Anisotropic motion effects in CW non-linear EPR spectra: relaxation enhancement of lipid spin labels

Interaction of Spin-Labeled Lipid Membranes with Transition Metal Ions

The large values of spin relaxation enhancement (RE) for PC spin-labels in the phospholipid membrane induced by paramagnetic metal salts dissolved in the aqueous phase can be explained by Heisenberg spin exchange due to conformational fluctuations of the nitroxide group as a result of membrane fluidity, flexibility of lipid chains, and, possibly, amphiphilic nature of the nitroxide label. Whether the magnetic interaction occurs predominantly via Heisenberg spin exchange (Ni) or by the dipole–dipole (Gd) mechanism, it is essential for the paramagnetic ion to get into close proximity to the nitroxide moiety for efficient RE. For different salts of Ni the RE in phosphatidylcholine membranes follows the anionic Hofmeister series and reflects anion adsorption followed by anion-driven attraction of paramagnetic cations on the choline groups. This adsorption is higher for chaotropic ions, e.g., perchlorate. (A chaotropic agent is a molecule in water solution that can disrupt the hydrogen bonding network between water molecules.) However, there is no anionic dependence of RE for model membranes made from negatively charged lipids devoid of choline groups. We used Ni-induced RE to study the thermodynamics and electrostatics of ion/membrane interactions. We also studied the effect of membrane composition and the phase state on the RE values. In membranes with cholesterol a significant difference is observed between PC labels with nitroxide tethers long enough vs not long enough to reach deep into the membrane hydrophobic core behind the area of fused cholesterol rings. This study indicates one must be cautious in interpreting data obtained by PC labels in fluid membranes in terms of probing membrane properties at different immersion depths when it can be affected by paramagnetic species at the membrane surface.

Phase diagram of ternary cholesterol/palmitoylsphingomyelin/palmitoyloleoyl-phosphatidylcholine mixtures: spin-label EPR study of lipid-raft formation

For canonical lipid raft mixtures of cholesterol (chol), N-palmitoylsphingomyelin (PSM), and 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoylphosphatidylcholine (POPC), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) of spin-labeled phospholipids--which is insensitive to domain size--is used to determine the ternary phase diagram at 23°C. No phase boundaries are found for binary POPC/chol mixtures, nor for ternary mixtures with PSM content <24 mol %. EPR lineshapes indicate that conversion from the liquid-disordered (L(α)) to liquid-ordered (L(o)) phase occurs continuously in this region. Two-component EPR spectra and several tie lines attributable to coexistence of gel (L(β)) and fluid phases are found for ternary mixtures with low cholesterol or low POPC content. For PSM/POPC alone, coexistence of L(α) and L(β) phases occurs over the range 50-95.5 mol % PSM. A further tie line is found at 3 mol % chol with endpoints at 50 and ≥77 mol % PSM. For PSM/chol, L(β)-L(o) coexistence occurs over the range 10-38 mol % chol and further tie lines are found at 4.5 and 7 mol % POPC. Two-component EPR spectra indicative of fluid-fluid (L(α)-L(o)) phase separation are found for lipid compositions: 25%<PSM<65%, 5%<chol<30-35%, 65%>POPC>10%, and confirmed by nonlinear EPR. Tie lines are identified in the L(α)-L(o) coexistence region, indicating that the fluid domains are of sufficient size to obey the phase rule. The three-phase triangle is bounded approximately by the compositions 40 and 75 mol % PSM with 10 mol % chol, and 60 mol % PSM with 25 mol % chol. These studies define the compositions of raft-like L(o) phases for a minimal realistic biological lipid mixture.

Electron spin resonance in membrane research: protein-lipid interactions from challenging beginnings to state of the art

Conventional electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectra of lipids that are spin-labelled close to the terminal methyl end of the acyl chains are able to resolve the lipids directly contacting the protein from those in the fluid bilayer regions of the membrane. This allows determination of both the stoichiometry of lipid-protein interaction (i.e., number of lipid sites at the protein perimeter) and the selectivity of the protein for different lipid species (i.e., association constants relative to the background lipid). Spin-label EPR data are summarised for 20 or more different transmembrane peptides and proteins, and 7 distinct species of lipids. Lineshape simulations of the two-component conventional spin-label EPR spectra allow estimation of the rate at which protein-associated lipids exchange with those in the bulk fluid regions of the membrane. For lipids that do not display a selectivity for the protein, the intrinsic off-rates for exchange are in the region of 10 MHz: less than 10x slower than the rates of diffusive exchange in fluid lipid membranes. Lipids with an affinity for the protein, relative to the background lipid, have off-rates for leaving the protein that are correspondingly slower. Non-linear EPR, which depends on saturation of the spectrum at high radiation intensities, is optimally sensitive to dynamics on the timescale of spin-lattice relaxation, i.e., the microsecond regime. Both progressive saturation and saturation transfer EPR experiments provide definitive evidence that lipids at the protein interface are exchanging on this timescale. The sensitivity of non-linear EPR to low frequencies of spin exchange also allows the location of spin-labelled membrane protein residues relative to those of spin-labelled lipids, in double-labelling experiments.

