Water-protein interactions of an arginine-rich membrane peptide in lipid bilayers investigated by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Selective Methods Promote Protein Solid-State NMR

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) is indispensable for studying the structures, dynamics, and interactions of insoluble proteins in native or native-like environments. While ssNMR includes numerous nonselective techniques for general analysis, it also provides various selective methods that allow for the extraction of precise details about proteins. This perspective highlights three key aspects of selective methods: selective signals of protein segments, selective recoupling, and site-specific insights into proteins. These methods leverage protein topology, labeling strategies, and the tailored manipulation of spin interactions through radio frequency (RF) pulses, significantly promoting the field of protein ssNMR. With ongoing advancements in higher magnetic fields and faster magic angle spinning (MAS), there remains an ongoing need to enhance the selectivity and efficiency of selective ssNMR methods, facilitating deeper atomic-level insights into complex biological systems.

Solid state NMR spectral editing of histidine, arginine and lysine using Hadamard encoding

The NMR signals from protein sidechains are rich in information about intra- and inter-molecular interactions, but their detection can be complicated due to spectral overlap as well as conformational and hydrogen exchange. In this work, we demonstrate a protocol for multi-dimensional solid-state NMR spectral editing of signals from basic sidechains based on Hadamard matrix encoding. The Hadamard method acquires multi-dimensional experiments in such a way that both the backbone and under-sampled sidechain signals can be decoded for unambiguous editing in the 15 N spectral frequency dimension. All multi-dimensional 15 N-edited solid-state NMR experiments can be acquired using this strategy, thereby accelerating the acquisition of spectra spanning broad frequency bandwidth. Application of these methods to the ferritin nanocage, reveals signals from N atoms from His, Arg, Lys and Trp sidechains, as well as their tightly bound, ordered water molecules. The Hadamard approach adds to the arsenal of spectroscopic approaches for protein NMR signal detection.

Combinations of arginine and pullulan reveal the selective effect of stabilization mechanisms on different lyophilized proteins

The stability of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and β-galactosidase (β-gal), incorporated in arginine/pullulan (A/P) mixtures at various weight ratios by lyophilization, was determined. The physicochemical characteristics of various A/P mixtures were assessed. With decreasing A/P ratios, the glass transition temperature of the formulations increased. Furthermore, arginine crystallization due to high relative humidity (RH) exposure was prevented at an A/P weight ratio of 4/6 or less. When stored at 0 % RH / 60 °C for 4 weeks, arginine was superior to pullulan as stabilizer. During storage at 43 % RH / 30 ℃ for 4 weeks, the enzymatic activity of LDH was best retained at an A/P weight ratio of 2/8, while β-gal activity was relatively well-retained at A/P weight ratios of both 8/2 and 2/8. LDH seemed to be more prone to degradation in the rubbery state. In the glassy state, β-gal degraded faster than LDH. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that (labeled) arginine experienced a different interaction in the two protein samples, reflecting a modulation of long-range correlations of the arginine side chain nitrogen atoms (Nε, Nη). In summary, LDH stabilization in the A/P matrix requires vitrification. Further stabilization difference between LDH and β-gal may be dependent on the interaction with arginine.

Histidine-Mediated Ion Specific Effects Enable Salt Tolerance of a Pore-Forming Marine Antimicrobial Peptide

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) preferentially permeate prokaryotic membranes via electrostatic binding and membrane remodeling. Such action is drastically suppressed by high salt due to increased electrostatic screening, thus it is puzzling how marine AMPs can possibly work. We examine as a model system, piscidin-1, a histidine-rich marine AMP, and show that ion-histidine interactions play unanticipated roles in membrane remodeling at high salt: Histidines can simultaneously hydrogen-bond to a phosphate and coordinate with an alkali metal ion to neutralize phosphate charge, thereby facilitating multidentate bonds to lipid headgroups in order to generate saddle-splay curvature, a prerequisite to pore formation. A comparison among Na+ , K+ , and Cs+ indicates that histidine-mediated salt tolerance is ion specific. We conclude that histidine plays a unique role in enabling protein/peptide-membrane interactions that occur in marine or other high-salt environment.

Water Accessibility Refinement of the Extended Structure of KirBac1.1 in the Closed State

NMR structures of membrane proteins are often hampered by poor chemical shift dispersion and internal dynamics which limit resolved distance restraints. However, the ordering and topology of these systems can be defined with site-specific water or lipid proximity. Membrane protein water accessibility surface area is often investigated as a topological function via solid-state NMR. Here we leverage water-edited solid-state NMR measurements in simulated annealing calculations to refine a membrane protein structure. This is demonstrated on the inward rectifier K+ channel KirBac1.1 found in Burkholderia pseudomallei. KirBac1.1 is homologous to human Kir channels, sharing a nearly identical fold. Like many existing Kir channel crystal structures, the 1p7b crystal structure is incomplete, missing 85 out of 333 residues, including the N-terminus and C-terminus. We measure solid-state NMR water proximity information and use this for refinement of KirBac1.1 using the Xplor-NIH structure determination program. Along with predicted dihedral angles and sparse intra- and inter-subunit distances, we refined the residues 1-300 to atomic resolution. All structural quality metrics indicate these restraints are a powerful way forward to solve high quality structures of membrane proteins using NMR.

Hydration and Dynamics of Full-Length Tau Amyloid Fibrils Investigated by Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The microtubule-associated protein tau aggregates into distinct neurofibrillary tangles in brains afflicted with multiple neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). The mechanism of tau misfolding and aggregation is poorly understood. Determining the structure, dynamics, and water accessibility of tau filaments may provide insight into the pathway of tau misfolding. Here, we investigate the hydration and dynamics of the β-sheet core of heparin-fibrillized 0N4R tau using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This β-sheet core consists of the second and third microtubule-binding repeats, R2 and R3, respectively, which form a hairpin. Water-edited two-dimensional (2D) 13C-13C and 15N-13C correlation spectra show that most residues in R2 and R3 domains have low water accessibility, indicating that this hairpin is surrounded by other proteinaceous segments. However, a small number of residues, especially S285 and S316, are well hydrated compared to other Ser and Thr residues, suggesting that there is a small water channel in the middle of the hairpin. To probe whether water accessibility correlates with protein dynamics, we measured the backbone N-H dipolar couplings of the β-sheet core. Interestingly, residues in the fourth microtubule-binding repeat, R4, show rigid-limit N-H dipolar couplings, even though this domain exhibits weaker intensities in the 2D 15N-13C correlation spectra. These results suggest that the R4 domain participates in cross-β hydrogen bonding in some of the subunits but exhibits dynamic disorder in other subunits. Taken together, these hydration and dynamics data indicate that the R2-R3 hairpin of 0N4R tau is shielded from water by other proteinaceous segments on the exterior but contains a small water pore in the interior. This structural topology has various similarities with the CBD tau fibril structure but also shows specific differences. The disorder of the R4 domain and the presence of a small water channel in the heparin-fibrillized 4R tau have implications for the structure of tau fibrils in diseased brains.

