Reconstitution of the Na,K-pump by freeze-thaw sonication: estimation of coupling ratio and electrogenicity

Current problems and future avenues in proteoliposome research

Membrane proteins (MPs) are the gatekeepers between different biological compartments separated by lipid bilayers. Being receptors, channels, transporters, or primary pumps, they fulfill a wide variety of cellular functions and their importance is reflected in the increasing number of drugs that target MPs. Functional studies of MPs within a native cellular context, however, is difficult due to the innate complexity of the densely packed membranes. Over the past decades, detergent-based extraction and purification of MPs and their reconstitution into lipid mimetic systems has been a very powerful tool to simplify the experimental system. In this review, we focus on proteoliposomes that have become an indispensable experimental system for enzymes with a vectorial function, including many of the here described energy transducing MPs. We first address long standing questions on the difficulty of successful reconstitution and controlled orientation of MPs into liposomes. A special emphasis is given on coreconstitution of several MPs into the same bilayer. Second, we discuss recent progress in the development of fluorescent dyes that offer sensitive detection with high temporal resolution. Finally, we briefly cover the use of giant unilamellar vesicles for the investigation of complex enzymatic cascades, a very promising experimental tool considering our increasing knowledge of the interplay of different cellular components.

Characteristics of exogenous lipid uptake by renal and intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles

The transfer of radioactive phosphatidylcholine (PC*) from liposomes to rabbit jejunal and renal brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMVs) was measured with a fast-sampling, rapid-filtration apparatus. PC* uptake by jejunal and renal BBMVs was favoured when liposomes were made from soybean phosphatidylcholine (azolectin, AZO), whereas PC* uptake could not be quantitatively assessed from egg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes even after a 22-h period of incubation. The increased turbidity of BBMV dispersion following the addition of CaCl2 or HCl to AZO-treated BBMVs suggested that negatively charged lipids and phosphatidylethanolamine are transferred during the process. These data and the analysis of PC*-uptake time measurements, using an algorithm simulating aggregation phenomena, indicated that the reaction mechanism involved liposome aggregation to BBMVs rather than specific lipid transfer. The constants of the dimerization reaction between AZO liposomes and BBMVs were evaluated to be 0.016 +/- 0.006 min-1 for jejunal and 0.095 +/- 0.02 min-1 for renal preparations. IntraveSICULAR D-ASPartic acid accumulation in the presence of a NA+ gradient indicated that vesicles were still closed after coincubation with liposomes. In contrast, 70-85% of rabbit jejunal and renal Na(+)-D-glucose cotransporter activities were lost after overnight incubation with either AZO liposomes or buffered solution. Further, H(+)-ATPase activity in rabbit renal BBMVs largely decreased after coincubation with AZO liposomes, while brush-border membrane associated enzymes remained stable. These results demonstrate that coincubation of BBMV with liposomes of different composition may represent a useful approach to study the influence of lipidic environment on various membrane protein functions.

Functional reconstitution of ATP-dependent transporters from the solubilized hepatocyte canalicular membrane

The hepatocyte canalicular membrane contains several primary-active ATP-dependent export carriers including one for bile salts and one for leukotriene C4 and related conjugates. The molecular identity of both transporters has not been fully elucidated. To establish a transport assay that allows the purification and identification of the proteins involved in ATP-dependent bile salt transport and in leukotriene C4 transport, we reconstituted solubilized hepatocyte canalicular membranes into phospholipid bilayers using a rapid dilution method. The proteoliposomes formed exhibited both [3H]taurocholate and [3H]leukotriene C4 uptake, which was much higher in the presence of ATP than in the presence of the non-hydrolyzable ATP-analog AdoPP[CH2]P or in the absence of nucleotides. Nucleotide requirement and osmotic sensitivity of [3H]taurocholate transport indicates true transport into the vesicle lumen. Optimized conditions for reconstitution included the addition of a high concentration of an osmolyte (glycerol) and the presence of exogenous phospholipids (0.3%) during solubilization. Highest transport rates were obtained by reconstitution into acetone/ether-precipitated Escherichia coli phospholipid supplemented with 20% cholesterol and by use of octylglucoside concentrations between 30 mM and 50 mM. Taurocholate transport was non-competitively inhibited by vanadate (Ki = 39 microM). The kinetic parameters of cyclosporin A inhibition (Ki = 2.6 microM for taurocholate and 4.3 microM for leukotriene C4 transport) as well as the affinities of taurocholate (Km = 12 microM) and leukotriene C4 (Km = 0.5 microM) in the proteoliposome system indicate that the reconstitution resulted in functionally active transport systems, which are representative of ATP-dependent transport in the intact plasma membrane.