Programmable in vitro Co-Encapsidation of Guest Proteins Inside Protein Nanocages

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor H. Dashti ◽  
Rufika S. Abidin ◽  
Frank Sainsbury

Bioinspired self-sorting and self-assembling systems using engineered versions of natural protein cages have been developed for biocatalysis and therapeutic delivery. The packaging and intracellular delivery of guest proteins is of particular interest for both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> cell engineering. However, there is a lack of platforms in bionanotechnology that combine programmable guest protein encapsidation with efficient intracellular uptake. We report a minimal peptide anchor for <i>in vivo</i> self-sorting of cargo-linked capsomeres of the Murine polyomavirus (MPyV) major coat protein that enables controlled encapsidation of guest proteins by <i>in vitro</i> self-assembly. Using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) we demonstrate the flexibility in this system to support co-encapsidation of multiple proteins. Complementing these ensemble measurements with single particle analysis by super-resolution microscopy shows that the stochastic nature of co-encapsidation is an overriding principle. This has implications for the design and deployment of both native and engineered self-sorting encapsulation systems and for the assembly of infectious virions. Taking advantage of the encoded affinity for sialic acids ubiquitously displayed on the surface of mammalian cells, we demonstrate the ability of self-assembled MPyV virus-like particles to mediate efficient delivery of guest proteins to the cytosol of primary human cells. This platform for programmable co-encapsidation and efficient cytosolic delivery of complementary biomolecules therefore has enormous potential in cell engineering.

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Noor H. Dashti ◽  
Rufika S. Abidin ◽  
Frank Sainsbury

Bioinspired self-sorting and self-assembling systems using engineered versions of natural protein cages have been developed for biocatalysis and therapeutic delivery. The packaging and intracellular delivery of guest proteins is of particular interest for both <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> cell engineering. However, there is a lack of platforms in bionanotechnology that combine programmable guest protein encapsidation with efficient intracellular uptake. We report a minimal peptide anchor for <i>in vivo</i> self-sorting of cargo-linked capsomeres of the Murine polyomavirus (MPyV) major coat protein that enables controlled encapsidation of guest proteins by <i>in vitro</i> self-assembly. Using Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) we demonstrate the flexibility in this system to support co-encapsidation of multiple proteins. Complementing these ensemble measurements with single particle analysis by super-resolution microscopy shows that the stochastic nature of co-encapsidation is an overriding principle. This has implications for the design and deployment of both native and engineered self-sorting encapsulation systems and for the assembly of infectious virions. Taking advantage of the encoded affinity for sialic acids ubiquitously displayed on the surface of mammalian cells, we demonstrate the ability of self-assembled MPyV virus-like particles to mediate efficient delivery of guest proteins to the cytosol of primary human cells. This platform for programmable co-encapsidation and efficient cytosolic delivery of complementary biomolecules therefore has enormous potential in cell engineering.


2020 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 209-221
Author(s):  
Jiafeng Wan ◽  
Xiaoyuan Zhang ◽  
Kai Zhang ◽  
Zhiqiang Su

Abstract In recent years, nanomaterials have attracted lots of attention from researchers due to their unique properties. Nanometer fluorescent materials, such as organic dyes, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), metal nano-clusters (MNCs), carbon dots (CDs), etc., are widely used in biological imaging due to their high sensitivity, short response time, and excellent accuracy. Nanometer fluorescent probes can not only perform in vitro imaging of organisms but also achieve in vivo imaging. This provides medical staff with great convenience in cancer treatment. Combined with contemporary medical methods, faster and more effective treatment of cancer is achievable. This article explains the response mechanism of three-nanometer fluorescent probes: the principle of induced electron transfer (PET), the principle of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), and the principle of intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), showing the semiconductor QDs, precious MNCs, and CDs. The excellent performance of the three kinds of nano fluorescent materials in biological imaging is highlighted, and the application of these three kinds of nano fluorescent probes in targeted biological imaging is also introduced. Nanometer fluorescent materials will show their significance in the field of biomedicine.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirban Das ◽  
Anju Yadav ◽  
Mona Gupta ◽  
R Purushotham ◽  
Vishram L. Terse ◽  
...  

