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* Unité Mixte de Recherche Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 8619, Université Paris-Sud, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France; and
School of Medicine and Pharmacology M510, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Center, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia 6009, Australia
Correspondence: Address reprint requests to Alexandre Ghazi, UMR CNRS 8619, Université Paris-Sud, Bât. 430, 91405, Orsay cedex, France. Tel.: 33-1-69-15-71-94; E-mail: alexandre.ghazi{at}biomemb.u-psud.fr.
| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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MscL from E. coli was the first MS channel to be purified and cloned, by Kung and co-workers (Sukharev et al., 1994
). The structure of the MscL homolog from Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the closed conformation was solved by x-ray crystallography (Chang et al., 1998
). The channel is a homopentamer with each subunit consisting of two transmembrane
-helices TM1 and TM2 (Fig. 1 A), connected by an external periplasmic loop, and with the NH2 and COOH termini located in the cytoplasm (Blount et al., 1996a
). The closed pore is lined by the five TM1 segments (on the NH2-terminal side) tilted at an oblique angle with respect to the membrane, whereas the five TM2 segments form an external surrounding ring.
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It is still unknown what part of the protein, if any, directly senses the deformation of the membrane and subsequently triggers the transition from the closed to the open conformation. Blount and co-workers, however, recently identified a structural motif Asn-hydrophobic-hydrophobic-Asp present in voltage-gated channels with six-transmembrane domains and in MscL (Kumanovics et al., 2002
). They suggested that this motif, which in MscL is located at the basis of the TM1 helix close to its cytoplasmic side, could represent a sensor that might have been highly conserved throughout the evolution.
To progress in our understanding of the molecular gating mechanism of MscL, we have produced and purified two halves of the MscL protein, each of them containing one of the transmembrane segments, i.e., TM1 or TM2. In this study we addressed the following questions: i), Can the TM1 or TM2 segment alone form channels?; ii), Are these channels mechanosensitive?; And finally, iii), what is the electrophysiological activity of the two halves of the MscL protein when they are reconstituted together?
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Plasmid construction
E. coli strain DH5
cells containing the plasmid pGEX-1.1 (Häse et al., 1995
) were grown at 37°C for 8 h in 20 ml Luria-Bertani (LB) medium with 50 µg/ml ampicillin. This culture was diluted 1:20 and subgrown overnight. The cells were harvested by centrifugation (3000 x g, 15 min, 4°C) and the plasmid DNA extracted using the Qiagen Midi plasmid extraction kit. This plasmid was used for the following constructs: 1), amplification of the N-half MscL (as defined in Fig. 1 A) and incorporation of BamH1 site at the 5'-end of the section was achieved by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using the oligonucleotides FORWARD-2: 5'-CGG GAT CCC GAA TCC CTG CTG-3', and REVERSE-2: 5'-CCG GCA GCT GCA TGT GTC AGA GG-3'; 2), amplification of the C-half MscL (as defined in Fig. 1 A) and incorporation of EcoR1 site at the 3'-end of the section was achieved by PCR using the oligonucleotides FORWARD-1': 5'-GGG CGG GAT CCC TCG AGC ATA GGG AG-3', and REVERSE-1': 5'-GGG CGG AAT TCT TAT TAA TCC CCC TGC GCA TCG CGT AG-3'. The PCR products were then purified using the Qiagen QIAquick PCR purification kit, BamH1/EcoR1 digested and ligated into pGEX-2T vector. Each ligation mixture was then transformed into competent AW737-KO E. coli knockout in the mscL gene by a chromosomal insertion (Sukharev et al., 1994
). Host cells were transformed under the following parameters for BIORAD gene pulser and gene controller: 1250 V25 µF200
. Clones were isolated by plating on selective media. All plasmids were verified by DNA sequencing.
