Protein assemblies ejected directly from native membranes yield complexes for mass spectrometry

Membrane proteins reside in lipid bilayers and are typically extracted from this environment for study, which often compromises their integrity. In this work, we ejected intact assemblies from membranes, without chemical disruption, and used mass spectrometry to define their composition. From Escherichia coli outer membranes, we identified a chaperone-porin association and lipid interactions in the β-barrel assembly machinery. We observed efflux pumps bridging inner and outer membranes, and from inner membranes we identified a pentameric pore of TonB, as well as the protein-conducting channel SecYEG in association with F1FO adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase. Intact mitochondrial membranes from Bos taurus yielded respiratory complexes and fatty acid-bound dimers of the ADP (adenosine diphosphate)/ATP translocase (ANT-1). These results highlight the importance of native membrane environments for retaining small-molecule binding, subunit interactions, and associated chaperones of the membrane proteome.

Acetylation and phosphorylation control both local and global stability of the chloroplast F1 ATP synthase

ATP synthases (ATPases) are enzymes that produce ATP and control the pH in the cell or cellular compartments. While highly conserved over different species, ATPases are structurally well-characterised but the existence and functional significance of many post-translational modifications (PTMs) is not well understood. We combined a range of mass spectrometric techniques to unravel the location and extent of PTMs in the chloroplast ATP synthase (cATPase) purified from spinach leaves. We identified multiple phosphorylation and acetylation sites and found that both modifications stabilise binding of ε and δ subunits. Comparing cross-linking of naturally modified cATPase with the in vitro deacetylated enzyme revealed a major conformational change in the ε subunit in accord with extended and folded forms of the subunit. Locating modified residues within the catalytic head we found that phosphorylated and acetylated residues are primarily on α/β and β/α interfaces respectively. By aligning along different interfaces the higher abundance acetylated residues are proximal to the regulatory sites while the lower abundance phosphorylation sites are more densely populated at the catalytic sites. We propose that modifications in the catalytic head, together with the conformational change in subunit ε, work in synergy to fine-tune the enzyme during adverse conditions.

Insights into Eukaryotic Translation Initiation from Mass Spectrometry of Macromolecular Protein Assemblies

Translation initiation in eukaryotes requires the interplay of at least 10 initiation factors that interact at the different steps of this phase of gene expression. The interactions of initiation factors and related proteins are in general controlled by phosphorylation, which serves as a regulatory switch to turn protein translation on or off. The structures of initiation factors and a complete description of their post-translational modification (PTM) status are therefore required in order to fully understand these processes. In recent years, mass spectrometry has contributed considerably to provide this information and nowadays is proving to be indispensable when studying dynamic heterogeneous protein complexes such as the eukaryotic initiation factors. Herein, we highlight mass spectrometric approaches commonly applied to identify interacting subunits and their PTMs and the structural techniques that allow the architecture of protein complexes to be assessed. We present recent structural investigations of initiation factors and their interactions with other factors and with ribosomes and we assess the models generated. These models allow us to locate PTMs within initiation factor complexes and to highlight possible roles for phosphorylation sites in regulating interaction interfaces.

Structure of the CRISPR interference complex CSM reveals key similarities with cascade

The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) system is an adaptive immune system in prokaryotes. Interference complexes encoded by CRISPR-associated (cas) genes utilize small RNAs for homology-directed detection and subsequent degradation of invading genetic elements, and they have been classified into three main types (I-III). Type III complexes share the Cas10 subunit but are subclassifed as type IIIA (CSM) and type IIIB (CMR), depending on their specificity for DNA or RNA targets, respectively. The role of CSM in limiting the spread of conjugative plasmids in Staphylococcus epidermidis was first described in 2008. Here, we report a detailed investigation of the composition and structure of the CSM complex from the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus, using a combination of electron microscopy, mass spectrometry, and deep sequencing. This reveals a three-dimensional model for the CSM complex that includes a helical component strikingly reminiscent of the backbone structure of the type I (Cascade) family.