Thermodynamics of cell penetrating peptides on lipid membranes: sequence and membrane acidity regulate surface binding

Acidic lipids respond to pH in ways that fully promote or deplete the surface accumulation of cell penetrating peptides.

Probing Contact-Electrification-Induced Electron and Ion Transfers at a Liquid-Solid Interface

As a well-known phenomenon, contact electrification (CE) has been studied for decades. Although recent studies have proven that CE between two solids is primarily due to electron transfer, the mechanism for CE between liquid and solid remains controversial. The CE process between different liquids and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) film is systematically studied to clarify the electrification mechanism of the solid-liquid interface. The CE between deionized water and PTFE can produce a surface charges density in the scale of 1 nC cm^-2 , which is ten times higher than the calculation based on the pure ion-transfer model. Hence, electron transfer is likely the dominating effect for this liquid-solid electrification process. Meanwhile, as ion concentration increases, the ion adsorption on the PTFE hinders electron transfer and results in the suppression of the transferred charge amount. Furthermore, there is an obvious charge transfer between oil and PTFE, which further confirms the presence of electron transfer between liquid and solid, simply because there are no ions in oil droplets. It is demonstrated that electron transfer plays the dominant role during CE between liquids and solids, which directly impacts the traditional understanding of the formation of an electric double layer (EDL) at a liquid-solid interface in physical chemistry.

Role of Membrane Potential on Entry of Cell-Penetrating Peptide Transportan 10 into Single Vesicles

Cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) can translocate across plasma membranes to enter the cytosol of eukaryotic cells without decreasing cell viability. We revealed the mechanism underlying this translocation by examining the effect of membrane potential, φ_m, on the entry of a CPP, transportan 10 (TP10), into the lumen of single giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs). For this purpose, we used the single GUV method to detect the entry of carboxyfluorescein (CF)-labeled TP10 (CF-TP10) into the lumen of single GUVs. First, we used various K⁺ concentration differences to apply different negative membrane potentials on single GUVs containing gramicidin A in their membrane and confirmed these potentials using the φ_m-sensitive fluorescent probe 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodine. The fluorescence intensity of the GUV membranes (i.e., the rim intensity) due to 3,3'-dihexyloxacarbocyanine iodine increased with |φ_m| up to 118 mV, and its dependence on |φ_m| less than 28 mV agreed with a theoretical estimation (i.e., the dye concentration in the inner leaflet of a GUV is larger than that in the outer leaflet according to the Boltzmann distribution). We then examined the effect of φ_m on the entry of CF-TP10 into GUVs using single GUVs containing small GUVs or large unilamellar vesicles inside the mother GUV lumen. We found that CF-TP10 entered the GUV lumen without pore formation and the rate of entry of CF-TP10 into the GUV lumen, V_entry, increased with an increase in |φ_m|. The rim intensity due to CF-TP10 increased with an increase in |φ_m|, indicating that the CF-TP10 concentration in the inner leaflet of the GUV increased with |φ_m|. These results indicate that the φ_m-induced elevation in V_entry can be explained by the increase in CF-TP10 concentration in the inner leaflet with |φ_m|. We discuss the mechanism underlying this effect of membrane potential based on the pre-pore model of the translocation of CF-TP10 across a GUV membrane.

Influence of Lipid Saturation, Hydrophobic Length and Cholesterol on Double-Arginine-Containing Helical Peptides in Bilayer Membranes

Membrane proteins are essential for many cell processes yet are more difficult to investigate than soluble proteins. Charged residues often contribute significantly to membrane protein function. Model peptides such as GWALP23 (acetyl-GGALW⁵ LAL⁸ LALALAL¹⁶ ALW¹⁹ LAGA-amide) can be used to characterize the influence of specific residues on transmembrane protein domains. We have substituted R8 and R16 in GWALP23 in place of L8 and L16, equidistant from the peptide center, and incorporated specific ² H-labeled alanine residues within the central sequence for detection by solid-state ² H NMR spectroscopy. The resulting pattern of [² H]Ala quadrupolar splitting (Δν_q ) magnitudes indicates the core helix for R^8,16 GWALP23 is significantly tilted to give a similar transmembrane orientation in thinner bilayers with either saturated C12:0 or C14:0 acyl chains (1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DLPC) or 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC)) or unsaturated C16:1 Δ9 cis acyl chains. In bilayers of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC; C18:1 Δ9 cis) multiple orientations are indicated, whereas in longer, unsaturated 1,2-dieicosenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DEiPC; C20:1 Δ11 cis) bilayers, the R^8,16 GWALP23 helix adopts primarily a surface orientation. The inclusion of 10-20 mol % cholesterol in DOPC bilayers drives more of the R^8,16 GWALP23 helix population to the membrane surface, thereby allowing both charged arginines access to the interfacial lipid head groups. The results suggest that hydrophobic thickness and cholesterol content are more important than lipid saturation for the arginine peptide dynamics and helix orientation in lipid membranes.

Enhancement of exfoliating efficacy of L-carnitine with ion-pair method monitored by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Carnitine (CAR), an amino acid derivative, has great potential as a facial exfoliating agent owing to its calcium chelating property under weakly acidic or neutral conditions. However, its application is limited by its poor transdermal penetration. To optimise its exfoliation efficacy with minimal concentration, we propose the ion-pair method. The ionic interaction between CAR and a zwitterionic substance was successfully monitored by measuring conductivity. The alterations of penetration and exfoliation efficacy for CAR addition to different types of counter ions were investigated in vitro and in vivo. We found that hydrogenated soya phosphatidylcholine (HSC), an amphiphilic counter ion, significantly increases the stratum corneum penetration and exfoliation efficacy of CAR. The changes of the CAR-HSC ionic interaction in the presence of calcium ions were also investigated by ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The NMR spectra for amino groups of CAR first decreased with HSC and then gradually recovered and shifted as calcium ions were added. From the results, a noble exfoliating complex of CAR with high exfoliation efficacy could be proposed. Moreover, the results demonstrate that NMR spectroscopy is useful to obtain direct experimental evidence of the molecular dynamics simulations of the alteration of an exfoliating complex as it penetrates.

All-Factor Analysis and Correlations on the Transmembrane Process for Arginine-Rich Cell-Penetrating Peptides

Currently, arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), due to their little cytotoxicity and high transmembrane efficiency, are considered as one of the important intracellular carriers. Although the mechanism of the transmembrane process for arginine-rich CPPs was proposed, the quantitative correlations and the key factors involved in this process still deserve further investigation. In this study, all-atom molecular dynamics and the umbrella sampling technique were employed to study the arginine-rich CPPs transmembrane process. In the adsorption process of CPPs from solution to the surface of the lipid bilayer, the adsorption free energy (ΔG_A) is found to be linearly related to the interaction energy change (ΔE_A): ΔG_A = 0.0426ΔE_A + 36.7, R² = 0.92. In the CPPs transmembrane process, the transmembrane free energy barrier (ΔG_B) is roughly correlated with the corresponding interaction energy change (ΔE_B): ΔG_B = 0.108ΔE_B +135, R² = 0.73. The multiple salt bridges of guanidinium-PO₄ account for 65% of the overall interaction energy, so the increased negative charges of the lipid bilayer or more salt bridges would facilitate CPPs adsorption and transmembrane processes. Also, the increased negative charges of the lipid bilayer would reduce the amount of water to be carried into the pore and further reduce the ΔG_B. The peptide backbone would not have a direct impact on transmembrane efficiency. The ΔG_B is also found to be related to the length of the pore (L): ΔG_B = 46.2L - 31.3, R² = 0.92, which makes the transmembrane efficiency estimable. This work is expected to deliver an in-depth understanding and help the optimization of CPPs.

