Fluctuation-driven directional flow in biochemical cycle: further study of electric activation of Na,K pumps

Directional flow of information and energies is characteristic of many types of biochemical reactions, for instance, ion transport, energy coupling during ATP synthesis, and muscle contraction. Can a fluctuating force field, or a noise, induce such a directional flux? Previous work has shown that Na,K-ATPase of human erythrocyte can absorb free energy from an externally applied random-telegraph-noise (RTN) electric field to pump Rb+ up its concentration gradient. However, the RTN field used in these experiments was constant in amplitude and would not mimic fluctuating electric fields of a cell membrane. Here we show that electric fields which fluctuate both in life time and in amplitude, and thus, better mimicking the transmembrane electric fields of a cell, can also induce Rb+ pumping by Na,K-ATPase. A Gaussian-RTN-electric field, or a field with amplitude fluctuating according to the Gaussian distribution, with varied standard deviation (sigma), induced active pumping of Rb+ in human erythrocyte, which was completely inhibited by ouabain. Increased values for sigma led to a nonmonotonic reduction in pumping efficiency. A general formula for calculating the ion transport in a biochemical cycle induced by fluctuating electric field has been derived and applied to a simple four-state electroconformational coupling (ECC) model. It was found that the calculated efficiency in the energy coupling decreased with increasing sigma value, and this effect was relatively small and monotonic, whereas experimental data were more complex: monotonic under certain sets of conditions but nonmonotonic under different sets. The agreement in general features but disagreement in some fine features suggest that there are other properties of the electric activation process for Na,K-ATPase that cannot be adequately described by the simple ECC model, and further refinement of the ECC model is required.

Recognition and processing of randomly fluctuating electric signals by Na,K-ATPase

Previous work has shown that Na,K-ATPase of human erythrocytes can extract free energy from sinusoidal electric fields to pump cations up their respective concentration gradients. Because regularly oscillating waveform is not a feature of the transmembrane electric potential of cells, questions have been raised whether these observed effects are biologically relevant. Here we show that a random-telegraph fluctuating electric field (RTF) consisting of alternating square electric pulses with random lifetimes can also stimulate the Rb(+)-pumping mode of the Na,K-ATPase. The net RTF-stimulated, ouabain-sensitive Rb+ pumping was monitored with 86Rb+. The tracer-measured, Rb+ influx exhibited frequency and amplitude dependencies that peaked at the mean frequency of 1.0 kHz and amplitude of 20 V/cm. At 4 degrees C, the maximal pumping activity under these optimal conditions was 28 Rb+/RBC-hr, which is approximately 50% higher than that obtained with the sinusoidal electric field. These findings indicate that Na,K-ATPase can recognize an electric signal, either regularly oscillatory or randomly fluctuating, for energy coupling, with high fidelity. The use of RTF for activation also allowed a quantitative theoretical analysis of kinetics of a membrane transport model of any complexity according to the theory of electroconformational coupling (ECC) by the diagram methods. A four-state ECC model was shown to produce the amplitude and the frequency windows of the Rb(+)-pumping if the free energy of interaction of the transporter with the membrane potential was to include a nonlinear quadratic term. Kinetic constants for the ECC model have been derived. These results indicate that the ECC is a plausible mechanism for the recognition and processing of electric signals by proteins of the cell membrane.

Study of mechanisms of electric field-induced DNA transfection. V. Effects of DNA topology on surface binding, cell uptake, expression, and integration into host chromosomes of DNA in the mammalian cell

Neumann and coworkers (Neumann, E., M. Schaefer-Ridder, Y. Wang, and P. H. Hofschneider. 1982. EMBO J. 1:841-845) have shown that the efficiency of pulsed electric field (PEF)-induced DNA transfection of mouse L-cells by the thymidine kinase gene is several times higher for the linear DNA than for the closed circular DNA. Transfection of Escherichia coli bacteria by several plasmids indicates that the transfection efficiency was much higher for the closed circular/supercoiled (sc-) and circular/relaxed (cr-) DNA than for the linearized (In-) DNA (Xie, T. D., L. Sun, H. G. Zhao, J. A. Fuchs, and T. Y. Tsong. 1992. Biophys. J. 63:1026-1031). To resolve these conflicting observations, we have systematically examined electrotransfection of NIH3T3 mouse fibroblast by the plasmids, pRSVcat, pRSVneo, and pRSVgpt. Mg(2+)-facilitated surface binding of DNA before, and DNA uptake by 3T3 cells after treatment with PEF, were monitored by 3H-labeled plasmids. Transfection efficiency was evaluated by both the transient expression of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (cat) activity 2-3 days after, and the permanent expression of neomycin phosphotransferase (neo) and xanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (gpt) genes in the transformants 2 weeks after the PEF treatment. Our results indicate that cell surface binding and PEF-induced cell uptake of DNA did not depend on the topology of DNA. However, both the transient and the permanent expression of the plasmids were three to five times more efficient for the cr-DNA and the sc-DNA than for the in-DNA. These results indicate that electrotransfection of cells involves several steps: the cation-dependent binding of DNA to the cell surface, the electric field-driven DNA entry into the cells, the transient expression of DNA, and the integration of DNA into the host chromosomes. For understanding mechanisms of electrotransfection, only the DNA binding to the cell surface and the electric field assisted membrane-crossing of DNA are relevant. Both the expression of the loaded DNA and the DNA integration into the host chromosomes depend more on the properties of the cell and its interactions with a foreign gene. Since these properties and interactions will be similar irrespective of the method chosen to facilitate DNA transfer, they are not relevant for the study of mechanisms of electrotransfection. Our results also support the idea that the PEF-induced cellular uptake of DNA is mainly by the electrophoresis of the surface bound DNA across the plasma membrane.

