Philip D. Laible

Glycotripod Amphiphiles for Solubilization and Stabilization of a Membrane-Protein Superassembly: Importance of Branching in the Hydrophilic Portion

Intrinsic membrane proteins must usually be extracted from the native membrane with the aid of synthetic amphiphiles and then stabilized in a soluble form before detailed structural and functional characterization is possible. We describe new amphiphiles with unusual architectures that are useful for extraction and stabilization of photosynthetic protein superassemblies from bacterial membranes. Our results suggest that incorporating branch points in both the hydrophilic and lipophilic portions can lead to favorable amphiphile behavior.

Sequences of versatile broad-host-range vectors of the RK2 family.

Plasmid pRK404-a smaller derivative of RK2-is a tetracycline-resistant broad-host-range vector that carries a multiple cloning site and the lacZ(alpha) peptide that enables blue/white selection for cloned inserts in Escherichia coli. We present herein the complete and annotated sequence of pRK404 and three related vectors-pRK437, pRK442, and pRK442(H). These derivatives have proven to be valuable tools for genetic manipulation in Gram-negative bacteria. The knowledge of their complete sequences will facilitate efficient future engineering of them and will enhance their general applicability to the design of genetic systems for use in organisms for which new genomic sequence data are becoming available.

Towards higher-throughput membrane protein production for structural genomics initiatives

Integral membrane proteins present unparalleled challenges for structural genomics programs. Samples from this class of proteins are not only difficult to produce in quantities sufficient for analysis by X-ray diffraction or NMR, but their hydrophobic properties add extra dimension to their purification and subsequent crystallization. New systems that seek to tackle the production problems are in development. In our laboratory, one such strategy exploits the unique physiology of the Rhodobacter species of photosynthetic bacteria where we have designed an overexpression system that coordinates the heterologous production of targeted hydrophobic proteins with nascent, unfilled membranes that can be used to harbor them. In this study, we describe the means by which purification of recombinant membrane proteins produced in such a fashion can be purified efficiently from Rhodobacter membranes using relatively higher-throughput, semi-automated methods. These protocols utilize a state-of-the-art FPLCTM system for affinity chromatography, followed by gel filtration or ion exchange chromatography to enhance purity for crystallization attempts. The Rhodobacter expression system coupled with the semi-automation of purification steps represents an advance towards the development of a strategy for obtaining structures for membrane proteins at a more rapid pace.

Effects of impurities on membrane-protein crystallization in different systems

The effects of commonly encountered impurities on various membrane-protein crystallization regimes are investigated and it is found that the lipidic cubic phase crystallization methodology is the most robust, tolerating protein contamination levels of up to 50%, with little effect on crystal quality. If generally applicable, this tolerance may be exploited (i) in initial crystallization trials to determine the ‘crystallizability’ of a given membrane-protein and (ii) to subject partially pure membrane-protein samples to crystallization trials.

Hydrophobic variants of ganglio-tripod amphiphiles for membrane protein manipulation.

Membrane proteins operate in unique cellular environments. Once removed from their native context for the purification that is required for most types of structural or functional analyses, they are prone to denature if not properly stabilized by membrane mimetics. Detergent micelles have prominently been used to stabilize membrane proteins in aqueous environments as their amphipathic nature allows for shielding of the hydrophobic surfaces of these bio-macromolecules while supporting solubility and monodispersity in water. This study expands the utility of branched diglucoside-bearing tripod agents, designated ganglio-tripod amphiphiles, with introduction of key variations in their hydrophobic sections and shows how these latter elements can be fine-tuned to maximize membrane protein solubilization while preserving characteristics of these molecules that afford stabilization of rather fragile assemblies. Their efficacy rivals benchmark detergents heavily used today, such as n-dodecyl-β-d-maltoside.

X‑ray Transparent Microfluidic Chip for Mesophase-Based Crystallization of Membrane Proteins and On-Chip Structure Determination

Crystallization from lipidic mesophase matrices is a promising route to diffraction-quality crystals and structures of membrane proteins. The microfluidic approach reported here eliminates two bottlenecks of the standard mesophase-based crystallization protocols: (i) manual preparation of viscous mesophases and (ii) manual harvesting of often small and fragile protein crystals. In the approach reported here, protein-loaded mesophases are formulated in an X-ray transparent microfluidic chip using only 60 nL of the protein solution per crystallization trial. The X-ray transparency of the chip enables diffraction data collection from multiple crystals residing in microfluidic wells, eliminating the normally required manual harvesting and mounting of individual crystals. We validated our approach by on-chip crystallization of photosynthetic reaction center, a membrane protein from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, followed by solving its structure to a resolution of 2.5 Å using X-ray diffraction data collected on-chip under ambient conditions. A moderate conformational change in hydrophilic chains of the protein was observed when comparing the on-chip, room temperature structure with known structures for which data were acquired under cryogenic conditions.