Adsorption and insertion of polyarginine peptides into membrane pores: The trade-off between electrostatics, acid-base chemistry and pore formation energy

The mechanism that arginine-rich cell penetrating peptides (ARCPPs) use to translocate lipid membranes is not entirely understood. In the present work, we develop a molecular theory that allows to investigate the adsorption and insertion of ARCPPs on membranes bearing hydrophilic pores. This method accounts for size, shape, conformation, protonation state and charge distribution of the peptides; it also describes the state of protonation of acidic membrane lipids. We present a systematic investigation of the effect of pore size, peptide concentration and sequence length on the extent of peptide adsorption and insertion into the pores. We show that adsorption on the intact (non-porated) lipid membrane plays a key role on peptide translocation. For peptides shorter than nona-arginine, adsorption on the intact membrane increases significantly with chain length, but it saturates for longer peptides. However, this adsorption behavior only occurs at relatively low peptide concentrations; increasing peptide concentration favors adsorption of the shorter molecules. Adsorption of longer peptides increases the intact membrane negative charge as a result of further deprotonation of acidic lipids. Peptide insertion into the pores depends non-monotonically on pore radius, which reflects the short range nature of the effective membrane-peptide interactions. The size of the pore that promotes maximum adsorption depends on the peptide chain length. Peptide translocation is a thermally activated process, so we complement our thermodynamic approach with a simple kinetic model that allows to rationalize the ARCPPs translocation rate in terms of the free energy gain of adsorption, and the energy cost of creating a transmembrane pore with peptides in it. Our results indicate that strategies to improve translocation efficiency should focus on enhancing peptide adsorption.

Assignment of NMR resonances of protons covalently bound to photochemically active cofactors in photosynthetic reaction centers by 13C-1H photo-CIDNP MAS-J-HMQC experiment

Modified versions of through-bond heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) experiments are presented to take advantage of the light-induced hyperpolarization that occurs on ¹³C nuclei due to the solid-state photochemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization (photo-CIDNP) effect. Such ¹³C-¹H photo-CIDNP MAS-J-HMQC and photo-CIDNP MAS-J-HSQC experiments are applied to acquire the 2D ¹³C-¹H correlation spectra of selectively ¹³C-labeled photochemically active cofactors in the frozen quinone-blocked photosynthetic reaction center (RC) of the purple bacterium Rhodobacter (R.) sphaeroides wild-type (WT). Resulting spectra contain no correlation peaks arising from the protein backbone, which greatly simplifies the assignment of aliphatic region. Based on the photo-CIDNP MAS-J-HMQC NMR experiment, we obtained assignment of selective ¹H NMR resonances of the cofactors involved in the electron transfer process in the RC and compared them with values theoretically predicted by density functional theory (DFT) calculation as well as with the chemical shifts obtained from monomeric cofactors in the solution. We also compared proton chemical shifts obtained by photo-CIDNP MAS-J-HMQC experiment under continuous illumination with the ones obtained in dark by classical cross-polarization (CP) HETCOR. We expect that the proposed approach will become a method of choice for obtaining ¹H chemical shift maps of the active cofactors in photosynthetic RCs and will aid the interpretation of heteronuclear spin-torch experiments.

Cell penetrating peptide modulation of membrane biomechanics by Molecular dynamics

The efficacy of a pharmaceutical treatment is often countered by the inadequate membrane permeability, that prevents drugs from reaching their specific intracellular targets. Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are able to route across cells' membrane various types of cargo, including drugs and nanoparticles. However, CPPs internalization mechanisms are not yet fully understood and depend on a wide variety of aspects. In this contest, the entry of a CPP into the lipid bilayer might induce molecular conformational changes, including marked variations on membrane's mechanical properties. Understanding how the CPP does influence the mechanical properties of cells membrane is crucial to design, engineer and improve new and existing penetrating peptides. Here, all atom Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were used to investigate the interaction between different types of CPPs embedded in a lipid bilayer of dioleoyl phosphatidylcholine (DOPC). In a greater detail, we systematically highlighted how CPP properties are responsible for modulating the membrane bending modulus. Our findings highlighted the CPP hydropathy strongly correlated with penetration of water molecules in the lipid bilayer, thus supporting the hypothesis that the amount of water each CPP can route inside the membrane is modulated by the hydrophobic and hydrophilic character of the peptide. Water penetration promoted by CPPs leads to a local decrease of the lipid order, which emerges macroscopically as a reduction of the membrane bending modulus.

Gradients in Wall Mechanics and Polysaccharides along Growing Inflorescence Stems

At early stages of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) flowering, the inflorescence stem undergoes rapid growth, with elongation occurring predominantly in the apical ∼4 cm of the stem. We measured the spatial gradients for elongation rate, osmotic pressure, cell wall thickness, and wall mechanical compliances and coupled these macroscopic measurements with molecular-level characterization of the polysaccharide composition, mobility, hydration, and intermolecular interactions of the inflorescence cell wall using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and small-angle neutron scattering. Force-extension curves revealed a gradient, from high to low, in the plastic and elastic compliances of cell walls along the elongation zone, but plots of growth rate versus wall compliances were strikingly nonlinear. Neutron-scattering curves showed only subtle changes in wall structure, including a slight increase in cellulose microfibril alignment along the growing stem. In contrast, solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectra showed substantial decreases in pectin amount, esterification, branching, hydration, and mobility in an apical-to-basal pattern, while the cellulose content increased modestly. These results suggest that pectin structural changes are connected with increases in pectin-cellulose interaction and reductions in wall compliances along the apical-to-basal gradient in growth rate. These pectin structural changes may lessen the ability of the cell wall to undergo stress relaxation and irreversible expansion (e.g. induced by expansins), thus contributing to the growth kinematics of the growing stem.

Structure and Dynamics of Polysaccharides in Plant Cell Walls from Solid-State NMR

Multidimensional high-resolution magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectroscopy has recently been shown to have the unique capability of revealing the molecular structure and dynamics of insoluble macromolecules in intact plant cell walls. This chapter summarizes the 2D and 3D SSNMR techniques used so far to study cell walls and key findings about cellulose interactions with matrix polysaccharides, cellulose microfibril structure, polysaccharide–protein interactions that are responsible for wall loosening, and polysaccharide–water interactions in the hydrated primary walls. These results provide detailed molecular insights into the structure of near-native plant cell walls, and revise the conventional tethered-network model by suggesting a single-network model for the primary cell wall, which has found increasing support from recent biochemical and biomechanical data.