Spin-Label EPR for Determining Polarity and Proticity in Biomolecular Assemblies: Transmembrane Profiles

Hyperfine couplings and g-values of nitroxyl spin labels are sensitive to polarity and hydrogen bonding in the environment probed. The dependences of these electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR) properties on environmental dielectric permittivity and proticity are reviewed. Calibrations are given, in terms of the Block-Walker reaction field and local proton donor concentration, for the nitroxides that are commonly used in spin labeling of lipids and proteins. Applications to studies of the transverse polarity profiles in lipid bilayers, which constitute the permeability barrier of biological membranes, are reviewed. Emphasis is given to parallels with the permeation profiles of oxygen and nitric oxide that are determined from spin-label relaxation enhancements by using nonlinear continuous-wave EPR and saturation recovery EPR, and with permeation profiles of D(2)O that are determined by using (2)H electron spin echo envelope modulation spectroscopy.

Oxygen profiles in membranes

Transmembrane profiles of molecular oxygen in lipid bilayers are not only significant for membrane physiology and pathology, but also are essential to the determination of membrane protein structure by site-directed spin labeling. Oxygen profiles obtained with spin-labeled lipid chains have a Boltzmann sigmoidal dependence on the depth into each lipid leaflet, which represents a two-compartment distribution between outer and inner regions of the membrane, with a transfer free energy that depends linearly on distance from the dividing planes. Transmembrane profiles for intramembrane polarity, and for water penetration into the membrane, have an identical form, but are of the reverse sign. Comparison with recently published oxygen profiles from a site-specifically spin-labeled alpha-helical transmembrane peptide validates the use of spin-labeled lipids for all these profiles and provides the necessary bridge to generate the full bilayer from a single lipid leaflet.

Application of the out-of-phase absorption mode to separating overlapping EPR signals with different T1 values

The use of 90 degrees-out-of-phase first-harmonic absorption (V1'-) EPR to resolve the spectra from nitroxide spin labels with differing T1-relaxation times is described. Non-linear V1'-EPR spectra recorded under moderate saturation have sharper lines compared with the in-phase V1-EPR spectra, and amplitudes that preferentially enhance components with longer T1-relaxation. Discrimination between V1'-spectral components can be increased further by means of selective paramagnetic relaxation enhancement agents. Examples are given of biophysical applications to double labelling in single-component membranes and phase separation in two-component membranes, to lipid-peptide complexes, and to binding of spin-labelled reagents. It is concluded that optimal resolution in V1'-EPR spectroscopy is obtained at relatively low Zeeman modulation frequencies (20-30 kHz) and moderate saturation (H1 approximately 0.2-0.3 G).

Electron paramagnetic resonance studies of magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers utilizing a phospholipid spin label

X-band electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to study the structural and dynamic properties of magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers utilizing a variety of phosphocholine spin labels (PCSL) as a function oftemperature. 1-Palmitoyl-2-[n-(4,4-dimethyloxazolidine-N-oxyl)stearoyl]-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (n-PCSL) in which a nitroxide group was attached to the different acyl chain positions of the phospholipid (n = 5, 7, 12, and 14) were used as an EPR spin probe to investigate magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers from the plateau (near to the headgroup) region to the end of the acyl chain (center of the bilayers). The addition of certain types of paramagnetic lanthanide ions changes the overall magnetic susceptibility anisotropy tensor of the bicelles, such that the bicelles flip with their bilayer normal either parallel or perpendicular to the magnetic field. The present study reveals for the first time that, in the case of the n-PCSL, the bilayer normal is aligned parallel and perpendicular to the magnetic field in the presence of lanthanide ions having positive delta(chi) (e.g., Tm3+) and negative delta(chi) (e.g., Dy3+), respectively. The magnetic alignment of the bilayers and the corresponding segmental molecular order parameter, S(mol), were investigated as a function of the temperature. The S(mol) values decrease in the following order, 5-PCSL > 7-PCSL > 12-PCSL > 14-PCSL, for the magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers. Also, the variable temperature study indicates that, by increasing the temperature, the order parameters S(mol) decreased for all the n-PCSLs. The results indicate that magnetically aligned phospholipid bilayers represent an excellent model membrane system for X-band EPR studies.

Oxygen permeation profile in lipid membranes: comparison with transmembrane polarity profile

Permeation of oxygen into membranes is relevant not only to physiological function, but also to depth determinations in membranes by site-directed spin labeling. Spin-lattice (T(1)) relaxation enhancements by air or molecular oxygen were determined for phosphatidylcholines spin labeled at positions (n = 4-14, 16) of the sn-2 chain in fluid membranes of dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine, by using nonlinear continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). Both progressive saturation and out-of-phase continuous-wave EPR measurements yield similar oxygen permeation profiles. With pure oxygen, the T(2)-relaxation enhancements determined from homogeneous linewidths of the linear EPR spectra are equal to the T(1)-relaxation enhancements determined by nonlinear EPR. This confirms that both relaxation enhancements occur by Heisenberg exchange, which requires direct contact between oxygen and spin label. Oxygen concentrates in the hydrophobic interior of phospholipid bilayer membranes with a sigmoidal permeation profile that is the inverse of the polarity profile established earlier for these spin-labeled lipids. The shape of the oxygen permeation profile in fluid lipid membranes is controlled partly by the penetration of water, via the transmembrane polarity profile. At the protein interface of the KcsA ion channel, the oxygen profile is more diffuse than that in fluid lipid bilayers.