Jesse Ybarra

Refolding and Reassembly of Active Chaperonin GroEL After Denaturation

Conditions are reported that, for the first time, permit the folding and assembly of active chaperonin, GroEL, following denaturation in 8 M urea. The folding could be achieved by dilution or dialysis, and the best yields required the simultaneous presence of ammonium sulfate and the Mg complexes of ATP or ADP. Ammonium sulfate was the key to this particular protocol, since there was a small recovery of oligomer in its presence, but no detectable recovery was induced by ATP or ADP without ammonium sulfate. The refolded/reassembled GroEL could arrest the spontaneous folding of rhodanese, and it could participate in the chaperonin-assisted refolding of rhodanese as effectively as GroEL that had never been unfolded. The results demonstrate that the primary sequence of GroEL contains the information required for its folding, assembly, and function. Thus, in contrast to previous studies, although chaperonins may facilitate GroEL folding, they are not necessary for the acquisition of the functional oligomeric state of this chaperone. This ability to fold denatured GroEL in vitro will facilitate studies of the influences that determine the interesting folding pattern adopted by the native protein.

Conditions for Nucleotide-dependent GroES-GroEL Interactions GroEL14(GroES7)2 IS FAVORED BY AN ASYMMETRIC DISTRIBUTION OF NUCLEOTIDES

A still unresolved question regarding the mechanism of chaperonin-assisted protein folding involves the stoichiometry of the GroEL-GroES complex. This is important, because the activities of the Escherichia coli chaperonin GroEL are modulated by the cochaperonin GroES. In this report, the binding of GroES to highly purified GroEL in the presence of ATP, ADP, and the nonhydrolyzable ATP analogue, 5′-adenylyl β,γ-imidodiphosphate (AMP-PNP), was investigated by using the fluorescence anisotropy of succinimidyl-1-pyrenebutyrate-labeled GroES. In the presence of Mg2+-ATP and high [KCl] (10 mm), two GroES7 rings bind per one GroEL14. In contrast, in the presence of ADP or AMP-PNP only one molecule of oligomeric GroES can be tightly bound by GroEL. With AMP-PNP, binding of a small amount (<20%) of a second GroES can be detected. In the presence of ADP alone, a second GroES ring can bind to GroEL weakly and with negative cooperativity. Strikingly, addition of AMP-PNP to the solution containing preformed GroEL14(GroES7) complexes formed in the presence of ADP results in an increase in the fluorescence anisotropy. Analysis of this effect indicates that 2 mol of GroES oligomer can be bound in the presence of mixed nucleotides. A similar conclusion follows from studies in which ADP is added to an GroEL14 (GroES7) complex formed in the presence of AMP-PNP. This is the first demonstration of an asymmetric distribution of nucleotides bound on the 1:2 GroEL14 (GroES7)2 complex. The relation of the observed phenomena to the proposed mechanism of the GroEL function is discussed.

ATP Hydrolysis Is Critical for Induction of Conformational Changes in GroEL That Expose Hydrophobic Surfaces

The degree of hydrophobic exposure in the molecular chaperone GroEL during its cycle of ATP hydrolysis was analyzed using 1,1′-bis(4-anilino)naphthalene-5,5′disulfonic acid (bisANS), a hydrophobic probe, whose fluorescence is highly sensitive to the environment. In the presence of 10 mM MgCl2 and 10 mM KCl the addition of ATP, but not ADP or AMP-PNP, resulted in a time-dependent, linear increase in the bisANS fluorescence. The rate of the increase in the bisANS fluorescence depended on the concentrations of both GroEL and the probe. The effect could be substantially inhibited by addition of excess ADP or by converting ATP to ADP using hexokinase, showing that the increase in the bisANS fluorescence was correlated with ATP hydrolysis. The rate of ATP hydrolysis catalyzed by GroEL was uncompetitively inhibited in the presence of bisANS. This uncompetitive inhibition suggests that the probe can interact with the GroEL-ATP complex. The inability of the nonhydrolyzable ATP analog, AMP-PNP, to cause a similar effect is explained by the interaction of bisANS with a transient conformational state of GroEL formed consequent to ATP hydrolysis. It is suggested that this short lived hydrophobic exposure reflects a conformational shift in GroEL that results from electrostatic repulsion between the bound products of ATP hydrolysis, and it plays an important role in the mechanism of the chaperonin cycle.

Nucleotides Reveal Polynucleotide Phosphorylase Activity from Conventionally Purified GroEL

GroEL, as conventionally purified, can be incubated with nucleotides to produce high molecular weight material with an absorption maximum at 260 nm. This material is most clearly demonstrated when samples are subjected to gel filtration under conditions where GroEL is monomeric. There is a time-dependent increase in the high molecular weight material that occurs on incubation with ADP or, more slowly, with ATP. This material is generated during incubation, and none is present in the initial samples. Experiments with nucleases, proteases, radiolabeled nucleotides, and chemical cleavage reagents demonstrate that the high molecular weight material is polyadenylic acid whose formation is inhibited by phosphate. These results are consistent with the GroEL samples containing polynucleotide phosphorylase activity. Nondenaturing gels stained with acridine orange, after incubation in ADP, reveal that the activity producing the poly(A) coelectrophoreses with authentic polynucleotide phosphorylase. Conditions that remove the tryptophan-like fluorescence from preparations of GroEL also remove the PNPase activity. Thus, this activity is not associated with GroEL itself. The results are consistent with reports that GroEL can associate with RNase E and with other studies showing that RNase E and PNPase can form complexes. Thus, the present experiments support suggestions that GroEL can participate in multiprotein complexes that are involved in mRNA processing and degradation.

Active rhodanese lacking nonessential sulfhydryl groups contains an unstable C-terminal domain and can be bound, inactivated, and reactivated by GroEL.

Mutation of all nonessential cysteine residues in rhodanese turns the enzyme into a form (C3S) that is fully active but less stable than wild type (WT). This less stable mutant allowed testing of two hypotheses; (a) the two domains of rhodanese are differentially stable, and (b) the chaperonin GroEL can bind better to less stable proteins. Reduced temperatures during expression and purification were required to limit inclusion bodies and obtain usable quantities of soluble C3S. C3S and WT have the same secondary structures by circular dichroism. C3S, in the absence of the substrate thiosulfate, is cleaved by trypsin to give a stable 21-kDa species. With thiosulfate, C3S is resistant to proteolysis. In contrast, wild type rhodanese is not proteolyzed significantly under any of the experimental conditions used here. Mass spectrometric analysis of bands from SDS gels of digested C3S indicated that the C-terminal domain of C3S was preferentially digested. Active C3S can exist in a state(s) recognized by GroEL, and it displays additional accessibility of tryptophans to acrylamide quenching. Unlike WT, the sulfur-loaded mutant form (C3S-ES) shows slow inactivation in the presence of GroEL. Both WT and C3S lacking transferred sulfur (WT-E and C3S-E) become inactivated. Inactivation is not due to irreversible covalent modification, since GroEL can reactivate both C3S-E and WT-E in the presence of GroES and ATP. C3S-E can be reactivated to 100%, the highest reactivation observed for any form of rhodanese. These results suggest that inactivation of C3S-E or WT-E is due to formation of an altered, labile conformation accessible from the native state. This conformation cannot as easily be achieved in the presence of the substrate, thiosulfate.