Icephobic Surfaces Induced by Interfacial Nonfrozen Water

It is known that smooth, hydrophobic solid surfaces exhibit low ice adhesion values, which have been shown to approach a lower ice adhesion strength limit (∼150 kPa) defined by the water receding contact angle. To overcome this limit, we have designed self-lubricating icephobic coatings by blending polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) amphiphilic copolymers into a polymer matrix. Such coatings provide low ice adhesion strength values (∼50 kPa) that can substantially reduce the lower bound of the ice adhesion strength achieved previously on smooth, hydrophobic solid surfaces. Different molecular mechanisms are responsible for the low ice adhesion strength attained by these two approaches. For the smooth hydrophobic surfaces, an increased water depletion layer thickness at the interface weakens the van der Waals' interactions between the ice and the polymeric substrate. For the self-lubricating icephobic coatings, the PEG component of the amphiphilic copolymer is capable of strongly hydrogen bonding with water molecules. The surface hydrogen-bonded water molecules do not freeze, even at substantial levels of subcooling, and therefore serve as a self-lubricating interfacial liquid-like layer that helps to reduce the adhesion strength of ice to the surface. The existence of nonfrozen water molecules at the ice-solid interface is confirmed by solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy.

Mapping protein-protein interactions by double-REDOR-filtered magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

REDOR-based experiments with simultaneous 1H-13C and 1H-15N dipolar dephasing are explored for investigating intermolecular protein-protein interfaces in complexes formed by a U-13C,15N-labeled protein and its natural abundance binding partner. The application of a double-REDOR filter (dREDOR) results in a complete dephasing of proton magnetization in the U-13C,15N-enriched molecule while the proton magnetization of the unlabeled binding partner is not dephased. This retained proton magnetization is then transferred across the intermolecular interface by 1H-13C or 1H-15N cross polarization, permitting to establish the residues of the U-13C,15N-labeled protein, which constitute the binding interface. To assign the interface residues, this dREDOR-CPMAS element is incorporated as a building block into 13C-13C correlation experiments. We established the validity of this approach on U-13C,15N-histidine and on a structurally characterized complex of dynactin's U-13C,15N-CAP-Gly domain with end-binding protein 1 (EB1). The approach introduced here is broadly applicable to the analysis of intermolecular interfaces when one of the binding partners in a complex cannot be isotopically labeled.

Structural biology of supramolecular assemblies by magic-angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

In recent years, exciting developments in instrument technology and experimental methodology have advanced the field of magic-angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to new heights. Contemporary MAS NMR yields atomic-level insights into structure and dynamics of an astounding range of biological systems, many of which cannot be studied by other methods. With the advent of fast MAS, proton detection, and novel pulse sequences, large supramolecular assemblies, such as cytoskeletal proteins and intact viruses, are now accessible for detailed analysis. In this review, we will discuss the current MAS NMR methodologies that enable characterization of complex biomolecular systems and will present examples of applications to several classes of assemblies comprising bacterial and mammalian cytoskeleton as well as human immunodeficiency virus 1 and bacteriophage viruses. The body of work reviewed herein is representative of the recent advancements in the field, with respect to the complexity of the systems studied, the quality of the data, and the significance to the biology.

Probing Hydronium Ion Histidine NH Exchange Rate Constants in the M2 Channel via Indirect Observation of Dipolar-Dephased 15N Signals in Magic-Angle-Spinning NMR

Water-protein chemical exchange in membrane-bound proteins is an important parameter for understanding how proteins interact with their aqueous environment, but has been difficult to observe in membrane-bound biological systems. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of probing specific water-protein chemical exchange in membrane-bound proteins in solid-state MAS NMR. By spin-locking the 1H magnetization along the magic angle, the 1H spin diffusion is suppressed such that a water-protein chemical exchange process can be monitored indirectly by dipolar-dephased 15N signals through polarization transfer from 1H. In the example of the Influenza A full length M2 protein, the buildup of dipolar-dephased 15N signals from the tetrad of His37 side chains have been observed as a function of spin-lock time. This confirms that hydronium ions are in exchange with protons in the His37 NH bonds at the heart of the M2 proton conduction mechanism, with an exchange rate constant of ∼1750 s-1 for pH 6.2 at -10 °C.

High resolution triple resonance micro magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy of nanoliter sample volumes

To be able to study mass-limited samples and small single crystals, a triple resonance micro-magic angle spinning (μMAS) probehead for the application of high-resolution solid-state NMR of nanoliter samples was developed. Due to its excellent rf performance this allows us to explore the limits of proton NMR resolution in strongly coupled solids. Using homonuclear decoupling we obtain unprecedented (1)H linewidths for a single crystal of glycine (Δν(CH2) = 0.14 ppm) at high field (20 T) in a directly detected spectrum. The triple channel design allowed the recording of high-resolution μMAS (13)C-(15)N correlations of [U-(13)C-(15)N] arginine HCl and shows that the superior (1)H resolution opens the way for high-sensitivity inverse detection of heteronuclei even at moderate spinning speeds and rf-fields. Efficient decoupling leads to long coherence times which can be exploited in many correlation experiments.

Atomic-resolution structure of the CAP-Gly domain of dynactin on polymeric microtubules determined by magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

Microtubules and their associated proteins perform a broad array of essential physiological functions, including mitosis, polarization and differentiation, cell migration, and vesicle and organelle transport. As such, they have been extensively studied at multiple levels of resolution (e.g., from structural biology to cell biology). Despite these efforts, there remain significant gaps in our knowledge concerning how microtubule-binding proteins bind to microtubules, how dynamics connect different conformational states, and how these interactions and dynamics affect cellular processes. Structures of microtubule-associated proteins assembled on polymeric microtubules are not known at atomic resolution. Here, we report a structure of the cytoskeleton-associated protein glycine-rich (CAP-Gly) domain of dynactin motor on polymeric microtubules, solved by magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy. We present the intermolecular interface of CAP-Gly with microtubules, derived by recording direct dipolar contacts between CAP-Gly and tubulin using double rotational echo double resonance (dREDOR)-filtered experiments. Our results indicate that the structure adopted by CAP-Gly varies, particularly around its loop regions, permitting its interaction with multiple binding partners and with the microtubules. To our knowledge, this study reports the first atomic-resolution structure of a microtubule-associated protein on polymeric microtubules. Our approach lays the foundation for atomic-resolution structural analysis of other microtubule-associated motors.

