Magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy of nanodisc-embedded human CYP3A4

Nanoscale studies of protein-membrane interactions in blood clotting

Most of the steps in the blood clotting cascade require clotting proteins to bind to membrane surfaces with exposed phosphatidylserine. In spite of the importance of these protein-membrane interactions, we still lack a detailed understanding of how clotting proteins interact with membranes and how membranes contribute so profoundly to catalysis. Our laboratories are using multidisciplinary approaches to explore, at atomic-resolution, how blood clotting protein complexes assemble and function on membrane surfaces.

Structural features of cytochromes P450 and ligands that affect drug metabolism as revealed by X-ray crystallography and NMR

Cytochromes P450 (P450s) play a major role in the clearance of drugs, toxins, and environmental pollutants. Additionally, metabolism by P450s can result in toxic or carcinogenic products. The metabolism of pharmaceuticals by P450s is a major concern during the design of new drug candidates. Determining the interactions between P450s and compounds of very diverse structures is complicated by the variability in P450-ligand interactions. Understanding the protein structural elements and the chemical attributes of ligands that dictate their orientation in the P450 active site will aid in the development of effective and safe therapeutic agents. The goal of this review is to describe P450-ligand interactions from two perspectives. The first is the various structural elements that microsomal P450s have at their disposal to assume the different conformations observed in X-ray crystal structures. The second is P450-ligand dynamics analyzed by NMR relaxation studies.

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.

Defining CYP3A4 structural responses to substrate binding. Raman spectroscopic studies of a nanodisc-incorporated mammalian cytochrome P450

Resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopy is used to help define active site structural responses of nanodisc-incorporated CYP3A4 to the binding of three substrates: bromocriptine (BC), erythromycin (ERY), and testosterone (TST). We demonstrate that nanodisc-incorporated assemblies reveal much more well-defined active site RR spectroscopic responses as compared to those normally obtained with the conventional, detergent-stabilized, sampling strategies. While ERY and BC are known to bind to CYP3A4 with a 1:1 stoichiometry, only the BC induces a substantial conversion from low- to high-spin state, as clearly manifested in the RR spectra acquired herein. The third substrate, TST, displays significant homotropic interactions within CYP3A4, the active site binding up to 3 molecules of this substrate, with the functional properties varying in response to binding of individual substrate molecules. While such behavior seemingly suggests the possibility that each substrate binding event induces functionally important heme structural changes, up to this time spectroscopic evidence for such structural changes has not been available. The current RR spectroscopic studies show clearly that accommodation of different size substrates, and different loading of TST, do not significantly affect the structure of the substrate-bound ferric heme. However, it is here demonstrated that the nature and number of bound substrates do have an extraordinary influence on the conformation of bound exogenous ligands, such as CO or dioxygen and its reduced forms, implying an effective mechanism whereby substrate structure can impact reactivity of intermediates so as to influence function, as reflected in the diverse reactivity of this drug metabolizing cytochrome.

Contemporary methods in structure determination of membrane proteins by solution NMR

Integral membrane proteins are vital to life, being responsible for information and material exchange between a cell and its environment. Although high-resolution structural information is needed to understand how these functions are achieved, membrane proteins remain an under-represented subset of the protein structure databank. Solution NMR is increasingly demonstrating its ability to help address this knowledge shortfall, with the development of a diverse array of techniques to counter the challenges presented by membrane proteins. Here we document the advances that are helping to define solution NMR as an effective tool for membrane protein structure determination. Developments introduced over the last decade in the production of isotope-labeled samples, reconstitution of these samples into the growing selection of NMR-compatible membrane-mimetic systems, and the approaches used for the acquisition and application of structural restraints from these complexes are reviewed.

Nonmicellar systems for solution NMR spectroscopy of membrane proteins

Integral membrane proteins play essential roles in many biological processes, such as energy transduction, transport of molecules, and signaling. The correct function of membrane proteins is likely to depend strongly on the chemical and physical properties of the membrane. However, membrane proteins are not accessible to many biophysical methods in their native cellular membrane. A major limitation for their functional and structural characterization is thus the requirement for an artificial environment that mimics the native membrane to preserve the integrity and stability of the membrane protein. Most commonly employed are detergent micelles, which can however be detrimental to membrane protein activity and stability. Here, we review recent developments for alternative, nonmicellar solubilization techniques, with a particular focus on their application to solution NMR studies. We discuss the use of amphipols and lipid bilayer systems, such as bicelles and nanolipoprotein particles (NLPs). The latter show great promise for structural studies in near native membranes.