Study of mechanisms of electric field-induced DNA transfection. IV. Effects of DNA topology on cell uptake and transfection efficiency

Electric parameters and solvent conditions are known to influence the efficiency of DNA transfection of cells by a pulsed electric field (PEF). A previous study (Neumann, E., M. Schaefer-Ridder, Y. Wang, and P. H. Hofschneider. 1982. EMBO (Eur. Mol. Biol. Organ.) J. 1:841-845) has indicated that DNA topology is also an important determinant. We report an investigation of the PEF induced uptake, stability, and expression of three different topological isomers, circular supercoiled (scDNA), circular relaxed (crDNA), and linearized (lnDNA) forms of the plasmid pBR322, by Escherichia coli strain JM105. Monomeric pBR322 prepared by the electroelution from an agarose gel was in the supercoiled form. Treatment of the scDNA with wheat germ topoisomerase I removed the superhelicity and the DNA assumed the relaxed circular form. Treatment of scDNA by a restriction endonuclease, EcoRI or Hind III, linearized the DNA. The MgCl2-dependent bindings of all three forms of DNA to the cell surface were indistinguishable. So was the PEF induced cell uptake. In contrast, the transfection efficiency (TE) for the scDNA and the crDNA were high (approximately 2 x 10(8) micrograms-1 DNA at neutral pH), whereas that for the lnDNA was approximately five orders of magnitude lower (less than 1 x 10(3) micrograms-1 DNA). Analysis by agarose gel electrophoresis indicated that the PEF loaded ln DNA was degraded by the host cell within 3 h. However, the loaded scDNA and the crDNA were stable and expressed in the cytoplasm. We conclude that first, the PEF induced DNA entry into E. coli did not depend on the topology of the DNA. As cellular uptake of DNA also correlated with the surface binding, these data support electrophoresis of surface bound DNA as the dominating mechanism for the DNA entry. Second, the variations of TE for different topological forms of DNA reflected their relative stability in the host cells. Third, since the loaded DNA could be either rapidly degraded by the host enzyme or expressed, they were unlikely coated with a layer of protective lipid membrane. Thus, PEF induced cellular uptake of DNA is unlikely by the endocytotic mechanisms as was reported previously for the liposomes (Chernomordik, L. V., A. V. Sokolov, and V. G. Budker. 1990.Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1024:179-183).

Study of mechanisms of electric field-induced DNA transfection. III. Electric parameters and other conditions for effective transfection

Electric parameters, osmolality, temperature, and pH of the suspending medium and the growth phase of cells, etc., are known to influence the efficiency of the pulsed electric field (PEF)-induced DNA transfection of cells. PEF-induced transfection of Escherichia coli JM105 by plasmid DNA PUC18, PUC19, PBR322, and PMSG has been used as a model system to establish quantitative relationships between these parameters and transfection efficiency. The main findings are summarized for experiments using unipolar square wave PEF. (a) For a given field strength (up to 6 kV/cm), the transfection efficiency (TE) was linearly dependent on the pulse width (up to 1 ms). (b) When field strength is fixed, Log [TE] correlated with the number of pulses applied. Similarly, when field duration was fixed, Log [TE] correlated with the number of pulses. (c) In the absence of MgCl2, TE showed a maximal value at 50 mM sucrose and was reduced by several fold at lower and higher sucrose concentrations. Cell survival was nearly constant in the range 1-300 mM sucrose. (d) E. coli in the early and mid-exponential growth phases was more susceptible to PEF for DNA transfection than it was in the stationary phase. (e) For a given set of electric parameters, TE was the highest at neutral pH and was greatly reduced at acidic and alkaline pH. (f) Increasing the temperature from 0 to 37 degrees C resulted in the reduction of TE by three orders of magnitude. This could reflect a rapid shrinking of pores at higher temperatures. (g) TE was inversely proportional to the square of the size of the plasmid DNA. By adjusting the above parameters to optimize transfection, a TE of 1010 1microg-1 DNA (PUC18) has been recorded. Further improvement in percent cell transfection may be expected by a more exhaustive search of conditions than the present study has done.

