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Rainsford P, Rylandsholm FG, Jakubec M, Silk M, Juskewitz E, Ericson JU, Svendsen JS, Engh RA, Isaksson J. Label-free measurement of antimicrobial peptide interactions with lipid vesicles and nanodiscs using microscale thermophoresis. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12619. [PMID: 37537266 PMCID: PMC10400562 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39785-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/05/2023] Open
Abstract
One strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance is the discovery of new classes of antibiotics. Most antibiotics will at some point interact with the bacterial membrane to either interfere with its integrity or to cross it. Reliable and efficient tools for determining the dissociation constant for membrane binding (KD) and the partitioning coefficient between the aqueous- and membrane phases (KP) are therefore important tools for discovering and optimizing antimicrobial hits. Here we demonstrate that microscale thermophoresis (MST) can be used for label-free measurement of KD by utilising the intrinsic fluorescence of tryptophan and thereby removing the need for chromophore labelling. As proof of principle, we have used the method to measure the binding of a set of small cyclic AMPs to large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) and two types of lipid nanodiscs assembled by styrene maleic acid (SMA) and quaternary ammonium SMA (SMA-QA). The measured KD values correlate well with the corresponding measurements using surface plasmon resonance (SPR), also broadly reflecting the tested AMPs' minimal inhibition concentration (MIC) towards S. aureus and E. coli. We conclude that MST is a promising method for fast and cost-efficient detection of peptide-lipid interactions or mapping of sample conditions in preparation for more advanced studies that rely on expensive sample preparation, labelling and/or instrument time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Rainsford
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Fredrik G Rylandsholm
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Martin Jakubec
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Mitchell Silk
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Eric Juskewitz
- Research Group for Host Microbe Interactions, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Johanna U Ericson
- Research Group for Host Microbe Interactions, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - John-Sigurd Svendsen
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Richard A Engh
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Johan Isaksson
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9019, Tromsø, Norway.
- Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry, Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, 9037, Tromsø, Norway.
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2
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Real Hernandez LM, Levental I. Lipid packing is disrupted in copolymeric nanodiscs compared with intact membranes. Biophys J 2023; 122:2256-2266. [PMID: 36641625 PMCID: PMC10257115 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2023.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Discoidal lipid-protein nanoparticles known as nanodiscs are widely used tools in structural and membrane biology. Amphipathic, synthetic copolymers have recently become an attractive alternative to membrane scaffold proteins for the formation of nanodiscs. Such copolymers can directly intercalate into, and form nanodiscs from, intact membranes without detergents. Although these copolymer nanodiscs can extract native membrane lipids, it remains unclear whether native membrane properties are also retained. To determine the extent to which bilayer lipid packing is retained in nanodiscs, we measured the behavior of packing-sensitive fluorescent dyes in various nanodisc preparations compared with intact lipid bilayers. We analyzed styrene-maleic acid (SMA), diisobutylene-maleic acid (DIBMA), and polymethacrylate (PMA) as nanodisc scaffolds at various copolymer-to-lipid ratios and temperatures. Measurements of Laurdan spectral shifts revealed that dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) nanodiscs had increased lipid headgroup packing compared with large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) above the lipid melting temperature for all three copolymers. Similar effects were observed for DMPC nanodiscs stabilized by membrane scaffolding protein MSP1E1. Increased lipid headgroup packing was also observed when comparing nanodiscs with intact membranes composed of binary mixtures of 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-phosphocholine (POPC) and di-palmitoyl-phosphocholine (DPPC), which show fluid-gel-phase coexistence. Similarly, Laurdan reported increased headgroup packing in nanodiscs for biomimetic mixtures containing cholesterol, most notable for relatively disordered membranes. The magnitudes of these ordering effects were not identical for the various copolymers, with SMA being the most and DIBMA being the least perturbing. Finally, nanodiscs derived from mammalian cell membranes showed similarly increased lipid headgroup packing. We conclude that nanodiscs generally do not completely retain the physical properties of intact membranes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis M Real Hernandez
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
| | - Ilya Levental
- Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics, Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia.