Lipid-protein correlations in nanoscale phospholipid bilayers determined by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance

Nanodiscs are examples of discoidal nanoscale lipid-protein particles that have been extremely useful for the biochemical and biophysical characterization of membrane proteins. They are discoidal lipid bilayer fragments encircled and stabilized by two amphipathic helical proteins named membrane scaffolding protein (MSP), ~10 nm in size. Nanodiscs are homogeneous, easily prepared with reproducible success, amenable to preparations with a variety of lipids, and stable over a range of temperatures. Here we present solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR) studies on lyophilized, rehydrated POPC Nanodiscs prepared with uniformly (13)C-, (15)N-labeled MSP1D1 (Δ1-11 truncated MSP). Under these conditions, by SSNMR we directly determine the gel-to-liquid crystal lipid phase transition to be at 3 ± 2 °C. Above this phase transition, the lipid (1)H signals have slow transverse relaxation, enabling filtering experiments as previously demonstrated for lipid vesicles. We incorporate this approach into two- and three-dimensional heteronuclear SSNMR experiments to examine the MSP1D1 residues interfacing with the lipid bilayer. These (1)H-(13)C and (1)H-(13)C-(13)C correlation spectra are used to identify and quantify the number of lipid-correlated and solvent-exposed residues by amino acid type, which furthermore is compared with molecular dynamics studies of MSP1D1 in Nanodiscs. This study demonstrates the utility of SSNMR experiments with Nanodiscs for examining lipid-protein interfaces and has important applications for future structural studies of membrane proteins in physiologically relevant formulations.

Automated protein resonance assignments of magic angle spinning solid-state NMR spectra of β1 immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G (GB1)

Magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR (MAS SSNMR) represents a fast developing experimental technique with great potential to provide structural and dynamics information for proteins not amenable to other methods. However, few automated analysis tools are currently available for MAS SSNMR. We present a methodology for automating protein resonance assignments of MAS SSNMR spectral data and its application to experimental peak lists of the β1 immunoglobulin binding domain of protein G (GB1) derived from a uniformly ¹³C- and ¹⁵N-labeled sample. This application to the 56 amino acid GB1 produced an overall 84.1% assignment of the N, CO, CA, and CB resonances with no errors using peak lists from NCACX 3D, CANcoCA 3D, and CANCOCX 4D experiments. This proof of concept demonstrates the tractability of this problem.

Nanomechanical detection of cholera toxin using microcantilevers functionalized with ganglioside nanodiscs

The label-free detection of cholera toxin is demonstrated using microcantilevers functionalized with ganglioside nanodiscs. The cholera toxin molecules bind specifically to the active membrane protein encased in nanodiscs, nanoscale lipid bilayers surrounded by an amphipathic protein belt, immobilized on the cantilever surface. The specific molecular binding results in cantilever deflection via the formation of a surface stress-induced bending moment. The nanomechanical cantilever response is quantitatively monitored by optical interference. The consistent and reproducible nanomechanical detection of cholera toxin in nanomolar range concentrations is demonstrated. The results validated with such a model system suggest that the combination of a microcantilever platform with receptor nanodiscs is a promising approach for monitoring invasive pathogens and other types of biomolecular detection relevant to drug discovery.

Conformational plasticity and structure/function relationships in cytochromes P450

The cytochrome P450s are a superfamily of enzymes that are found in all kingdoms of living organisms, and typically catalyze the oxidative addition of atomic oxygen to an unactivated C-C or C-H bond. Over 8000 nonredundant sequences of putative and confirmed P450 enzymes have been identified, but three-dimensional structures have been determined for only a small fraction of these. While all P450 enzymes for which structures have been determined share a common global fold, the flexibility and modularity of structure around the active site account for the ability of P450 enzymes to accommodate a vast number of structurally dissimilar substrates and support a wide range of selective oxidations. In this review, known P450 structures are compared, and some structural criteria for prediction of substrate selectivity and reaction type are suggested. The importance of dynamic processes such as redox-dependent and effector-induced conformational changes in determining catalytic competence and regio- and stereoselectivity is discussed, and noncrystallographic methods for characterizing P450 structures and dynamics, in particular, mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are reviewed.

