme A-SH (CoA-SH) resulted in covalent attachment of a fluorescent dye to a specific residue of the peptide tag via a phosphopantetheinyl linker. The fluorescently labeled E14.7 fusion protein was analyzed with a fluorescence imager and subsequently transfected into mammalian cells for imaging with a fluorescence microscope.

Intein-Mediated Peptide Arrays for Epitope Mapping and Kinase/Phosphatase Assays

Synthetic peptides are widely used for production and analysis of antibodies as well as in the study of protein modification enzymes. To circumvent the technical challenges of the existing techniques regarding peptide quantization and normalization, a new method of producing peptide arrays has been developed. This approach utilizes intein-mediated protein ligation that involves linkage of a carrier protein possessing a reactive carboxyl-terminal thioester to a peptide with an amino-terminal cysteine through a native peptide bond. Ligated protein substrates or enzyme-treated samples are arrayed on nitrocellulose membranes with a standard dot-blot apparatus and analyzed by immunoassay. This technique has improved sensitivity and reproducibility, and is suitable for various peptide-based applications. In this report, several experimental procedures including epitope mapping and the study of protein modifications were described.