Protein expression and purification
E. coli strains AW737-KO (500 ml), carrying pGEX-N-half or pGEX-C-half plasmid, were grown at 37°C in LB broth with 50 µg/ml ampicillin and 30 µg/ml chloramphenicol. After addition of isopropyl-ß-D-glucopyranoside (0.1 mM) for induction of protein expression, cells were further grown for 4 h. Cells were harvested, resuspended in 25 ml 50 mM NaH2PO4, 100 mM NaCl, 5% sucrose, 2 mM MgSO4, DNase (10 µg/ml), pH 7.6, and passed twice through a French press at 8000 psi The broken cell suspension was centrifuged for 15 min at 3000 x g to pellet and isolate cell debris and inclusion bodies from cytoplasm and membrane vesicles. The pellet was resuspended in 10 ml phosphate-buffered saline (137 mM NaCl, 2.7 mM KCl, 4.3 mM Na2HPO4, 1.4 mM K H2PO4, pH 7.2) containing 0.1% N,N-dimethyldodecylamine-N-oxide (LDAO) for glutathion S-transferase (GST)-N-half and 1% Triton X-100 for GST-C-half, and incubated for 3 h at room temperature. Nonsoluble inclusion bodies and cell debris were eliminated by second centrifugation at 3000 x g. The supernatant was incubated with 0.5 ml GS-4B (bed volume) beads for 3 h at room temperature. The membrane vesicles were ultracentrifuged for 60 min at 100,000 x g, and the pelleted vesicles were resuspended with detergent under conditions similar to that for inclusion bodies. The suspension was ultracentrifuged and the supernatant was incubated with 0.5 ml GS-4B beads for 3 h at room temperature. For both fusion proteins, the beads were then washed four times by centrifugation using a desktop centrifuge for 5 min in phosphate-buffered saline containing 1.5% octyl-glucoside. After the last wash, the beads were resuspended in 500 µl 10 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM NaCl, pH 8.0, containing 1% octyl-glucoside and 10 units thrombin. After 3 h incubation at room temperature the beads were transferred to a small column (10 x 3 x 30 mm) and washed three times with 500 µl 10 mM Tris-HCl, 100 mM NaCl, pH 8.0, 1% octyl-glucoside. Protein samples were analyzed by 16.5% Tricine-SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (Schägger and von Jagow, 1987
). After affinity chromatographic purification, both peptide concentrations were determined using Bicinchoninic acid method (Pierce Chemical) and SDS-PAGE.
Reconstitution in liposomes
N-half and C-half proteins purified with octyl-glucoside were incubated with 1 mg azolectin IV-S lipids at a given protein/lipid ratio in 2 ml 10 mM HEPES-KOH pH 7.4, 100 mM KCl, 1% octyl-glucoside, for 30 min at room temperature. Bio-Beads SM-2 (Bio-Rad) were then added at a concentration of 160 mg per ml. For coreconstitution of TM1 and TM2, both peptides were mixed for 3 h in detergent at 4°C before addition of lipids. After 4 h, Bio-Beads were discarded, and the suspension was centrifuged for 25 min at 200,000 x g. The pellet was resuspended in 20 µl HEPES-KOH, pH 7.4, and the following suspension was subjected to a dehydration/rehydration cycle to obtain giant proteoliposomes as previously described (Berrier et al., 1989
). Rehydration was performed in 10 mM HEPES-KOH, 100 mM KCl, pH 7.4. A quanity of 2 µl of the giant proteoliposome suspension was deposited in a patch-clamp chamber and diluted by 2 ml bath solution (10 mM HEPES-KOH, 100 mM KCl, pH 7.4).
Patch-clamp recording
Single-channel activity was recorded using standard patch-clamp methods. Patch electrodes were pulled from Pyrex capillaries (Corning code 7740) using a P-2000 Sutter Instruments (Novato, CA) laser pipette puller, and were not fire polished before use. Micropipettes were filled with a buffer similar to that of the patch-clamp chamber completed by 2 mM MgCl2 and 5 mM CaCl2. Negative pressure (suction) was applied to the patch pipette by syringe and monitored with a piezo-electric pressure transducer (Bioblock Scientific). Unitary currents were recorded using a Biologic (Grenoble, France) RK-300 patch-clamp amplifier with a 10-G
feedback resistance and stored on digital audiotape (Biologic DTR 1200 DAT recorder). Records were subsequently filtered at 1 kHz (-3 dB point) through a four-pole Bessel low pass filter, digitized offline at a rate of 2 kHz, and analyzed on a personal computer, with a program developed by G. Sadoc (Gif sur Yvette). Data were plotted on a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet printer, using Sigmaplot software (Jandel).
