Effect of phospholipase A on the structure and functions of membrane vesicles from Mycobacterium phlei

Purification and functional properties of the DCCD-reactive proteolipid subunit of the H+-translocating ATPase from Mycobacterium phlei

Interaction of N,N'-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) with ATPase of Mycobacterium phlei membranes results in inactivation of ATPase activity. The rate of inactivation of ATPase was pseudo-first order for the initial 30-65% inactivation over a concentration range of 5-50 microM DCCD. The second-order rate constant of the DCCD-ATPase interaction was k = 8.5 X 10(5) M-1 X min(-1). The correlation between the initial binding of [14C]DCCD and 100% inactivation of ATPase activity shows 1.57 nmol DCCD bound per mg membrane protein. The proteolipid subunit of the F0F1-ATPase complex in membranes of M. phlei with which DCCD covalently reacts to inhibit ATPase was isolated by labeling with [14C]DCCD. The proteolipid was purified from the membrane in free and DCCD-modified form by extraction with chloroform/methanol and subsequent chromatography on Sephadex LH-20. The polypeptide was homogeneous on SDS-acrylamide gel electrophoresis and has an apparent molecular weight of 8000. The purified proteolipid contains phosphatidylinositol (67%), phosphatidylethanolamine (18%) and cardiolipin (8%). Amino acid analysis indicates that glycine, alanine and leucine were present in elevated amounts, resulting in a polarity of 27%. Cysteine and tryptophan were lacking. Butanol-extracted proteolipid mediated the translocation of protons across the bilayer, in K+-loaded reconstituted liposomes, in response to a membrane potential difference induced by valinomycin. The proton translocation was inhibited by DCCD, as measured by the quenching of fluorescence of 9-aminoacridine. Studies show that vanadate inhibits the proton gradient driven by ATP hydrolysis in membrane vesicles of M. phlei by interacting with the proteolipid subunit sector of the F0F1-ATPase complex.

Reversible envelope effects during and after killing of Escherichia coli w by a highly-purified rabbit polymorpho-nuclear leukocyte fraction

The effects of a highly-purified, potently bactericidal fraction from rabbit polymorphonuclear leukocytes on the envelope of Escherichia coli (W) have been examined. This leukocyte fraction has equally enriched bactericidal, permeability-increasing and phospholipase A2 activities, and is essentially devoid of lysozyme, myeloperoxidase and protease activities (Weiss, J., Franson, R.C., Beckerdite, S., Schmeidler, K. and Elsbach, P. (1975) J. Clin. Invest. 55, 33-42). Rapid killing of E. coli by this fraction is accompanied by two almost immediate alterations in the bacterial envelope: (1) a discrete increase in envelope permeability (measured by inhibition of bacterial leucine incorporation by normally impermeant actinomycin D), and, (2) hydrolysis of 14C-labeled fatty acid-prelabeled E. coli phospholipids. Both envelope effects are promptly reversed during further incubation at 37 degrees C, But not at 0 degrees C, with 40 mM Mg2+. Reversal is also produced by Ca2+ (40 mM) and trypsin (200 mug/ml), but 200 mM K+ causes only partial recovery and Na+ and hyperosmolar sucrose are ineffective. Upon addition of Mg2+, phospholipid degradation ceases abruptly and the labeled products of hydrolysis (free fatty acids and lysocompounds) disappear with a corresponding reaccumulation of radioactive diacylphosphatides. The time course of resynthesis of phospholipids coincides with that of restoration of the permeability barrier. Higher concentrations of the leukocyte fraction and prolonged incubation increase both the extent of phospholipid degradation and the time required for reversal of both envelope effects. These findings suggest that both the initiation of the increased permeability and its reversal are linked to respectively the breakdown and resynthesis of major E. coli membrane phospholipids, and thus depend on the fact that the biochemical apparatus of E. coli remains capable of biosynthesis despite loss of viability. Treatment of E. coli, exposed to the leukocyte fraction, with albumin results in extracellular sequestration of the products of hydrolysis and also restores the permeability barrier to actinomycin D, suggesting that the accumulation of lytic products of lipid hydrolysis within the bacterial envelope, rather than the loss of phospholipids per se, causes increased permeability Whereas the effects on the envelope are reversible as long as 2 h after nearly complete loss of ability to multiply by E. coli, the effect on bacterial multiplication is irreversible within 5 min.