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3
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Godellas NE, Grosman C. Probing function in ligand-gated ion channels without measuring ion transport. J Gen Physiol 2022; 154:213244. [PMID: 35612603 DOI: 10.1085/jgp.202213082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2022] [Accepted: 04/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the functional properties of ion channels are most accurately assessed using electrophysiological approaches, a number of experimental situations call for alternative methods. Here, working on members of the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel (pLGIC) superfamily, we focused on the practical implementation of, and the interpretation of results from, equilibrium-type ligand-binding assays. Ligand-binding studies of pLGICs are by no means new, but the lack of uniformity in published protocols, large disparities between the results obtained for a given parameter by different groups, and a general disregard for constraints placed on the experimental observations by simple theoretical considerations suggested that a thorough analysis of this classic technique was in order. To this end, we present a detailed practical and theoretical study of this type of assay using radiolabeled α-bungarotoxin, unlabeled small-molecule cholinergic ligands, the human homomeric α7-AChR, and extensive calculations in the framework of a realistic five-binding-site reaction scheme. Furthermore, we show examples of the practical application of this method to tackle two longstanding questions in the field: our results suggest that ligand-binding affinities are insensitive to binding-site occupancy and that mutations to amino-acid residues in the transmembrane domain are unlikely to affect the channel's affinities for ligands that bind to the extracellular domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole E Godellas
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
| | - Claudio Grosman
- Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.,Center for Biophysics and Quantitative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.,Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
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4
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Elephants in the Dark: Insights and Incongruities in Pentameric Ligand-gated Ion Channel Models. J Mol Biol 2021; 433:167128. [PMID: 34224751 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2021.167128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2021] [Revised: 06/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
The superfamily of pentameric ligand-gated ion channels (pLGICs) comprises key players in electrochemical signal transduction across evolution, including historic model systems for receptor allostery and targets for drug development. Accordingly, structural studies of these channels have steadily increased, and now approach 250 depositions in the protein data bank. This review contextualizes currently available structures in the pLGIC family, focusing on morphology, ligand binding, and gating in three model subfamilies: the prokaryotic channel GLIC, the cation-selective nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, and the anion-selective glycine receptor. Common themes include the challenging process of capturing and annotating channels in distinct functional states; partially conserved gating mechanisms, including remodeling at the extracellular/transmembrane-domain interface; and diversity beyond the protein level, arising from posttranslational modifications, ligands, lipids, and signaling partners. Interpreting pLGIC structures can be compared to describing an elephant in the dark, relying on touch alone to comprehend the many parts of a monumental beast: each structure represents a snapshot in time under specific experimental conditions, which must be integrated with further structure, function, and simulations data to build a comprehensive model, and understand how one channel may fundamentally differ from another.
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Overduin M, Trieber C, Prosser RS, Picard LP, Sheff JG. Structures and Dynamics of Native-State Transmembrane Protein Targets and Bound Lipids. MEMBRANES 2021; 11:451. [PMID: 34204456 PMCID: PMC8235241 DOI: 10.3390/membranes11060451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 06/08/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Membrane proteins work within asymmetric bilayers of lipid molecules that are critical for their biological structures, dynamics and interactions. These properties are lost when detergents dislodge lipids, ligands and subunits, but are maintained in native nanodiscs formed using styrene maleic acid (SMA) and diisobutylene maleic acid (DIBMA) copolymers. These amphipathic polymers allow extraction of multicomponent complexes of post-translationally modified membrane-bound proteins directly from organ homogenates or membranes from diverse types of cells and organelles. Here, we review the structures and mechanisms of transmembrane targets and their interactions with lipids including phosphoinositides (PIs), as resolved using nanodisc systems and methods including cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). We focus on therapeutic targets including several G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), as well as ion channels and transporters that are driving the development of next-generation native nanodiscs. The design of new synthetic polymers and complementary biophysical tools bodes well for the future of drug discovery and structural biology of native membrane:protein assemblies (memteins).
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Overduin
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada;
| | - Catharine Trieber
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2H7, Canada;
| | - R. Scott Prosser
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, UTM, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada; (R.S.P.); (L.-P.P.)
| | - Louis-Philippe Picard
- Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, UTM, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada; (R.S.P.); (L.-P.P.)
| | - Joey G. Sheff
- Human Health Therapeutics Research Centre, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, ON K1A 0R6, Canada;
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Brown CJ, Trieber C, Overduin M. Structural biology of endogenous membrane protein assemblies in native nanodiscs. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2021; 69:70-77. [PMID: 33915422 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2021.03.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2020] [Revised: 03/11/2021] [Accepted: 03/21/2021] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
The advent of amphiphilic copolymers enables integral membrane proteins to be solubilized into stable 10-30 nm native nanodiscs to resolve their multisubunit structures, post-translational modifications, endogenous lipid bilayers, and small molecule ligands. This breakthrough has positioned biological membrane:protein assemblies (memteins) as fundamental functional units of cellular membranes. Herein, we review copolymer design strategies and methods for the characterization of transmembrane proteins within native nanodiscs by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), transmission electron microscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, surface plasmon resonance, and mass spectrometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chanelle J Brown
- Department of Chemistry and Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, USA
| | - Catharine Trieber
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H7, Canada
| | - Michael Overduin
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H7, Canada.
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