| RESULTS |
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25 µg protein recovered from the membrane fraction and 50 µg from the inclusion bodies. For the C-half moiety the yields were 50 and 100 µg, respectively. This compares to some 500 µg for the full-length MscL.
Lack of the electrophysiological activity of the C-half MscL moiety
The purified C-half moiety, containing the TM2 segment, was reconstituted into azolectin liposomes. The corresponding proteoliposomes were subjected to a cycle of dehydration-rehydration to produce giant proteoliposomes amenable to patch-clamp recording. Several preparations were assayed with lipid to protein ratios (weight/weight) ranging from 10,000 to 60. Proteins isolated from the membrane fraction as well as from inclusion bodies were used. No spontaneous channel activity that could be attributed to the C-half moiety was observed in 86 patches. The only channel activity that could be recorded was observed at high protein concentration (lipid to protein ratio of 60:1) and was attributed to porin channels (six patches) resulting from the residual contamination by the outer membrane. Indeed, the channels, whose conductance ranged from 200 to 400 pS, were open at low membrane potentials and closed when high positive and negative membrane potentials were applied with kinetics characteristic of porin channel (Berrier et al., 1997
). Contamination by porin channels cannot be totally avoided when membrane proteins are purified from E. coli, and this contamination is likely to be revealed when high protein concentrations are used. A total of 54 patches reconstituted with the TM2 fragment alone were tested for MS channel activity by applying negative pressure to the patch pipette. Since all of them remained silent, we concluded that this portion of the MscL protein cannot form channels by itself.
The N-half MscL moiety forms channels that are not activated by pressure
Spontaneous channel activity could be recorded from patches of giant proteoliposomes reconstituted with the N-half moiety of MscL, containing the TM1 segment, purified either from membrane fraction or inclusion bodies. Reconstitution was performed at different lipid to protein ratios: 500, 1000, 1300, and 2000, with a result that the channel activity was observed in 27 out of 34 patches, 25 out of 57 patches, 27 out of 47 patches, and one out of five patches respectively. From patch to patch, channels with different conductance, varying between 50 and 350 pS (in 100 mM KCl symmetrical media), and different kinetics were observed. However, in most cases, the same type of channel was consistently observed in a single patch throughout the recording. To summarize, only one type of channels was observed in 51 patches, two types of channels were observed in 24 patches, and three types of channels were observed in only five patches. Fig. 2 displays examples of such recordings. Fig. 2 A is representative of the most frequently observed kinetic pattern. Fig. 2 B documents a fast flickering pattern that was less often observed. Fig. 2, C and D, are successive segments of the same recording, showing the disappearance of one of the two channels initially present in the patch. Although in some patches channels were more active at one polarity than at the other, this pattern was not consistently observed. No clear voltage dependence could be observed. Suction was systematically applied in 89 patches, including patches that were apparently devoid of channel activity. No pressure-dependent channel was ever observed. When channels were present in the patch, gating was not affected by pressure applied until breakage of the patch (around 50 mm Hg). We noticed that the presence of the N-half proteins apparently increased the fragility of the patches.
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| DISCUSSION |
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-helices, but may result from temporary defects in the lipid bilayer induced by the amphipatic protein.
In contrast with the N-half moiety, the C-half moiety is unable to form channels on its own. This could not be easily predicted. For instance, the hydrophobicity moment of TM2, which would be expected to reflect its amphipathicity, is higher than that of TM1 in E.coli MscL and in 21 homologs. The observation that TM2 is unable to form channels is difficult to reconcile with the proposal that the TM2 transmembrane segments could be part of the open pore of MscL together with the TM1 segments. Our findings are therefore more consistent with the model of Guy, Sukharev, and co-workers, who proposed that the tilted TM1 transmembrane segments alone enclose the pore of the open channel (Sukharev et al., 2001a
,b
). This proposition was confirmed by using electron paramagnetic resonance measurements as well as cross-linking experiments (Perozo et al., 2002b
; Betanzos et al., 2002
).
