scholarly journals Components of the plasma membrane of growing axons. II. Diffusion of membrane protein complexes.

1984 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 1434-1443 ◽  
Author(s):  
R K Small ◽  
M Blank ◽  
R Ghez ◽  
K H Pfenninger

Intramembrane particles (IMPs) of the plasmalemma of mature, synapsing neurons are evenly distributed along the axon shaft. In contrast, IMPs of growing olfactory axons form density gradients: IMP density decreases with increasing distance from the perikarya, with a slope that depends upon IMP size (Small, R., and K. H. Pfenninger, 1984, J. Cell Biol., 98: 1422-1433). These IMP density gradients resemble Gaussian tails, but they are much more accurately described by the equations formulated for diffusion in a system with a moving boundary (a Stefan Problem), using constants that are dependent upon IMP size. The resulting model predicts a shallow, nearly linear IMP density profile at early stages of growth. Later, this profile becomes gradually transformed into a steep nonlinear gradient as axon elongation proceeds. This prediction is borne out by the experimental evidence. The diffusion coefficients calculated from this model range from 0.5 to 1.8 X 10(-7) cm2/s for IMPs between 14.8 and 3.6 nm, respectively. These diffusion coefficients are linearly dependent upon the inverse IMP diameter in accordance with the Stokes-Einstein relationship. The measured viscosity is approximately 7 centipoise. Our findings indicate (a) that most IMPs in growing axons reach distal locations by lateral diffusion in the plasma membrane, (b) that IMPs--or complexes of integral membrane proteins--can diffuse at considerably higher rates than previously reported for iso-concentration systems, and (c) that the laws of diffusion determined for macroscopic systems are applicable to the submicroscopic membrane system.

1984 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 2333-2335 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Edidin ◽  
M Zuniga

We have compared the lateral diffusion of intact transmembrane proteins, wild-type H-2Ld antigens, with that of mutants truncated in the cytoplasmic domain. Diffusion coefficients and mobile fractions were similar for all molecules examined, from wild-type Ld antigens with 31 residues on the cytoplasmic side of the plasma membrane to mutants with only four residues in the cytoplasmic domain. This result limits ways in which the lateral diffusion of a major histocompatibility antigen, a transmembrane protein, can be constrained by interactions with other molecules.


eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joury S van 't Klooster ◽  
Tan-Yun Cheng ◽  
Hendrik R Sikkema ◽  
Aike Jeucken ◽  
Branch Moody ◽  
...  

Yeast tolerates a low pH and high solvent concentrations. The permeability of the plasma membrane (PM) for small molecules is low and lateral diffusion of proteins is slow. These findings suggest a high degree of lipid order, which raises the question of how membrane proteins function in such an environment. The yeast PM is segregated into the Micro-Compartment-of-Can1 (MCC) and Pma1 (MCP), which have different lipid compositions. We extracted proteins from these microdomains via stoichiometric capture of lipids and proteins in styrene-maleic-acid-lipid-particles (SMALPs). We purified SMALP-lipid-protein complexes by chromatography and quantitatively analyzed periprotein lipids located within the diameter defined by one SMALP. Phospholipid and sterol concentrations are similar for MCC and MCP, but sphingolipids are enriched in MCP. Ergosterol is depleted from this periprotein lipidome, whereas phosphatidylserine is enriched relative to the bulk of the plasma membrane. Direct detection of PM lipids in the 'periprotein space' supports the conclusion that proteins function in the presence of a locally disordered lipid state.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 1138-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Miller

Ordered structures suggesting phase separation of lipids were observed in freeze-fracture replicas of plasma membranes of Fusarium sulphureum after free protoplasts had been fixed at 0 °C. Areas representing up to 50% of the protoplast plasma membrane inner fractured face assumed a lateral, hexagonally ordered structure from which the normally randomly distributed 25-nm membrane protein complexes had been excluded. Intact macroconidia only rarely showed small regions of lateral ordering of this type when fixed at the same, nonlethal temperature.The normal impermeability of the macroconidial plasma membrane to divalent cations such as Ni2+ declined rapidly when the cells were incubated at temperatures 5 °C or more above the physiological growth temperature range of the organism. Admission of divalent cations and death of the cells was associated with an irreversible thermotropic change in the fluidity in the membrane lipids as indicated by lipophilic spin probes.Partitioning spin probe and freeze-fracture techniques were best suited to the observation of thermotropic physical changes in the fungal plasma membrane which were induced at supra- and sub-physiological temperatures, respectively.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joury S van ’t Klooster ◽  
Tan-Yun Cheng ◽  
Hendrik R Sikkema ◽  
Aike Jeucken ◽  
D. Branch Moody ◽  
...  

AbstractYeast tolerates a low pH and high solvent concentrations. The permeability of the plasma membrane (PM) for small molecules is low and lateral diffusion of proteins is slow. These findings suggest a high degree of lipid order, which raises the question of how membrane proteins function in such an environment. The yeast PM is segregated into the Micro-Compartment-of-Can1 (MCC) and Pma1 (MCP), which have different lipid compositions. We extracted proteins from these microdomains via stoichiometric capture of lipids and proteins in styrene-maleic-acid-lipid-particles (SMALPs). We purified SMALP-lipid-protein complexes by chromatography and quantitatively analyzed periprotein lipids located within the diameter defined by one SMALP. Phospholipid and sterol concentrations are similar for MCC and MCP, but sphingolipids are enriched in MCP. Ergosterol is depleted from this periprotein lipidome, whereas phosphatidylserine is enriched relative to the bulk of the plasma membrane. Direct detection of PM lipids in the ‘periprotein space’ supports the conclusion that proteins function in the presence of a locally disordered lipid state.