Study of mechanisms of electric field-induced DNA transfection. II. Transfection by low-amplitude, low-frequency alternating electric fields

Electroporation for DNA transfection generally uses short intense electric pulses (direct current of kilovolts per centimeter, microseconds to milliseconds), or intense dc shifted radio-frequency oscillating fields. These methods, while remarkably effective, often cause death of certain cell populations. Previously it was shown that a completely reversible, high ionic permeation state of membranes could be induced by a low-frequency alternating electric field (ac) with a strength one-tenth, or less, of the critical breakdown voltage of the cell membrane (Teissie, J., and T. Y. Tsong. 1981. J. Physiol. (Paris). 77:1043-1053). We report the transfection of E. coli (JM105) by plasmid PUC18 DNA, which carries an ampicillin-resistance gene, using low-amplitude, low-frequency ac fields. E. coli transformants confer the ampicillin resistance and the efficiency of the transfection can be conveniently assayed by counting colonies in a selection medium containing ampicillin. For the range of ac fields employed (peak-to-peak amplitude 50-200 V/cm, frequency 0.1 Hz-1 MHz, duration 1-100 s), 100% of the E. coli survived the electric field treatment. Transfection efficiencies varied with field strength and frequency, and as high as 1 x 10(5)/micrograms DNA was obtained with a 200 V/cm square wave, 1 Hz ac field, 30 s exposure time, when the DNA/cell ratio was 50-75. Control samples gave a background transfection of much less than 10/micrograms DNA. With a square wave ac field, the transfection efficiency showed a frequency window: the optimal frequency was 1 Hz with a 200 V/cm field, and was approximately 0.1 Hz with a 50 V/cm field. Transfection efficiency varied with the waveform: square wave > sine wave > triangle wave. If the DNA was added after the ac field was turned off, transfection efficiency was reduced to the background level within 1 min. The field intensity used in this study was low and insufficient to cause electric breakdown of cell membranes. Thus, DNA transfection was not caused by electroporation of the cell membranes. Other possible mechanisms will be considered.

Study of mechanisms of electric field-induced DNA transfection. I. DNA entry by surface binding and diffusion through membrane pores

A study of mechanisms of electrotransfection using Escherichia coli (JM 105) and the plasmid DNA pBR322 as model system is reported. pBR322 DNA carries an ampicillin resistance gene: E. coli transformants are conveniently assayed by counting colonies in a selection medium containing 50 micrograms/ml ampicillin and 25 micrograms/ml streptomycin. Samples not exposed to the electric field showed no transfection. In the absence of added cations, the plasmid DNA remains in solution and the efficiency of the transfection was 2 x 10(6)/micrograms DNA for cells treated with a 8-kV/cm, 1-ms electric pulse (square wave). DNA binding to the cell membrane greatly enhanced the efficiency of the transfection and this binding was increased by milimolar concentrations of CaCl2, MgCl2, or NaCl (CaCl2 greater than MgCl2 greater than NaCl). For example, in the presence of 2.5 mM CaCl2, 55% of the DNA added bound to E. coli and the transfection efficiency was elevated by two orders of magnitude (2 x 10(8)/micrograms DNA). These ions did not cause cell aggregation. With a low ratio of DNA to cells (less than 1 copy/cell), transfection efficiency correlated with the amount of DNA bound to the cell surface irrespective of salts. When the DNA binding ratio approached zero, the transfection efficiency was reduced by two to three orders, indicating that DNA entry by diffusion through the bulk solution was less than 1%. Square pulses of up to 12 kV/cm and 1 ms were used in the electrotransfection experiments. When cell concentration was 1 x 1010 cell/ml and DNA was added before the pulse, a transfection efficiency of up to 5 x 108/ microg DNA was obtained under optimum conditions (a single pulse of 8 kV/cm, 1 ms, in the presence of 5 mM CaCl2). When DNA was added to E. coli after the electric pulse, the efficiency of the transfection was dramatically reduced owing to the resealing of pores. Transfection was reduced to zero when DNA was added 2 h after the electroporation. However, transfection as high as 5 x 104/microg DNA was still recorded when DNA was added 10 min after the electric field was turned off. Because DNA entry took place in the absence of an electric field it could not be driven by the electrophoretic forces. DNA entry was facilitated by surface binding followed by lateral diffusion of the bound DNA into the cells through the field-induced membrane pores.