scholarly journals State-dependent mapping of GlyR-cholesterol interactions by coupling crosslinking with mass spectrometry

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas A. Ferraro ◽  
Michael Cascio

AbstractPentameric ligand-gated ion channel (pLGIC) allostery is dependent on dynamic associations with its diverse environment. The cellular membrane’s lipid composition influences channel function with cholesterol being a key regulator of channel activity. Human α1 glycine receptor (GlyR) was purified from baculovirus infected insect cells and reconstituted in unilamellar vesicles at physiological cholesterol:lipid ratios with aliquots of azi-cholesterol, a photoactivatable non-specific crosslinker. The receptor in vesicles was then enriched in either a resting, open, or desensitized state prior to photocrosslinking. Following photoactivation, crosslinked cholesterol-GlyR was trypsinized and sites of direct covalent attachment to peptides were identified by targeted MS/MS. Dozens of state-dependent crosslinks were identified and differential patterns of cholesterol-GlyR crosslinks were observed in the extracellular region nearing the lipid bilayer, in the M4 transmembrane helix, and in the large intracellular M3-M4 loop. Unique crosslinks in comparative studies identify changes in lipid accessibility or modulation of hydrophobic cavities in GlyR as a function of receptor allostery. Most notably, the outward twisting of M4 and differential crosslinking within the M3-M4 loop provide new insight into allosteric repositioning of GlyR. More generally, this study provides an accurate and sensitive approach to mapping the protein-lipid interactions to discern state-dependent structural movements of membrane proteins embedded in lipid-bilayers.SignificanceIon channels are highly allosteric molecular machines whose structure and function are sensitive to lipids and ligands. While the structures of many pLGICs are known, these are often truncated forms of the receptor in a membrane-mimetic environment locked in ligand-bound conformational states that may not accurately reflect the conformation and dynamics of the receptor in a native lipid environment. Crosslinking coupled with mass spectrometry (CX-MS) has the capability of interrogating the structure of full-length receptors in a lipid environment. In this study, CX-MS was used to identify state-dependent cholesterol-GlyR interactions to identify differential cholesterol accessibility as a function of channel dynamics upon gating and desensitization.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rathna J. Veeramachaneni ◽  
Chelsee A. Donelan ◽  
Kayce A. Tomcho ◽  
Shaili Aggarwal ◽  
David J. Lapinsky ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent advances in mass spectrometry coupled with chemical crosslinking (CX-MS) can be applied for the structural interrogation of macromolecular complexes to identify statedependent distance constraints and provides a powerful complementary technique to other structural methods. In this study, we develop a CX-MS approach to identify the sites of crosslinking from a single targeted location within the human glycine receptor (GlyR) in a single apo/resting state. The GlyR belongs to the family of pentameric ligand-gated ion channel receptors that function in fast neuronal transmission. A single cysteine residue was re-introduced into Cys null GlyR construct at position 41 within the extracellular domain of an overexpressed human a1 homomeric GlyR. After purification and reconstitution into vesicles, a methanethiosulfonate benzophenone heterobifunctional crosslinker was attached via formation of a disulfide bond, and the resting receptor is subsequently photocrosslinked. Monomeric and oligomeric bands from SDS-PAGE gels were then trypsinized and analyzed by tandem MS in bottom-up studies. Dozens of intra- and inter-subunit sites of crosslinking were differentiated and identified from single gel bands (pmols of purified GlyR), showing the utility of this approach to identify a diverse array of distance constraints of GlyR in its resting state. These studies highlight the potential of CX-MS as an experimental approach to identify state-dependent crosslinks of full length integral membrane protein assemblies in a native-like lipid environment.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (3) ◽  
pp. 392a
Author(s):  
Kayce A. Tomcho ◽  
Hannah E. Gering ◽  
Rathna J. Veeramachaneni ◽  
David J. Lapinsky ◽  
Michael Cascio

2019 ◽  
Vol 400 (7) ◽  
pp. 813-829 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Bender ◽  
Carla Schmidt

Abstract Membrane proteins are key players in the cell. Due to their hydrophobic nature they require solubilising agents such as detergents or membrane mimetics during purification and, consequently, are challenging targets in structural biology. In addition, their natural lipid environment is crucial for their structure and function further hampering their analysis. Alternative approaches are therefore required when the analysis by conventional techniques proves difficult. In this review, we highlight the broad application of mass spectrometry (MS) for the characterisation of membrane proteins and their interactions with lipids. We show that MS unambiguously identifies the protein and lipid components of membrane protein complexes, unravels their three-dimensional arrangements and further provides clues of protein-lipid interactions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Keener ◽  
Michael T Marty