Cytochromes P450 in nanodiscs

Nanodiscs have proven to be a versatile tool for the study all types of membrane proteins, including receptors, transporters, enzymes and viral antigens. The self-assembled Nanodisc system provides a robust and common means for rendering these targets soluble in aqueous media while providing a native like bilayer environment that maintains functional activity. This system has thus provided a means for studying the extensive collection of membrane bound cytochromes P450 with the same biochemical and biophysical tools that have been previously limited to use with the soluble P450s. These include a plethora of spectroscopic, kinetic and surface based methods. Significant improvements in homogeneity and stability of these preparations open new possibilities for detailed analysis of equilibrium and steady-state kinetic characteristics of catalytic mechanisms of human cytochromes P450 involved in xenobiotic metabolism and in steroid biosynthesis. The experimental methods developed for physico-chemical and functional studies of membrane cytochromes P450 incorporated in Nanodiscs allow for more detailed understanding of the scientific questions along the lines pioneered by Professor Klaus Ruckpaul and his array of colleagues and collaborators.

Structural and functional characterization of the integral membrane protein VDAC-1 in lipid bilayer nanodiscs

Biophysical studies of membrane proteins are often impeded by the requirement for a membrane mimicking environment. Detergent micelles are the most common choice, but the denaturing properties make them unsatisfactory for studies of many membrane proteins and their interactions. In the present work, we explore phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs as membrane mimics and employ electron microscopy and solution NMR spectroscopy to characterize the structure and function of the human voltage dependent anion channel (VDAC-1) as an example of a polytopic integral membrane protein. Electron microscopy reveals the formation of VDAC-1 multimers, an observation that is consistent with results obtained in native mitochondrial outer membranes. High-resolution NMR spectroscopy demonstrates a well folded VDAC-1 protein and native NADH binding functionality. The observed chemical shift changes upon addition of the native ligand NADH to nanodisc-embedded VDAC-1 resemble those of micelle-embedded VDAC-1, indicating a similar structure and function in the two membrane-mimicking environments. Overall, the ability to study integral membrane proteins at atomic resolution with solution NMR in phospholipid bilayers, rather than in detergent micelles, offers exciting novel possibilities to approach the biophysical properties of membrane proteins under nondenaturing conditions, which makes this technology particular suitable for protein-protein interactions and other functional studies.

Three-dimensional structure of the anthrax toxin pore inserted into lipid nanodiscs and lipid vesicles

A major goal in understanding the pathogenesis of the anthrax bacillus is to determine how the protective antigen (PA) pore mediates translocation of the enzymatic components of anthrax toxin across membranes. To obtain structural insights into this mechanism, we constructed PA-pore membrane complexes and visualized them by using negative-stain electron microscopy. Two populations of PA pores were visualized in membranes, vesicle-inserted and nanodisc-inserted, allowing us to reconstruct two virtually identical PA-pore structures at 22-A resolution. Reconstruction of a domain 4-truncated PA pore inserted into nanodiscs showed that this domain does not significantly influence pore structure. Normal mode flexible fitting of the x-ray crystallographic coordinates of the PA prepore indicated that a prominent flange observed within the pore lumen is formed by the convergence of mobile loops carrying Phe427, a residue known to catalyze protein translocation. Our results have identified the location of a crucial functional element of the PA pore and documented the value of combining nanodisc technology with electron microscopy to examine the structures of membrane-interactive proteins.

Protein-phospholipid interactions in blood clotting

Most steps of the blood clotting cascade require the assembly of a serine protease with its specific regulatory protein on a suitable phospholipid bilayer. Unfortunately, the molecular details of how blood clotting proteins bind to membrane surfaces remain poorly understood, owing to a dearth of techniques for studying protein-membrane interactions at high resolution. Our laboratories are tackling this question using a combination of approaches, including nanoscale membrane bilayers, solid-state NMR, and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. These studies are now providing structural insights at atomic resolution into clotting protein-membrane interactions.