(15)N and (1)H Solid-State NMR Investigation of a Canonical Low-Barrier Hydrogen-Bond Compound: 1,8-Bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene

Strong or low-barrier hydrogen bonds have often been proposed in proteins to explain enzyme catalysis and proton-transfer reactions. So far (1)H chemical shifts and scalar couplings have been used as the main NMR spectroscopic signatures for strong H-bonds. In this work, we report simultaneous measurements of (15)N and (1)H chemical shifts and N-H bond lengths by solid-state NMR in (15)N-labeled 1,8-bis(dimethylamino)naphthalene (DMAN), which contains a well-known strong NHN H-bond. We complexed DMAN with three different counteranions to examine the effects of the chemical environment on the H-bond lengths and chemical shifts. All three DMAN compounds exhibit significantly elongated N-H distances compared to the covalent bond length, and the (1)H(N) chemical shifts are larger than ∼17 ppm, consistent with strong NHN H-bonds in the DMAN cation. However, the (15)N and (1)H chemical shifts and the precise N-H distances differ among the three compounds, and the (15)N chemical shifts show opposite dependences on the proton localization from the general trend in organic compounds, indicating the significant effects of the counteranions on the electronic structure of the H-bond. These data provide useful NMR benchmarks for strong H-bonds and caution against the sole reliance on chemical shifts for identifying strong H-bonds in proteins since neighboring side chains can exert influences on chemical shifts similar to those of the bulky organic anions in DMAN. Instead, N-H bond lengths should be measured, in conjunction with chemical shifts, as a more fundamental parameter of H-bond strength.

Pf1 bacteriophage hydration by magic angle spinning solid-state NMR

High resolution two- and three-dimensional heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy ((1)H-(13)C, (1)H-(15)N, and (1)H-(13)C-(13)C HETCOR) has provided a detailed characterization of the internal and external hydration water of the Pf1 virion. This long and slender virion (2000 nm × 7 nm) contains highly stretched DNA within a capsid of small protein subunits, each only 46 amino acid residues. HETCOR cross-peaks have been unambiguously assigned to 25 amino acids, including most external residues 1-21 as well as residues 39-40 and 43-46 deep inside the virion. In addition, the deoxyribose rings of the DNA near the virion axis are in contact with water. The sets of cross-peaks to the DNA and to all 25 amino acid residues were from the same hydration water (1)H resonance; some of the assigned residues do not have exchangeable side-chain protons. A mapping of the contacts onto structural models indicates the presence of water "tunnels" through a highly hydrophobic region of the capsid. The present results significantly extend and modify results from a lower resolution study, and yield a comprehensive hydration surface map of Pf1. In addition, the internal water could be distinguished from external hydration water by means of paramagnetic relaxation enhancement. The internal water population may serve as a conveniently localized magnetization reservoir for structural studies.

Cellulose-Pectin Spatial Contacts Are Inherent to Never-Dried Arabidopsis Primary Cell Walls: Evidence from Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

The structural role of pectins in plant primary cell walls is not yet well understood because of the complex and disordered nature of the cell wall polymers. We recently introduced multidimensional solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to characterize the spatial proximities of wall polysaccharides. The data showed extensive cross peaks between pectins and cellulose in the primary wall of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), indicating subnanometer contacts between the two polysaccharides. This result was unexpected because stable pectin-cellulose interactions are not predicted by in vitro binding assays and prevailing cell wall models. To investigate whether the spatial contacts that give rise to the cross peaks are artifacts of sample preparation, we now compare never-dried Arabidopsis primary walls with dehydrated and rehydrated samples. One-dimensional (13)C spectra, two-dimensional (13)C-(13)C correlation spectra, water-polysaccharide correlation spectra, and dynamics data all indicate that the structure, mobility, and intermolecular contacts of the polysaccharides are indistinguishable between never-dried and rehydrated walls. Moreover, a partially depectinated cell wall in which 40% of homogalacturonan is extracted retains cellulose-pectin cross peaks, indicating that the cellulose-pectin contacts are not due to molecular crowding. The cross peaks are observed both at -20 °C and at ambient temperature, thus ruling out freezing as a cause of spatial contacts. These results indicate that rhamnogalacturonan I and a portion of homogalacturonan have significant interactions with cellulose microfibrils in the native primary wall. This pectin-cellulose association may be formed during wall biosynthesis and may involve pectin entrapment in or between cellulose microfibrils, which cannot be mimicked by in vitro binding assays.

Investigating Hydrophilic Pores in Model Lipid Bilayers Using Molecular Simulations: Correlating Bilayer Properties with Pore-Formation Thermodynamics

Cell-penetrating and antimicrobial peptides show a remarkable ability to translocate across physiological membranes. Along with factors such as electric-potential-induced perturbations of membrane structure and surface tension effects, experiments invoke porelike membrane configurations during the solute transfer process into vesicles and cells. The initiation and formation of pores are associated with a nontrivial free-energy cost, thus necessitating a consideration of the factors associated with pore formation and the attendant free energies. Because of experimental and modeling challenges related to the long time scales of the translocation process, we use umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations with a lipid-density-based order parameter to investigate membrane-pore-formation free energy employing Martini coarse-grained models. We investigate structure and thermodynamic features of the pore in 18 lipids spanning a range of headgroups, charge states, acyl chain lengths, and saturation. We probe the dependence of pore-formation barriers on the area per lipid, lipid bilayer thickness, and membrane bending rigidities in three different lipid classes. The pore-formation free energy in pure bilayers and peptide translocating scenarios are significantly coupled with bilayer thickness. Thicker bilayers require more reversible work to create pores. The pore-formation free energy is higher in peptide-lipid systems than in peptide-free lipid systems due to penalties to maintain the solvation of charged hydrophilic solutes within the membrane environment.

Investigation of the curvature induction and membrane localization of the influenza virus M2 protein using static and off-magic-angle spinning solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance of oriented bicelles

A wide variety of membrane proteins induce membrane curvature for function; thus, it is important to develop new methods to simultaneously determine membrane curvature and protein binding sites in membranes with multiple curvatures. We introduce solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods based on magnetically oriented bicelles and off-magic-angle spinning (OMAS) to measure membrane curvature and the binding site of proteins in mixed-curvature membranes. We demonstrate these methods on the influenza virus M2 protein, which not only acts as a proton channel but also mediates virus assembly and membrane scission. An M2 peptide encompassing the transmembrane (TM) domain and an amphipathic helix, M2(21-61), was studied and compared with the TM peptide (M2TM). Static (31)P NMR spectra of magnetically oriented 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC)/1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC) bicelles exhibit a temperature-independent isotropic chemical shift in the presence of M2(21-61) but not M2TM, indicating that the amphipathic helix confers the ability to generate a high-curvature phase. Two-dimensional (2D) (31)P spectra indicate that this high-curvature phase is associated with the DHPC bicelle edges, suggestive of the structure of budding viruses from the host cell. (31)P- and (13)C-detected (1)H relaxation times of the lipids indicate that the majority of M2(21-61) is bound to the high-curvature phase. Using OMAS experiments, we resolved the (31)P signals of lipids with identical headgroups based on their distinct chemical shift anisotropies. On the basis of this resolution, 2D (1)H-(31)P correlation spectra show that the amide protons in M2(21-61) correlate with the DMPC but not DHPC (31)P signal of the bicelle, indicating that a small percentage of M2(21-61) partitions into the planar region of the bicelles. These results show that the amphipathic helix induces high membrane curvature and localizes the protein to this phase, in good agreement with the membrane scission function of the protein. These bicelle-based relaxation and OMAS solid-state NMR techniques are generally applicable to curvature-inducing membrane proteins such as those involved in membrane trafficking, membrane fusion, and cell division.