Protein Modifications Affecting Triplet Energy Transfer in Bacterial Photosynthetic Reaction Centers

The efficiency of triplet energy transfer from the special pair (P) to the carotenoid (C) in photosynthetic reaction centers (RCs) from a large family of mutant strains has been investigated. The mutants carry substitutions at positions L181 and/or M208 near chlorophyll-based cofactors on the inactive and active sides of the complex, respectively. Light-modulated electron paramagnetic resonance at 10 K, where triplet energy transfer is thermally prohibited, reveals that the mutations do not perturb the electronic distribution of P. At temperatures > or = 70 K, we observe reduced signals from the carotenoid in most of the RCs with L181 substitutions. In particular, triplet transfer efficiency is reduced in all RCs in which a lysine at L181 donates a sixth ligand to the monomeric bacteriochlorophyll B(B). Replacement of the native Tyr at M208 on the active side of the complex with several polar residues increased transfer efficiency. The difference in the efficiencies of transfer in the RCs demonstrates the ability of the protein environment to influence the electronic overlap of the chromophores and thus the thermal barrier for triplet energy transfer.

Temperature and cryoprotectant influence secondary quinone binding position in bacterial reaction centers

We have determined the first de novo position of the secondary quinone QB in the Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction center (RC) using phases derived by the single wavelength anomalous dispersion method from crystals with selenomethionine substitution. We found that in frozen RC crystals, QB occupies primarily the proximal binding site. In contrast, our room temperature structure showed that QB is largely in the distal position. Both data sets were collected in dark‐adapted conditions. We estimate that the occupancy of the QB site is 80% with a proximal: distal ratio of 4:1 in frozen RC crystals. We could not separate the effect of freezing from the effect of the cryoprotectants ethylene glycol or glycerol. These results could have far‐reaching implications in structure/function studies of electron transfer in the acceptor quinone complex because the above are the most commonly used cryoprotectants in spectroscopic experiments.

Detergent effects on primary charge separation in wild-type and mutant Rhodobacter capsulatus reaction centers

The primary electron-transfer processes in reaction centers (RCs) from wild-type and several mutants of Rhodo- bacter capsulatus have been investigated as a function of the detergent used to extract the RC protein from the membrane. Wild-type and L(M212)H mutant RCs that have been isolated using the detergent Deriphat 160-C both display somewhat slower initial charge separation (longer Plifetimes) than the same RCs isolated using the detergent LDAO. For the F(L181)Y/Y(M208)F/L(M212)H triple mutant, the differences in the initial charge separation events for Deriphat-versus LDAO-isolated RCs are more significant. In all cases, use of Deriphat 160-C to extract the protein from the membrane yields RCs in which the QY band of P is retained at its native position near 865 nm, whereas LDAO extraction yields RCs that have the P band near 850 nm. Origins of the differences in both the ground state spectrum and the photochemistry, including possible RC-lipid associations, are considered. 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Monoolein Lipid Phases as Incorporation and Enrichment Materials for Membrane Protein Crystallization

The crystallization of membrane proteins in amphiphile-rich materials such as lipidic cubic phases is an established methodology in many structural biology laboratories. The standard procedure employed with this methodology requires the generation of a highly viscous lipidic material by mixing lipid, for instance monoolein, with a solution of the detergent solubilized membrane protein. This preparation is often carried out with specialized mixing tools that allow handling of the highly viscous materials while minimizing dead volume to save precious membrane protein sample. The processes that occur during the initial mixing of the lipid with the membrane protein are not well understood. Here we show that the formation of the lipidic phases and the incorporation of the membrane protein into such materials can be separated experimentally. Specifically, we have investigated the effect of different initial monoolein-based lipid phase states on the crystallization behavior of the colored photosynthetic reaction center from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. We find that the detergent solubilized photosynthetic reaction center spontaneously inserts into and concentrates in the lipid matrix without any mixing, and that the initial lipid material phase state is irrelevant for productive crystallization. A substantial in-situ enrichment of the membrane protein to concentration levels that are otherwise unobtainable occurs in a thin layer on the surface of the lipidic material. These results have important practical applications and hence we suggest a simplified protocol for membrane protein crystallization within amphiphile rich materials, eliminating any specialized mixing tools to prepare crystallization experiments within lipidic cubic phases. Furthermore, by virtue of sampling a membrane protein concentration gradient within a single crystallization experiment, this crystallization technique is more robust and increases the efficiency of identifying productive crystallization parameters. Finally, we provide a model that explains the incorporation of the membrane protein from solution into the lipid phase via a portal lamellar phase.