Travel light: Essential packing for membrane proteins with an active lifestyle

Nanodiscs for the study of membrane proteins

Nanodiscs represent a versatile tool for studies of membrane proteins and protein-membrane interactions under native-like conditions. Multiple variations of the Nanodisc platform, as well as new experimental methods, have been recently developed to understand various aspects of structure, dynamics and functional properties of systems involved in signaling, transport, blood coagulation and many other critically important processes. In this mini-review, we focus on some of these exciting recent developments that utilize the Nanodisc platform.

Synthesis of Asymmetric Ionic Hybrid Detergents enables Micelles with Scalable Properties including Cell Compatibility

Ionic detergents enable applications and cause harm in biospheres due to cell toxicity. The utility of covalent combinations between ionic and non-ionic detergent headgroups in modulating cell toxicity remains speculative due to the yet rarely explored synthesis. We close this gap and establish the modular synthesis of ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents. We restructure a combinatorial methallyl dichloride one-pot coupling into a two-step coupling, which reduces by-products, improves product yields, and enables the gram-scale preparation of asymmetric, cationic/non-ionic and anionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents. Our modular synthesis delivers new modalities for the design of ionic detergents, including an unprecedented scaling of properties that determine applications, such as charge, critical micelle concentration, solubilizing properties, hard water tolerance, and cell compatibility. We uncover that shielding the charge in ionic headgroups can switch the detergent species that is toxic to cells from monomers to mixtures of monomers and micellar assemblies. Establishing the chemistry of ionic/non-ionic hybrid detergents provides a missing evolutionary link in the structural comparison of ionic and non-ionic detergents, enables an easy synthesis access to yet unexplored chemical spaces of asymmetric hybrid materials, and delivers new modalities for designing the toxicity of supramolecular nanomaterials.

Polymer-extracted structure of the mechanosensitive channel MscS reveals the role of protein-lipid interactions in the gating cycle

Membrane protein structure determination is not only technically challenging but is further complicated by the removal or displacement of lipids, which can result in non-native conformations or a strong preference for certain states at the exclusion of others. This is especially applicable to mechanosensitive channels (MSC's) that evolved to gate in response to subtle changes in membrane tension transmitted through the lipid bilayer. E. coli MscS, a model bacterial system, is an ancestral member of the large family of MSCs found across all phyla of walled organisms. As a tension sensor, MscS is very sensitive and highly adaptive; it readily opens under super-threshold tension and closes under no tension, but under lower tensions, it slowly inactivates and can only recover when tension is released. However, existing cryo-EM structures do not explain the entire functional gating cycle of open, closed, and inactivated states. A central question in the field has been the assignment of the frequently observed non-conductive conformation to either a closed or inactivated state. Here, we present a 3 Å MscS structure in native nanodiscs obtained with Glyco-DIBMA polymer extraction, eliminating the lipid removal step that is common to all previous structures. Besides the protein in the non-conductive conformation, we observe well-resolved densities of four endogenous phospholipid molecules intercalating between the lipid-facing and pore-lining helices in preferred orientations. Mutations of positively charged residues coordinating these lipids inhibit MscS inactivation, whereas removal of a negative charge near the lipid-filled crevice increases inactivation. The functional data allows us to assign this class of structures to the inactivated state. This structure reveals preserved lipids in their native locations, and the functional effects of their destabilization illustrate a novel inactivation mechanism based on an uncoupling of the peripheral tension-sensing helices from the gate.

Trends in the Diversification of the Detergentome

Detergents are amphiphilic molecules that serve as enabling steps for today's world applications. The increasing diversity of the detergentome is key to applications enabled by detergent science. Regardless of the application, the optimal design of detergents is determined empirically, which leads to failed preparations, and raising costs. To facilitate project planning, here we review synthesis strategies that drive the diversification of the detergentome. Synthesis strategies relevant for industrial and academic applications include linear, modular, combinatorial, bio-based, and metric-assisted detergent synthesis. Scopes and limitations of individual synthesis strategies in context with industrial product development and academic research are discussed. Furthermore, when designing detergents, the selection of molecular building blocks, i. e., head, linker, tail, is as important as the employed synthesis strategy. To facilitate the design of safe-to-use and tailor-made detergents, we provide an overview of established head, linker, and tail groups and highlight selected scopes and limitations for applications. It becomes apparent that most recent contributions to the increasing chemical diversity of detergent building blocks originate from the development of detergents for membrane protein studies. The overview of synthesis strategies and molecular blocks will bring us closer to the ability to predictably design and synthesize optimal detergents for challenging future applications.

Modeling of flexible membrane-bound biomolecular complexes for solution small-angle scattering

Recent advances in protein expression protocols, sample handling, and experimental set up of small-angle scattering experiments have allowed users of the technique to structurally investigate biomolecules of growing complexity and structural disorder. Notable examples include intrinsically disordered proteins, multi-domain proteins and membrane proteins in suitable carrier systems. Here, we outline a modeling scheme for calculating the scattering profiles from such complex samples. This kind of modeling is necessary for structural information to be refined from the corresponding data. The scheme bases itself on a hybrid of classical form factor based modeling and the well-known spherical harmonics-based formulation of small-angle scattering amplitudes. Our framework can account for flexible domains alongside other structurally elaborate components of the molecular system in question. We demonstrate the utility of this modeling scheme through a recent example of a structural model of the growth hormone receptor membrane protein in a phospholipid bilayer nanodisc which is refined against experimental SAXS data. Additionally we investigate how the scattering profiles from the complex would appear under different scattering contrasts. For each contrast situation we discuss what structural information is contained and the related consequences for modeling of the data.

Effect of Cholesterol on the Structure and Composition of Glyco-DIBMA Lipid Particles

Different amphiphilic co-polymers have been introduced to produce polymer-lipid particles with nanodisc structure composed of an inner lipid bilayer and polymer chains self-assembled as an outer belt. These particles can be used to stabilize membrane proteins in solution and enable their characterization by means of biophysical methods, including small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Some of these co-polymers have also been used to directly extract membrane proteins together with their associated lipids from native membranes. Styrene/maleic acid and diisobutylene/maleic acid are among the most commonly used co-polymers for producing polymer-lipid particles, named SMALPs and DIBMALPs, respectively. Recently, a new co-polymer, named Glyco-DIBMA, was produced by partial amidation of DIBMA with the amino sugar N-methyl-d-glucosamine. Polymer-lipid particles produced with Glyco-DIBMA, named Glyco-DIBMALPs, exhibit improved structural properties and stability compared to those of SMALPs and DIBMALPs while retaining the capability of directly extracting membrane proteins from native membranes. Here, we characterize the structure and lipid composition of Glyco-DIBMALPs produced with either 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (POPC) or 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC). Glyco-DIBMALPs were also prepared with mixtures of either POPC or DMPC and cholesterol at different mole fractions. We estimated the lipid content in the Glyco-DIBMALPs and determined the particle structure and morphology by SAXS. We show that the Glyco-DIBMALPs are nanodisc-like particles whose size and shape depend on the polymer/lipid ratio. This is relevant for designing nanodisc particles with a tunable diameter according to the size of the membrane protein to be incorporated. We also report that the addition of >20 mol % cholesterol strongly perturbed the formation of Glyco-DIBMALPs. Altogether, we describe a detailed characterization of the Glyco-DIBMALPs, which provides relevant inputs for future application of these particles in the biophysical investigation of membrane proteins.