AbstractProtein folding can go wrong in vivo and in vitro, with significant consequences for the living cell and the pharmaceutical industry, respectively. Here we propose a general design principle for constructing small peptide-based protein-specific folding modifiers. We construct a ‘xenonucleus’, which is a pre-folded peptide that resembles the folding nucleus of a protein, and demonstrate its activity on the folding of ubiquitin. Using stopped-flow kinetics, NMR spectroscopy, Förster Resonance Energy transfer, single-molecule force measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations, we show that the ubiquitin xenonucleus can act as an effective decoy for the native folding nucleus. It can make the refolding faster by 33 ± 5% at 3 M GdnHCl. In principle, our approach provides a general method for constructing specific, genetically encodable, folding modifiers for any protein which has a well-defined contiguous folding nucleus.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 1131-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edyta Swider ◽  
Sanish Maharjan ◽  
Karlijne Houkes ◽  
Nicolaas Koen van Riessen ◽  
Carl Figdor ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M Lenhart ◽  
Stefan Broselid ◽  
Cordelia J Barrick ◽  
L M Fredrik Leeb-Lundberg ◽  
Kathleen M Caron

Receptor activity-modifying protein 3 (RAMP3) is a single-pass transmembrane protein known to interact with and affect the trafficking of several G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). We sought to determine whether RAMP3 interacts with GPR30, also known as G-protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1. GPR30 is a GPCR that binds estradiol and has important roles in cardiovascular and endocrine physiology. Using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer titration studies, co-immunoprecipitation, and confocal microscopy, we show that GPR30 and RAMP3 interact. Furthermore, the presence of GPR30 leads to increased expression of RAMP3 at the plasma membrane in HEK293 cells. In vivo, there are marked sex differences in the subcellular localization of GPR30 in cardiac cells, and the hearts of Ramp3−/− mice also show signs of GPR30 mislocalization. To determine whether this interaction might play a role in cardiovascular disease, we treated Ramp3+/+ and Ramp3−/− mice on a heart disease-prone genetic background with G-1, a specific agonist for GPR30. Importantly, this in vivo activation of GPR30 resulted in a significant reduction in cardiac hypertrophy and perivascular fibrosis that is both RAMP3 and sex dependent. Our results demonstrate that GPR30–RAMP3 interaction has functional consequences on the localization of these proteins both in vitro and in vivo and that RAMP3 is required for GPR30-mediated cardioprotection.


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 1218-1230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja J. Copik ◽  
M. Scott Webb ◽  
Aaron L. Miller ◽  
Yongxin Wang ◽  
Raj Kumar ◽  
...  

Abstract The mechanism through which the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) stimulates transcription is still unclear, although it is clear that the GR affects assembly of the transcriptional machinery. The binding of the TATA-binding protein (TBP) to the TATA-box is accepted as essential in this process. It is known that the GR can interact in vitro with TBP, but the direct interaction of TBP with GR has not been previously characterized quantitatively and has not been appreciated as an important step in assembling the transcriptional complex. Herein, we demonstrate that the TBP-GR interaction is functionally significant by characterizing the association of TBP and GR in vitro by a combination of techniques and confirming the role of this interaction in vivo. Combined analysis, using native gel electrophoresis, sedimentation equilibrium, and isothermal microcalorimetry titrations, characterize the stoichiometry, affinity, and thermodynamics of the TBP-GR interaction. TBP binds recombinant GR activation function 1 (AF1) with a 1:2 stoichiometry and a dissociation constant in the nanomolar range. In vivo fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments, using fluorescently labeled TBP and various GR constructs, transiently transfected into CV-1 cells, show GR-TBP interactions, dependent on AF1. AF1-deletion variants showed fluorescence resonance energy transfer efficiencies on the level of coexpressed cyan fluorescent protein and yellow fluorescent protein, indicating that the interaction is dependent on AF1 domain. To demonstrate the functional role of the in vivo GR-TBP interaction, increased amounts of TBP expressed in vivo stimulated expression of GR-driven reporters and endogenous genes, and the effect was also specifically dependent on AF1.