A multi-scale molecular dynamics simulation of PMAL facilitated delivery of siRNA

PMAL as a novel carrier for the delivery of siRNA into lipid bilayer membranes.

Probing membrane protein structure using water polarization transfer solid-state NMR

Water plays an essential role in the structure and function of proteins, lipid membranes and other biological macromolecules. Solid-state NMR heteronuclear-detected (1)H polarization transfer from water to biomolecules is a versatile approach for studying water-protein, water-membrane, and water-carbohydrate interactions in biology. We review radiofrequency pulse sequences for measuring water polarization transfer to biomolecules, the mechanisms of polarization transfer, and the application of this method to various biological systems. Three polarization transfer mechanisms, chemical exchange, spin diffusion and NOE, manifest themselves at different temperatures, magic-angle-spinning frequencies, and pulse irradiations. Chemical exchange is ubiquitous in all systems examined so far, and spin diffusion plays the key role in polarization transfer within the macromolecule. Tightly bound water molecules with long residence times are rare in proteins at ambient temperature. The water polarization-transfer technique has been used to study the hydration of microcrystalline proteins, lipid membranes, and plant cell wall polysaccharides, and to derive atomic-resolution details of the kinetics and mechanism of ion conduction in channels and pumps. Using this approach, we have measured the water polarization transfer to the transmembrane domain of the influenza M2 protein to obtain information on the structure of this tetrameric proton channel. At short mixing times, the polarization transfer rates are site-specific and depend on the pH, labile protons, sidechain conformation, as well as the radial position of the residues in this four-helix bundle. Despite the multiple dependences, the initial transfer rates reflect the periodic nature of the residue positions from the water-filled pore, thus this technique provides a way of gleaning secondary structure information, helix tilt angle, and the oligomeric structure of membrane proteins.

Water-polysaccharide interactions in the primary cell wall of Arabidopsis thaliana from polarization transfer solid-state NMR

Polysaccharide-rich plant cell walls are hydrated under functional conditions, but the molecular interactions between water and polysaccharides in the wall have not been investigated. In this work, we employ polarization transfer solid-state NMR techniques to study the hydration of primary-wall polysaccharides of the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. By transferring water (1)H polarization to polysaccharides through distance- and mobility-dependent (1)H-(1)H dipolar couplings and detecting it through polysaccharide (13)C signals, we obtain information about water proximity to cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectins as well as water mobility. Both intact and partially extracted cell wall samples are studied. Our results show that water-pectin polarization transfer is much faster than water-cellulose polarization transfer in all samples, but the extent of extraction has a profound impact on the water-polysaccharide spin diffusion. Removal of calcium ions and the consequent extraction of homogalacturonan (HG) significantly slowed down spin diffusion, while further extraction of matrix polysaccharides restored the spin diffusion rate. These trends are observed in cell walls with similar water content, thus they reflect inherent differences in the mobility and spatial distribution of water. Combined with quantitative analysis of the polysaccharide contents, our results indicate that calcium ions and HG gelation increase the amount of bound water, which facilitates spin diffusion, while calcium removal disrupts the gel and gives rise to highly dynamic water, which slows down spin diffusion. The recovery of spin diffusion rates after more extensive extraction is attributed to increased water-exposed surface areas of the polysaccharides. Water-pectin spin diffusion precedes water-cellulose spin diffusion, lending support to the single-network model of plant primary walls in which a substantial fraction of the cellulose surface is surrounded by pectins.

A 2H solid-state NMR study of lipid clustering by cationic antimicrobial and cell-penetrating peptides in model bacterial membranes

Domain formation in bacteria-mimetic membranes due to cationic peptide binding was recently proposed based on calorimetric data. We now use (2)H solid-state NMR to critically examine the presence and absence of domains in bacterial membranes containing zwitterionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylethanolamine (POPE) and anionic 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphatidylglycerol (POPG) lipids. Chain-perdeuterated POPE and POPG are used in single-component membranes, binary POPE/POPG (3:1) membranes, and membranes containing one of four cationic peptides: two antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) of the β-hairpin family of protegrin-1 (PG-1), and two cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs), HIV TAT and penetratin. (2)H quadrupolar couplings were measured to determine the motional amplitudes of POPE and POPG acyl chains as a function of temperature. Homogeneously mixed POPE/POPG membranes should give the same quadrupolar couplings for the two lipids, whereas the presence of membrane domains enriched in one of the two lipids should cause distinct (2)H quadrupolar couplings that reflect different chain disorder. At physiological temperature (308 K), we observed no or only small coupling differences between POPE and POPG in the presence of any of the cationic peptides. However, around ambient temperature (293 K), at which gel- and liquid-crystalline phases coexist in the peptide-free POPE/POPG membrane, the peptides caused distinct quadrupolar couplings for the two lipids, indicating domain formation. The broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptide PG-1 ordered ∼40% of the POPE lipids while disordering POPG. The Gram-negative selective PG-1 mutant, IB549, caused even larger differences in the POPE and POPG disorder: ∼80% of POPE partitioned into the ordered phase, whereas all of the POPG remained in the disordered phase. In comparison, TAT rigidified POPE and POPG similarly in the binary membrane at ambient temperature, indicating that TAT does not cause dynamic heterogeneity but interacts with the membrane with a different mechanism. Penetratin maintained the POPE order but disordered POPG, suggesting moderate domain separation. These results provide insight into the extent of domain formation in bacterial membranes and the possible peptide structural requirements for this phenomenon.

Translocation thermodynamics of linear and cyclic nonaarginine into model DPPC bilayer via coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation: implications of pore formation and nonadditivity

Structural mechanisms and underlying thermodynamic determinants of efficient internalization of charged cationic peptides (cell-penetrating peptides, CPPs) such as TAT, polyarginine, and their variants, into cells, cellular constructs, and model membrane/lipid bilayers (large and giant unilamellar or multilamelar vesicles) continue to garner significant attention. Two widely held views on the translocation mechanism center on endocytotic and nonendocytotic (diffusive) processes. Espousing the view of a purely diffusive internalization process (supported by recent experimental evidence, [Säälik, P.; et al. J. Controlled Release2011, 153, 117–125]), we consider the underlying free energetics of the translocation of a nonaarginine peptide (Arg₉) into a model DPPC bilayer. In the case of the Arg₉ cationic peptide, recent experiments indicate a higher internalization efficiency of the cyclic structure (cyclic Arg₉) relative to the linear conformer. Furthermore, recent all-atom resolution molecular dynamics simulations of cyclic Arg₉ [Huang, K.; et al. Biophys. J., 2013, 104, 412–420] suggested a critical stabilizing role of water- and lipid-constituted pores that form within the bilayer as the charged Arg₉ translocates deep into the bilayer center. Herein, we use umbrella sampling molecular dynamics simulations with coarse-grained Martini lipids, polarizable coarse-grained water, and peptide to explore the dependence of translocation free energetics on peptide structure and conformation via calculation of potentials of mean force along preselected reaction paths allowing and preventing membrane deformations that lead to pore formation. Within the context of the coarse-grained force fields we employ, we observe significant barriers for Arg₉ translocation from bulk aqueous solution to bilayer center. Moreover, we do not find free-energy minima in the headgroup–water interfacial region, as observed in simulations using all-atom force fields. The pore-forming paths systematically predict lower free-energy barriers (ca. 90 kJ/mol lower) than the non pore-forming paths, again consistent with all-atom force field simulations. The current force field suggests no preference for the more compact or covalently cyclic structures upon entering the bilayer. Decomposition of the PMF into the system’s components indicates that the dominant stabilizing contribution along the pore-forming path originates from the membrane as both layers of it deformed due to the formation of pore. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that although there is significant entropic stabilization arising from the enhanced configurational entropy exposing more states as the peptide moves through the bilayer, the enthalpic loss (as predicted by the interactions of this coarse-grained model) far outweighs any former stabilization, thus leading to significant barrier to translocation. Finally, we observe reduction in the translocation free-energy barrier for a second Arg₉ entering the bilayer in the presence of an initial peptide restrained at the center, again, in qualitative agreement with all-atom force fields.