1993 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
G M Lee ◽  
F Zhang ◽  
A Ishihara ◽  
C L McNeil ◽  
K A Jacobson

Nanovid (video-enhanced) microscopy was used to determine whether lateral diffusion in the plasma membrane of colloidal gold-tagged lipid molecules is confined or is unrestricted. Confinement could be produced by domains within the plane of the plasma membrane or by filamentous barriers within the pericellular matrix. Fluorescein-phosphatidylethanolamine (F1-PE), incorporated into the plasma membranes of cultured fibroblasts, epithelial cells and keratocytes, was labeled with 30-nm colloidal gold conjugated to anti-fluorescein (anti-F1). The trajectories of the gold-labeled lipids were used to compute diffusion coefficients (DG) and to test for restricted motion. On the cell lamella, the gold-labeled lipids diffused freely in the plasma membrane. Since the gold must move through the pericellular matrix as the attached lipid diffuses in the plasma membrane, this result suggests that any extensive filamentous barriers in the pericellular matrix are at least 40 nm from the plasma membrane surface. The average diffusion coefficients ranged from 1.1 to 1.7 x 10(-9) cm2/s. These values were lower than the average diffusion coefficients (DF) (5.4 to 9.5 x 10(-9) cm2/s) obtained by FRAP. The lower DG is partially due to the pericellular matrix as demonstrated by the result that heparinase treatment of keratocytes significantly increased DG to 2.8 x 10(-9) cm2/s, but did not affect DF. Pericellular matrix viscosity was estimated from the frictional coefficients computed from DG and DF and ranged from 0.5 to 0.9 poise for untreated cells. Heparinase treatment of keratocytes decreased the apparent viscosity to approximately 0.1 poise. To evaluate the presence of domains or barriers, the trajectories and corresponding mean square displacement (MSD) plots of gold-labeled lipids were compared to the trajectories and MSD plots resulting from computer simulations of random walks within corrals. Based on these comparisons, we conclude that, if there are domains limiting the diffusion of F1-PE, most are larger than 5 microns in diameter.


1984 ◽  
Vol 99 (5) ◽  
pp. 1624-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Jacobson ◽  
D O'Dell ◽  
J T August

The lateral diffusion of an 80,000-dalton major cell surface glycoprotein of murine fibroblasts has been measured. This antigen, identified through the use of monoclonal antibodies, is an integral glycoprotein distributed through the plasma membrane as judged by immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy (see preceding paper). Measurements of fluorescence recovery after photobleaching were performed on the antigen-antibody complex within the plasma membrane of C3H/10T1/2 and NIH/3T3 cells after labeling the monoclonal antibody with fluorescein. Measurements were performed as a function of temperature, for interphase, mitotic, and G0 C3H/10T1/2 cells. The mean lateral diffusion coefficients (D) for the antibody-protein complex in interphase cells were in the range of 0.7-3.5 X 10(-10) cm2/s between 9 degrees and 37 degrees C, while that for the lipid analog probe, dihexadecylindocarbocyanine was about two orders of magnitude greater. This comparison indicates that peripheral interactions other than bilayer fluidity limit the lateral mobility of the antigen. The mobile fraction of mitotic, G0, and interphase cells showed a monotonic increase with temperature with most of the antibody-antigen complexes being free to move about 25 degrees C. Semi-quantitative interpretations of both the slow glycoprotein diffusion and the immobile fraction are offered. Comparison of diffusion coefficients for cells in different phases of the cell cycle does not reveal striking differences. Mobile fractions for G0 cells at 25 degrees C or less are substantially lower than in interphase cells. In all cases, there was a remarkably broad range of the fluorescence recovery data between different cells, resulting in up to a 10-fold variation in diffusion coefficients, which is far greater than the precision limits of the experiment. Diffusion values and mobile fractions were generally well within a factor of two when measured at several arbitrary points on a single cell. The origins of this cellular heterogenity remain to be elucidated. Lateral mobility in cell fragments and specific regions of single cells was also examined. The glycoprotein was mobile in ventral surface cell fragments. Its mobility was not altered in regions of cell-cell underlapping. However, the diffusion coefficient was threefold higher near the leading edge of motile cells compared to the trailing region. This difference may reflect weaker coupling of the glycoprotein to the underlying cytoskeleton in the dynamic leading edge region.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tuomas Huokko ◽  
Tao Ni ◽  
Gregory F. Dykes ◽  
Deborah M. Simpson ◽  
Philip Brownridge ◽  
...  

AbstractHow thylakoid membranes are generated to form a metabolically active membrane network and how thylakoid membranes orchestrate the insertion and localization of protein complexes for efficient electron flux remain elusive. Here, we develop a method to modulate thylakoid biogenesis in the rod-shaped cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 by modulating light intensity during cell growth, and probe the spatial-temporal stepwise biogenesis process of thylakoid membranes in cells. Our results reveal that the plasma membrane and regularly arranged concentric thylakoid layers have no physical connections. The newly synthesized thylakoid membrane fragments emerge between the plasma membrane and pre-existing thylakoids. Photosystem I monomers appear in the thylakoid membranes earlier than other mature photosystem assemblies, followed by generation of Photosystem I trimers and Photosystem II complexes. Redistribution of photosynthetic complexes during thylakoid biogenesis ensures establishment of the spatial organization of the functional thylakoid network. This study provides insights into the dynamic biogenesis process and maturation of the functional photosynthetic machinery.


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