Atomic resolution protein structure determination by three-dimensional transferred echo double resonance solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

We show that quantitative internuclear (15)N-(13)C distances can be obtained in sufficient quantity to determine a complete, high-resolution structure of a moderately sized protein by magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy. The three-dimensional ZF-TEDOR pulse sequence is employed in combination with sparse labeling of (13)C sites in the beta1 domain of the immunoglobulin binding protein G (GB1), as obtained by bacterial expression with 1,3-(13)C or 2-(13)C-glycerol as the (13)C source. Quantitative dipolar trajectories are extracted from two-dimensional (15)N-(13)C planes, in which approximately 750 cross peaks are resolved. The experimental data are fit to exact theoretical trajectories for spin clusters (consisting of one (13)C and several (15)N each), yielding quantitative precision as good as 0.1 A for approximately 350 sites, better than 0.3 A for another 150, and approximately 1.0 A for 150 distances in the range of 5-8 A. Along with isotropic chemical shift-based (TALOS) dihedral angle restraints, the distance restraints are incorporated into simulated annealing calculations to yield a highly precise structure (backbone RMSD of 0.25+/-0.09 A), which also demonstrates excellent agreement with the most closely related crystal structure of GB1 (2QMT, bbRMSD 0.79+/-0.03 A). Moreover, side chain heavy atoms are well restrained (0.76+/-0.06 A total heavy atom RMSD). These results demonstrate for the first time that quantitative internuclear distances can be measured throughout an entire solid protein to yield an atomic-resolution structure.

Single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy using phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs

Nanodiscs are a new class of model membranes that are being used to solubilize and study a range of integral membrane proteins and membrane-associated proteins. Unlike other model membranes, the Nanodisc bilayer is bounded by a scaffold protein coat that confers enhanced stability and a narrow particle size distribution. The bilayer diameter can be precisely controlled by changing the diameter of the protein coat. All these properties make Nanodiscs excellent model membranes for single-molecule fluorescence applications. In this chapter, we describe our work using Nanodiscs to apply total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRFM), fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS), and Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) to study the integral membrane protein cytochrome P450 3A4 and the peripheral membrane-binding proteins islet amyloid polypeptide (IAPP) and alpha-synuclein, respectively. The monodisperse size distribution of Nanodiscs enhances control over the oligomeric state of the membrane protein of interest, and facilitates accurate solution-based measurements as well. Nanodiscs also comprise an excellent system to stably immobilize integral membrane proteins in a bilayer without covalent modification, enabling a range of surface-based experiments where accurate localization of the protein of interest is required.

Membrane protein assembly into Nanodiscs

Nanodiscs are soluble nanoscale phospholipid bilayers which can self-assemble integral membrane proteins for biophysical, enzymatic or structural investigations. This means for rendering membrane proteins soluble at the single molecule level offers advantages over liposomes or detergent micelles in terms of size, stability, ability to add genetically modifiable features to the Nanodisc structure and ready access to both sides of the phospholipid bilayer domain. Thus the Nanodisc system provides a novel platform for understanding membrane protein function. We provide an overview of the Nanodisc approach and document through several examples many of the applications to the study of the structure and function of integral membrane proteins.

The nanodisc: a novel tool for membrane protein studies

A major challenge in the research on membrane-anchored and integral membrane protein complexes is to obtain these in a functionally active, water-soluble, and monodisperse form. This requires the incorporation of the membrane proteins into a native-like membrane or detergent micelle that mimics the properties of the original biological membrane. However, solubilization in detergents or reconstitution in liposomes or supported monolayers sometimes suffers from loss of activity and problematic analyses due to heterogeneity and aggregation. A developing technology termed nanodiscs exploits discoidal phospholipid bilayers encircled by a stabilizing amphipatic helical membrane scaffold protein to reconstitute membranes with integral proteins. After reconstitution, the membrane nanodisc is soluble, stable, and monodisperse. In the present review, we outline the biological inspiration for nanodiscs as discoidal high-density lipoproteins, the assembly and handling of nanodiscs, and finally their diverse biochemical applications. In our view, major advantages of nanodisc technology for integral membrane proteins is homogeneity, control of oligomerization state, access to both sides of the membrane, and control of lipids in the local membrane environment of the integral protein.

Protein-membrane interactions: blood clotting on nanoscale bilayers

The clotting cascade requires the assembly of protease-cofactor complexes on membranes with exposed anionic phospholipids. Despite their importance, protein-membrane interactions in clotting remain relatively poorly understood. Calcium ions are known to induce anionic phospholipids to cluster, and we propose that clotting proteins assemble preferentially on such anionic lipid-rich microdomains. Until recently, there was no way to control the partitioning of clotting proteins into or out of specific membrane microdomains, so experimenters only knew the average contributions of phospholipids to blood clotting. The development of nanoscale membrane bilayers (Nanodiscs) has now allowed us to probe, with nanometer resolution, how local variations in phospholipid composition regulate the activity of key protease-cofactor complexes in blood clotting. Furthermore, exciting new progress in solid-state NMR and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations allow structural insights into interactions between proteins and membrane surfaces with atomic resolution.