2007 ◽  
Vol 282 (46) ◽  
pp. 33494-33506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill. B. Chen ◽  
Rama K. Mallampalli

CTP:phosphocholine cytidylyltransferase (CCTα) is a proteolytically sensitive enzyme essential for production of phosphatidylcholine, the major phospholipid of animal cell membranes. The molecular signals that govern CCTα protein stability are unknown. An NH2-terminal PEST sequence within CCTα did not serve as a degradation signal for the proteinase, calpain. Calmodulin (CaM) stabilized CCTα from calpain proteolysis. Adenoviral gene transfer of CaM in cells protected CCTα, whereas CaM small interfering RNA accentuated CCTα degradation by calpains. CaM bound CCTα as revealed by fluorescence resonance energy transfer and two-hybrid analysis. Mapping and site-directed mutagenesis of CCTα uncovered a motif (LQERVDKVK) harboring a vital recognition site, Gln243, whereby CaM directly binds to the enzyme. Mutagenesis of CCTα Gln243 not only resulted in loss of CaM binding but also led to complete calpain resistance in vitro and in vivo. Thus, calpains and CaM both access CCTα using a structurally similar molecular signature that profoundly affects CCTα levels. These data suggest that CaM, by antagonizing calpain, serves as a novel binding partner for CCTα that stabilizes the enzyme under proinflammatory stress.


2004 ◽  
Vol 164 (7) ◽  
pp. 997-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik L. Snapp ◽  
Gretchen A. Reinhart ◽  
Brigitte A. Bogert ◽  
Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz ◽  
Ramanujan S. Hegde

Protein translocons of the mammalian endoplasmic reticulum are composed of numerous functional components whose organization during different stages of the transport cycle in vivo remains poorly understood. We have developed generally applicable methods based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) to probe the relative proximities of endogenously expressed translocon components in cells. Examination of substrate-engaged translocons revealed oligomeric assemblies of the Sec61 complex that were associated to varying degrees with other essential components including the signal recognition particle receptor TRAM and the TRAP complex. Remarkably, these components not only remained assembled but also had a similar, yet distinguishable, organization both during and after nascent chain translocation. The persistence of preassembled and complete translocons between successive rounds of transport may facilitate highly efficient translocation in vivo despite temporal constraints imposed by ongoing translation and a crowded cellular environment.


2008 ◽  
Vol 74 (14) ◽  
pp. 4309-4313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reuven Rasooly ◽  
Paula M. Do

ABSTRACT Currently, the only accepted assay with which to detect active Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin is an in vivo mouse bioassay. The mouse bioassay is sensitive and robust and does not require specialized equipment. However, the mouse bioassay is slow and not practical in many settings, and it results in the death of animals. Here, we describe an in vitro cleavage assay for SNAP-25 (synaptosome-associated proteins of 25 kDa) for measuring the toxin activity with the same sensitivity as that of the mouse bioassay. Moreover, this assay is far more rapid, can be automated and adapted to many laboratory settings, and has the potential to be used for toxin typing. The assay has two main steps. The first step consists of immunoseparation and concentration of the toxin, using immunomagnetic beads with monoclonal antibodies directed against the 100-kDa heavy chain subunit, and the second step consists of a cleavage assay targeting the SNAP-25 peptide of the toxin, labeled with fluorescent dyes and detected as a fluorescence resonance energy transfer assay. Our results suggest that the sensitivity of this assay is 10 pg/ml, which is similar to the sensitivity of the mouse bioassay, and this test can detect the activity of the toxin in carrot juice and beef. These results suggest that the assay has a potential use as an alternative to the mouse bioassay for analysis of C. botulinum type A neurotoxin.


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