Solid-state NMR studies of full-length BamA in lipid bilayers suggest limited overall POTRA mobility

The outer membrane protein BamA is the key player in β-barrel assembly in Gram-negative bacteria. Despite the availability of high-resolution crystal structures, the dynamic behavior of the transmembrane domain and the large periplasmic extension consisting of five POTRA (POlypeptide-TRansport-Associated) domains remains unclear. We demonstrate reconstitution of full-length BamA in proteoliposomes at low lipid-to-protein ratio, leading to high sensitivity and resolution in solid-state NMR (ssNMR) experiments. We detect POTRA domains in ssNMR experiments probing rigid protein segments in our preparations. These results suggest that the periplasmic region of BamA is firmly attached to the β-barrel and does not experience fast global motion around the angle between POTRA 2 and 3. We show that this behavior holds at lower protein concentrations and elevated temperatures. Chemical shift variations observed after reconstitution in lipids with different chain lengths and saturation levels are compatible with conformational plasticity of BamA's transmembrane domain. Electron microscopy of the ssNMR samples shows that BamA can cause local disruptions of the lipid bilayer in proteoliposomes. The observed interplay between protein-protein and protein-lipid interactions may be critical for BamA-mediated insertion of substrates into the outer membrane.

Characterization of the water defect at the HIV-1 gp41 membrane spanning domain in bilayers with and without cholesterol using molecular simulations

The membrane spanning domain (MSD) of human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) envelope glycoprotein gp41 is important for fusion and infection. We used molecular dynamics (MD) simulations (3.4 μs total) to relate membrane and peptide properties that lead to water solvation of the α-helical gp41 MSD's midspan arginine in pure dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) and in 50/50 DPPC/cholesterol membranes. We find that the midspan arginine is solvated by water that penetrates the inner leaflet, leading to a so-called water defect. The water defect is surprisingly robust across initial conditions and membrane compositions, but the presence of cholesterol modulates its behavior in several key ways. In the cholesterol-containing membranes, fluctuations in membrane thickness and water penetration depth are localized near the midspan arginine, and the MSD helices display a tightly regulated tilt angle. In the cholesterol-free membranes, thickness fluctuations are not as strongly correlated to the peptide position and tilt angles vary significantly depending on protein position relative to boundaries between domains of differing thickness. Cholesterol in an HIV-1 viral membrane is required for infection. Therefore, this work suggests that the colocalized water defect and membrane thickness fluctuations in cholesterol-containing viral membranes play an important role in fusion by bringing the membrane closer to a stability limit that must be crossed for fusion to occur.

Magic-angle-spinning NMR techniques for measuring long-range distances in biological macromolecules

The determination of molecular structures using solid-state NMR spectroscopy requires distance measurement through nuclear-spin dipole-dipole couplings. However, most dipole-coupling techniques compete with the transverse (T2) relaxation of the nuclear spins, whose time constants are at most several tens of milliseconds, which limits the ability to measure weak dipolar couplings or long distances. In the last 10 years, we have developed a number of magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR techniques to measure distances of 15-20 Å. These methods take advantage of the high gyromagnetic ratios of (1)H and (19)F spins, multispin effects that speed up dipolar dephasing, and (1)H and (19)F spin diffusion that probes distances in the nanometer range. Third-spin heteronuclear detection provides a method for determining (1)H dipolar couplings to heteronuclear spins. We have used this technique to measure hydrogen-bond lengths, torsion angles, the distribution of protein conformations, and the oligomeric assembly of proteins. We developed a new pulse sequence, HARDSHIP, to determine weak long-range (1)H-heteronuclear dipolar couplings in the presence of strong short-range couplings. This experiment allows us to determine crystallite thicknesses in biological nanocomposites such as bone. The rotational-echo double-resonance (REDOR) technique allows us to detect multispin (13)C-(31)P and (13)C-(2)H dipolar couplings. Quantitative analysis of these couplings provides information about the structure of peptides bound to phospholipid bilayers and the geometry of ligand-binding sites in proteins. Finally, we also use relayed magnetization transfer, or spin diffusion, to measure long distances. z-Magnetization can diffuse over several nanometers because its long T1 relaxation times allow it to survive for hundreds of milliseconds. We developed (1)H spin diffusion to probe the depths of protein insertion into the lipid bilayer and protein-water interactions. On the other hand, (19)F spin diffusion of site-specifically fluorinated molecules allowed us to elucidate the oligomeric structures of membrane peptides.

13C and 15N spectral editing inside histidine imidazole ring through solid-state NMR spectroscopy

Histidine usually exists in three different forms (including biprotonated species, neutral τ and π tautomers) at physiological pH in biological systems. The different protonation and tautomerization states of histidine can be characteristically determined by (13)C and (15)N chemical shifts of imidazole ring. In this work, solid-state NMR techniques were developed for spectral editing of (13)C and (15)N sites in histidine imidazole ring, which provides a benchmark to distinguish the existing forms of histidine. The selections of (13)Cγ, (13)Cδ2, (15)Nδ1, and (15)Nε2 sites were successfully achieved based on one-bond homo- and hetero-nuclear dipole interactions. Moreover, it was demonstrated that (1)H, (13)C, and (15) chemical shifts were roughly linearly correlated with the corresponding atomic charge in histidine imidazole ring by theoretical calculations. Accordingly, the (1)H, (13)C and (15)N chemical shifts variation in different protonation and tautomerization states could be ascribed to the atomic charge change due to proton transfer in biological process.