The structure and function of membrane proteins can be significantly impacted by the surrounding lipid environment, but membrane protein-lipid interactions in lipid bilayers are often difficult to study due to their transient and polydisperse nature. Here, we used two native mass spectrometry (MS) approaches to investigate how the Escherichia coli ammonium transporter (AmtB) selectively remodels its local lipid environment in heterogeneous lipoprotein nanodiscs. First, we used gas-phase ejection to isolate AmtB with bound lipids from heterogeneous nanodiscs with different combinations of lipids. Second, we used solution-phase detergent flash extraction as an orthogonal approach to study AmtB remodeling with native MS. Flash extraction of AmtB showed that Triton X-100 retains lipid selectivity, but C8E4 distorts preferential lipid interactions. Both approaches reveal that AmtB has a few tight binding sites for PC, is selective for binding PG over-all, and is nonselective for PE, providing a detailed picture of how AmtB binds different lipid head groups in the context of mixed lipid bilayers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Johannes Thoma ◽  
Björn M. Burmann

Membrane proteins evolved to reside in the hydrophobic lipid bilayers of cellular membranes. Therefore, membrane proteins bridge the different aqueous compartments separated by the membrane, and furthermore, dynamically interact with their surrounding lipid environment. The latter not only stabilizes membrane proteins, but directly impacts their folding, structure and function. In order to be characterized with biophysical and structural biological methods, membrane proteins are typically extracted and subsequently purified from their native lipid environment. This approach requires that lipid membranes are replaced by suitable surrogates, which ideally closely mimic the native bilayer, in order to maintain the membrane proteins structural and functional integrity. In this review, we survey the currently available membrane mimetic environments ranging from detergent micelles to bicelles, nanodiscs, lipidic-cubic phase (LCP), liposomes, and polymersomes. We discuss their respective advantages and disadvantages as well as their suitability for downstream biophysical and structural characterization. Finally, we take a look at ongoing methodological developments, which aim for direct in-situ characterization of membrane proteins within native membranes instead of relying on membrane mimetics.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacy A. Malaker ◽  
Kayvon Pedram ◽  
Michael J. Ferracane ◽  
Elliot C. Woods ◽  
Jessica Kramer ◽  
...  

<div> <div> <div> <p>Mucins are a class of highly O-glycosylated proteins that are ubiquitously expressed on cellular surfaces and are important for human health, especially in the context of carcinomas. However, the molecular mechanisms by which aberrant mucin structures lead to tumor progression and immune evasion have been slow to come to light, in part because methods for selective mucin degradation are lacking. Here we employ high resolution mass spectrometry, polymer synthesis, and computational peptide docking to demonstrate that a bacterial protease, called StcE, cleaves mucin domains by recognizing a discrete peptide-, glycan-, and secondary structure- based motif. We exploited StcE’s unique properties to map glycosylation sites and structures of purified and recombinant human mucins by mass spectrometry. As well, we found that StcE will digest cancer-associated mucins from cultured cells and from ovarian cancer patient-derived ascites fluid. Finally, using StcE we discovered that Siglec-7, a glyco-immune checkpoint receptor, specifically binds sialomucins as biological ligands, whereas the related Siglec-9 receptor does not. Mucin-specific proteolysis, as exemplified by StcE, is therefore a powerful tool for the study of glycoprotein structure and function and for deorphanizing mucin-binding receptors. </p> </div> </div> </div>


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khondker Rufaka Hossain ◽  
Daniel Clayton ◽  
Sophia C Goodchild ◽  
Alison Rodger ◽  
Richard James Payne ◽  
...  

Membrane protein structure and function are modulated via interactions with their lipid environment. This is particularly true for the integral membrane pumps, the P-type ATPases. These ATPases play vital roles...


2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 535-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kondakov ◽  
Buko Lindner

Bacterial glycolipids are complex amphiphilic molecules which are, on the one hand, of utmost importance for the organization and function of bacterial membranes and which, on the other hand, play a major role in the activation of cells of the innate and adaptive immune system of the host. Already small alterations to their chemical structure may influence the biological activity tremendously. Due to their intrinsic biological heterogeneity [number and type of fatty acids, saccharide structures and substitution with for example, phosphate ( P), 2-aminoethyl-(pyro)phosphate groups ( P-Etn) or 4-amino-4-deoxyarabinose (Ara4N)], separation of the different components are a prerequisite for unequivocal chemical and nuclear magnetic resonance structural analyses. In this contribution, the structural information which can be obtained from heterogenous samples of glycolipids by Fourier transform (FT) ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometric methods is described. By means of recently analysed complex biological samples, the possibilities of high-resolution electrospray ionization FT-MS are demonstrated. Capillary skimmer dissociation, as well as tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) analysis utilizing collision-induced dissociation and infrared multiphoton dissociation, are compared and their advantages in providing structural information of diagnostic importance are discussed.


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