Screening of type I and II drug binding to human cytochrome P450-3A4 in nanodiscs by localized surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy

A prototype nanoparticle biosensor based on localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) spectroscopy was developed to detect drug binding to human membrane-bound cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4). CYP3A4 is one of the most important enzymes in drug and xenobiotic metabolism in the human body. Because of the inherent propensity of CYP3A4 to aggregate, it is difficult to study drug binding to this protein in solution and on surfaces. In this paper, we use a soluble nanometer scale membrane bilayer disk (Nanodisk) to functionally stabilize monomeric CYP3A4 on Ag nanoparticle surfaces fabricated by nanosphere lithography. CYP3A4-Nanodiscs have absorption bands in the visible wavelength region, which upon binding certain drugs shift to either shorter (type I) or longer wavelengths (type II). On the basis of the coupling between the LSPR of the Ag nanoparticles and the electronic resonances of the heme chromophore in CYP3A4-Nanodiscs, LSPR spectroscopy is used to detect drug binding with high sensitivity. This paper combines LSPR and Nanodisc techniques to optically sense drug binding to a functionally stable membrane protein, with the goal of integrating this with microfluidics and expanding it into a multiarray format, enabling high-throughput screening.

Ligand-induced conformational heterogeneity of cytochrome P450 CYP119 identified by 2D NMR spectroscopy with the unnatural amino acid (13)C-p-methoxyphenylalanine

Conformational dynamics are thought to play an important role in ligand binding and catalysis by cytochrome P450 enzymes, but few techniques exist to examine them in molecular detail. Using a unique isotopic labeling strategy, we have site specifically inserted a (13)C-labeled unnatural amino acid residue, (13)C-p-methoxyphenylalanine (MeOF), into two different locations in the substrate binding region of the thermophilic cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP119. Surprisingly, in both cases the resonance signal from the ligand-free protein is represented by a doublet in the (1)H,(13)C-HSQC spectrum. Upon binding of 4-phenylimidazole, the signals from the initial resonances are reduced in favor of a single new resonance, in the case of the F162MeOF mutant, or two new resonances, in the case of the F153MeOF mutant. This represents the first direct physical evidence for the ligand-dependent existence of multiple P450 conformers simultaneously in solution. This general approach may be used to further illuminate the role that conformational dynamics plays in the complex enzymatic phenomena exhibited by P450 enzymes.

Chapter 11 - Reconstitution of membrane proteins in phospholipid bilayer nanodiscs

Self-assembled phospholipid bilayer Nanodiscs have become an important and versatile tool among model membrane systems to functionally reconstitute membrane proteins. Nanodiscs consist of lipid domains encased within an engineered derivative of apolipoprotein A-1 scaffold proteins, which can be tailored to yield homogeneous preparations of disks with different diameters, and with epitope tags for exploitation in various purification strategies. A critical aspect of the self-assembly of target membranes into Nanodiscs lies in the optimization of the lipid:protein ratio. Here we describe strategies for performing this optimization and provide examples for reconstituting bacteriorhodopsin as a trimer, rhodopsin, and functionally active P-glycoprotein. Together, these demonstrate the versatility of Nanodisc technology for preparing monodisperse samples of membrane proteins of wide-ranging structure.

Enzymes without borders: mobilizing substrates, delivering products

Many cellular reactions involve both hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules that reside within the chemically distinct environments defined by the phospholipid-based membranes and the aqueous lumens of cytoplasm and organelles. Enzymes performing this type of reaction are required to access a lipophilic substrate located in the membranes and to catalyze its reaction with a polar, water-soluble compound. Here, we explore the different binding strategies and chemical tricks that enzymes have developed to overcome this problem. These reactions can be catalyzed by integral membrane proteins that channel a hydrophilic molecule into their active site, as well as by water-soluble enzymes that are able to capture a lipophilic substrate from the phospholipid bilayer. Many chemical and biological aspects of this type of enzymology remain to be investigated and will require the integration of protein chemistry with membrane biology.