Determining the depth of insertion of dynamically invisible membrane peptides by gel-phase ¹H spin diffusion heteronuclear correlation NMR

Solid-state NMR determination of the depth of insertion of membrane peptides and proteins has so far utilized (1)H spin diffusion and paramagnetic relaxation enhancement experiments, which are typically conducted in the liquid-crystalline phase of the lipid bilayer. For membrane proteins or peptide assemblies that undergo intermediate-timescale motion in the liquid-crystalline membrane, these approaches are no longer applicable because the protein signals are broadened beyond detection. Here we show that the rigid-solid HETCOR experiment, with an additional spin diffusion period, can be used to determine the depth of proteins in gel-phase lipid membranes, where the proteins are immobilized to give high-intensity solid-state NMR spectra. Demonstration on two membrane peptides with known insertion depths shows that well-inserted peptides give rise to high lipid cross peak intensities and low water cross peaks within a modest spin diffusion mixing time, while surface-bound peptides have higher water than lipid cross peaks. Furthermore, well-inserted membrane peptides have nearly identical (1)H cross sections as the lipid chains, indicating equilibration of the peptide and lipid magnetization. Using this approach, we measured the membrane topology of the α-helical fusion peptide of the paramyxovirus, PIV5, in the anionic POPC/POPG membrane, in which the peptide undergoes intermediate-timescale motion at physiological temperature. The gel-phase HETCOR spectra indicate that the α-helical fusion peptide is well inserted into the POPC/POPG bilayer, spanning both leaflets. This insertion motif gives insight into the functional role of the α-helical PIV5 fusion peptide in virus-cell membrane fusion.

Cationic membrane peptides: atomic-level insight of structure-activity relationships from solid-state NMR

Many membrane-active peptides, such as cationic cell-penetrating peptides (CPPs) and antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), conduct their biological functions by interacting with the cell membrane. The interactions of charged residues with lipids and water facilitate membrane insertion, translocation or disruption of these highly hydrophobic species. In this review, we will summarize high-resolution structural and dynamic findings towards the understanding of the structure-activity relationship of lipid membrane-bound CPPs and AMPs, as examples of the current development of solid-state NMR (SSNMR) techniques for studying membrane peptides. We will present the most recent atomic-resolution structure of the guanidinium-phosphate complex, as constrained from experimentally measured site-specific distances. These SSNMR results will be valuable specifically for understanding the intracellular translocation pathway of CPPs and antimicrobial mechanism of AMPs, and more generally broaden our insight into how cationic macromolecules interact with and cross the lipid membrane.

Free energy of translocating an arginine-rich cell-penetrating peptide across a lipid bilayer suggests pore formation

The molecular mechanism and energetics of the translocation of arginine-rich, cell-penetrating peptides through membranes are still under debate. One possible mechanism involves the formation of a water pore in the membrane such that the hydrophilic residues of the peptide are solvated throughout the translocating process. In this work, employing two different order parameters, we calculate the free energies of translocating a cyclic Arg(9) peptide into a lipid bilayer along one path that involves a water-pore formation and another path that does not form a separate pore. The free-energy barrier of translocating the peptide along a pore path is 80 kJ/mol lower than along a pore-free path. This suggests that the peptide translocation is more likely associated with a water-pore formation.

Supramolecular structure of membrane-associated polypeptides by combining solid-state NMR and molecular dynamics simulations

Elemental biological functions such as molecular signal transduction are determined by the dynamic interplay between polypeptides and the membrane environment. Determining such supramolecular arrangements poses a significant challenge for classical structural biology methods. We introduce an iterative approach that combines magic-angle spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations for the determination of the structure and topology of membrane-bound systems with a resolution and level of accuracy difficult to obtain by either method alone. Our study focuses on the Shaker B ball peptide that is representative for rapid N-type inactivating domains of voltage-gated K(+) channels, associated with negatively charged lipid bilayers.

Membrane-dependent conformation, dynamics, and lipid interactions of the fusion peptide of the paramyxovirus PIV5 from solid-state NMR

The entry of enveloped viruses into cells requires protein-catalyzed fusion of the viral and cell membranes. The structure-function relation of a hydrophobic fusion peptide (FP) in viral fusion proteins is still poorly understood. We report magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR results of the membrane-bound conformation, dynamics, and lipid interactions of the FP of the F protein of the paramyxovirus, parainfluenza virus 5 (PIV5). (13)C chemical shifts indicate that the PIV5 FP structure depends on the composition of the phospholipid membrane: the peptide is α-helical in palmitoyloleoylphosphatidylglycerol-containing anionic membranes but mostly β-sheet in neutral phosphocholine membranes. Other environmental factors, including peptide concentration, cholesterol, membrane reconstitution protocol, and a Lys solubility tag, do not affect the secondary structure. The α-helical and β-sheet states exhibit distinct dynamics and lipid interactions. The β-sheet FP is immobilized, resides on the membrane surface, and causes significant membrane curvature. In contrast, the α-helical FP undergoes intermediate-timescale motion and maintains the lamellar order of the membrane. Two-dimensional (31)P-(1)H correlation spectra show clear (31)P-water cross peaks for anionic membranes containing the α-helical FP but weak or no (31)P-water cross peak for neutral membranes containing the β-sheet FP. These results suggest that the β-sheet FP may be associated with high-curvature dehydrated fusion intermediates, while the α-helical state may be associated with the extended prehairpin state and the post-fusion state. Conformational plasticity is also a pronounced feature of the influenza and human immunodeficiency virus FPs, suggesting that these Gly-rich sequences encode structural plasticity to generate and sense different membrane morphologies.

Intramolecular 1H-13C distance measurement in uniformly 13C, 15N labeled peptides by solid-state NMR

A (1)H-(13)C frequency-selective REDOR (FS-REDOR) experiment is developed for measuring intramolecular (1)H-(13)C distances in uniformly (13)C, (15)N-labeled molecules. Theory and simulations show that the experiment removes the interfering homonuclear (1)H-(1)H, (13)C-(13)C and heteronuclear (1)H-(15)N, (13)C-(15)N dipolar interactions while retaining the desired heteronuclear (1)H-(13)C dipolar interaction. Our results indicate that this technique, combined with the numerical fitting, can be used to measure a (1)H-(13)C distance up to 5Å. We also demonstrate that the measured intramolecular (1)H-(13)C distances are useful to determine dihedral angles in proteins.

Utilizing afterglow magnetization from cross-polarization magic-angle-spinning solid-state NMR spectroscopy to obtain simultaneous heteronuclear multidimensional spectra

The time required for data acquisition and subsequent spectral assignment are limiting factors for determining biomolecular structure and dynamics using solid-state NMR spectroscopy. While strong magnetic dipolar couplings give rise to relatively broad spectra lines, the couplings also mediate the coherent magnetization transfer via the Hartmann-Hahn cross-polarization (HH-CP) experiment. This mechanism is used in nearly all backbone assignment experiments for carrying out polarization transfer between (1)H, (15)N, and (13)C. In this Article, we describe a general spectroscopic approach to use the residual or "afterglow" magnetization from the (15)N to (13)C selective HH-CP experiment to collect a second multidimensional heteronuclear data set. This approach allowed for the collection of two commonly used sequential assignment experiments (2D NCA and NCO or 3D NCACX and NCOCX) at the same time. Our "afterglow" technique was demonstrated with uniformly [(13)C,(15)N] and [1,3-(13)C] glycerol-labeled ubiquitin using instrumentation available on all standard solid-state NMR spectrometers configured for magic-angle-spinning. This method is compatible with several other sensitivity enhancement experiments and can be used as an isotopic filtering tool to reduce the spectral complexity and decrease the time needed for assignment.