Blount and co-workers have recently detected a four amino acid motif NxxD in the TM1 helix and have speculated that it could represent a sensor in mechanosensation (Kumanovics et al., 2002
). Among different tests of this hypothesis, the authors proposed to examine the electrophysiological activity of this helix. The experiments in this study clearly indicate that the N-half part of the protein alone is unable to form channels that respond to tension. Therefore, the motif at the basis of TM1 helix is very likely not a sensor of membrane tension promoting the tilting of the helix. When mutations are performed in this motif, the sensitivity of the channel to membrane tension is modulated but its mechanosensitivity is not abolished. This does not completely rule out the possibility that this motif, whose conservation is striking, does not play a role in mechanosensation.
Indeed, our experiments show that the C-half part of the protein, which includes the TM2 helix, is essential for the formation of a mechanosensitive channel with MscL characteristics. It is tempting to speculate that TM2 helices form a scaffold that confers the characteristic pore formed by five TM1 helices. It is therefore possible that the TM2 helices, which are in a direct contact with the lipid bilayer (Perozo et al., 2002b
), are the ones that sense tension and whose tilting causes the opening of the channel pore.
The currently accepted model for the folding of helical membrane proteins involves two steps (Popot and Engelman, 1990
). In the first step hydrophobic segments insert into the membrane as
-helices. In the second step helix-helix interactions drives the assembly of the helices to form the native bundle. This model is supported by experiments in which functional proteins have been assembled from proteolytic or genetically cleaved fragments (reviewed in Popot et al., 1994
). That the 10 separated helices of the MscL channel are able to assemble to form a mechanosensitive channel is in itself remarkable and attest to the importance of helix-helix interaction in the conformation of membrane proteins. The process itself is not very efficient since only a fraction of the reconstituted proteins form MscL-type channel. Nevertheless, it is striking to observe that only one kind of channel can be formed: mechanosensitive channels of higher or lower conductance were not observed.
In a previous article, we examined the contributions of the extramembranous part of the channel in mechanosensation by direct application of proteases during patch-clamp experiments performed on MscL reconstituted in artificial liposomes (Ajouz et al., 2000
). In these experiments, the channel retained its native orientation with the NH2 and COOH termini facing the recording chamber and the periplasmic loop facing the interior of the patch pipette. When trypsin or chymotrypsin were present in the pipette, we observed that the sensitivity of the MscL channels increased over time. The interpretation of this observation was that the periplasmic loop had been proteolysed, that its integrity was not essential for mechanosensation, but that its cleavage enhanced mechanosensitivity. The experiments reported here clearly demonstrate this proposal and indicate that the loop plays an important role in MscL gating possibly by acting as a spring, which sets the level of mechanosensitivity of the channel. Indeed, mutations in the loop region of MscL from E. coli (Blount et al., 1996b
) or of MscL from M. tuberculosis (Maurer et al., 2000
) have been shown to lead to a gain of function. More recently, Maurer and Dougherty (2003)
reported on random mutagenesis experiments performed on MscL coupled with a high-throughput functional screen. Using this approach they found that loss of function mutations are concentrated in the loop region and in particular in the region of the protein near the headgroups of the lipid bilayer. There is therefore mounting evidence that the loop may constitute a key functional region conferring mechanosensitivity to the MscL channel protein.
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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This work was supported in part by grant CR 521090 from Délégation Générale pour l'Armement and by the Programmes Internationaux de Coopération Scientifique from Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique to A.G. as well as International Research & Exchanges Board Award X00001605 by the Australian Research Council to B.M. and A.G.
Submitted on June 28, 2003; accepted for publication October 14, 2003.
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