scholarly journals Dynamic action of the Sec machinery during initiation, protein translocation and termination revealed by single molecule fluorescence

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Fessl ◽  
Daniel Watkins ◽  
Peter Oatley ◽  
William J. Allen ◽  
Robin A. Corey ◽  
...  

AbstractProtein translocation across cell membranes is a ubiquitous process required for protein secretion and membrane protein insertion. This is mediated, for the majority of proteins, by the highly conserved Sec machinery. The bacterial translocon – SecYMKEG – resides in the plasma membrane, where translocation is driven through rounds of ATP hydrolysis by the cytoplasmic SecA ATPase, and the proton motive force (PMF). We have used single molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) alongside a combination of confocal and total internal reflection microscopy to gain access to SecY pore dynamics and translocation kinetics on timescales spanning milliseconds to minutes. This allows us to dissect and characterise the translocation process in unprecedented detail. We show that SecA, signal sequence, pre-protein and ATP hydrolysis each have important and specific roles in unlocking and opening the Sec channel, priming it for transport. After channel opening, translocation proceeds in two phases: an initiation phase independent of substrate length, and a length-dependent transport phase with an intrinsic translocation rate of ~ 40 amino acids per second for the model pre-protein substrate proOmpA. The initiation and translocation phases are both coupled to ATP hydrolysis while termination is ATP-independent. Distributions of translocation rates reflect the stochastic nature of the translocation process and are consistent with the recently proposed Brownian ratchet model [Allenet al.doi: 10.7554/eLife.15598]. The results allow us unparalleled access to the kinetics of the complex reaction and provide a framework for understanding the molecular mechanism of protein secretion.

eLife ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Fessl ◽  
Daniel Watkins ◽  
Peter Oatley ◽  
William John Allen ◽  
Robin Adam Corey ◽  
...  

Protein translocation across cell membranes is a ubiquitous process required for protein secretion and membrane protein insertion. In bacteria, this is mostly mediated by the conserved SecYEG complex, driven through rounds of ATP hydrolysis by the cytoplasmic SecA, and the trans-membrane proton motive force. We have used single molecule techniques to explore SecY pore dynamics on multiple timescales in order to dissect the complex reaction pathway. The results show that SecA, both the signal sequence and mature components of the pre-protein, and ATP hydrolysis each have important and specific roles in channel unlocking, opening and priming for transport. After channel opening, translocation proceeds in two phases: a slow phase independent of substrate length, and a length-dependent transport phase with an intrinsic translocation rate of ~40 amino acids per second for the proOmpA substrate. Broad translocation rate distributions reflect the stochastic nature of polypeptide transport.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 1247-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mateusz Dyla ◽  
Sara Basse Hansen ◽  
Poul Nissen ◽  
Magnus Kjaergaard

Abstract P-type ATPases transport ions across biological membranes against concentration gradients and are essential for all cells. They use the energy from ATP hydrolysis to propel large intramolecular movements, which drive vectorial transport of ions. Tight coordination of the motions of the pump is required to couple the two spatially distant processes of ion binding and ATP hydrolysis. Here, we review our current understanding of the structural dynamics of P-type ATPases, focusing primarily on Ca2+ pumps. We integrate different types of information that report on structural dynamics, primarily time-resolved fluorescence experiments including single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer and molecular dynamics simulations, and interpret them in the framework provided by the numerous crystal structures of sarco/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+-ATPase. We discuss the challenges in characterizing the dynamics of membrane pumps, and the likely impact of new technologies on the field.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klemens Winkler ◽  
Andreas Karner ◽  
Andreas Horner ◽  
Christof Hannesschlaeger ◽  
Denis Knyazev ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTTranslocation of many secretory proteins through the bacterial plasma membrane is facilitated by a complex of the SecYEG channel with the motor protein SecA. The ATP-free complex is unstable in detergent, raising the question how SecA may perform several rounds of ATP hydrolysis without being released from the membrane embedded SecYEG. Here we show that dual recognition of (i) SecYEG and (ii) vicinal acidic lipids confers an apparent nanomolar affinity. High-speed atomic force microscopy visualizes the complexes between monomeric SecA and SecYEG as being stable for tens of seconds. These long-lasting events and complementary shorter ones both give rise to single ion channel openings of equal duration. Furthermore, luminescence resonance energy transfer reveals two conformations of the SecYEG-SecA complex that differ in the protrusion depth of SecA’s two-helix finger into SecYEG’s aqueous channel. Such movement of the finger is in line with the power stroke mechanism of protein translocation.


Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Sielaff ◽  
Seiga Yanagisawa ◽  
Wayne D. Frasch ◽  
Wolfgang Junge ◽  
Michael Börsch

F-ATP synthases use proton flow through the FO domain to synthesize ATP in the F1 domain. In Escherichia coli, the enzyme consists of rotor subunits γεc10 and stator subunits (αβ)3δab2. Subunits c10 or (αβ)3 alone are rotationally symmetric. However, symmetry is broken by the b2 homodimer, which together with subunit δa, forms a single eccentric stalk connecting the membrane embedded FO domain with the soluble F1 domain, and the central rotating and curved stalk composed of subunit γε. Although each of the three catalytic binding sites in (αβ)3 catalyzes the same set of partial reactions in the time average, they might not be fully equivalent at any moment, because the structural symmetry is broken by contact with b2δ in F1 and with b2a in FO. We monitored the enzyme’s rotary progression during ATP hydrolysis by three single-molecule techniques: fluorescence video-microscopy with attached actin filaments, Förster resonance energy transfer between pairs of fluorescence probes, and a polarization assay using gold nanorods. We found that one dwell in the three-stepped rotary progression lasting longer than the other two by a factor of up to 1.6. This effect of the structural asymmetry is small due to the internal elastic coupling.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zainab Ahdash ◽  
Euan Pyle ◽  
William J. Allen ◽  
Robin A. Corey ◽  
Ian Collinson ◽  
...  

AbstractThe bacterial Sec translocon is a multi-component protein complex responsible for translocating diverse proteins across the plasma membrane. For post-translational protein translocation, the Sec-channel – SecYEG – associates with the motor protein SecA to mediate the ATP-dependent transport of unfolded pre-proteins across the membrane. Based on the structure of the machinery, combined with ensemble and single molecule analysis, a diffusional based Brownian ratchet mechanism for protein secretion has been proposed [Allen et al. eLife 2016;5:e15598]. However, the conformational dynamics required to facilitate this mechanism have not yet been fully resolved. Here, we employ hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS) to reveal striking nucleotide-dependent conformational changes in the Sec protein-channel. In addition to the ATP-dependent opening of SecY, reported previously, we observe a counteracting, also ATP-dependent, constriction of SecA around the mature regions of the pre-protein. Thus, ATP binding causes SecY to open and SecA to close, while ATP hydrolysis has the opposite effect. This alternating behaviour could help impose the directionality of the Brownian ratchet for protein transport through the Sec machinery, and possibly in translocation systems elsewhere. The results highlight the power of HDX-MS for interrogating the dynamic mechanisms of diverse membrane proteins; including their interactions with small molecules such as nucleotides (ATPases and GTPases) and inhibitors (e.g. antibiotics).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Heitkamp ◽  
Michael Börsch

ABSTRACTFoF1-ATP synthases are the ubiquitous membrane enzymes which catalyze ATP synthesis or ATP hydrolysis in reverse, respectively. Enzyme kinetics are controlled by internal subunit rotation, by substrate and product concentrations, by mechanical inhibitory mechanisms, but also by the electrochemical potential of protons across the membrane. By utilizing an Anti- Brownian electrokinetic trap (ABEL trap), single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET)-based subunit rotation monitoring was prolonged from milliseconds to seconds. The extended observation times for single proteoliposomes in solution allowed to observe fluctuating rotation rates of individual enzymes and to map the broad distributions of ATP-dependent catalytic rates in FoF1-ATP synthase. The buildup of an electrochemical potential of protons was confirmed to limit the maximum rate of ATP hydrolysis. In the presence of ionophores and uncouplers the fastest subunit rotation speeds measured in single reconstituted FoF1-ATP synthases were 180 full rounds per second, i.e. much faster than measured by biochemical ensemble averaging, but not as fast as the maximum rotational speed reported previously for isolated single F1 fragments without coupling to the membrane-embedded Fo domain of the enzyme.


2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 878-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Börsch ◽  
P. Gräber

F-type H+-ATP synthases synthesize ATP from ADP and phosphate using the energy supplied by a transmembrane electrochemical potential difference of protons. Rotary subunit movements within the enzyme drive catalysis in either an ATP hydrolysis or an ATP synthesis direction respectively. To monitor these subunit movements and associated conformational changes in real time and with subnanometre resolution, a single-molecule FRET (fluorescence resonance energy transfer) approach has been developed using the double-labelled H+-ATP synthase from Escherichia coli. After reconstitution into a liposome, this enzyme was able to catalyse ATP synthesis when the membrane was energized.


2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dagmar Klostermeier

Many complex cellular processes in the cell are catalysed at the expense of ATP hydrolysis. The enzymes involved bind and hydrolyse ATP and couple ATP hydrolysis to the catalysed process via cycles of nucleotide-driven conformational changes. In this review, I illustrate how smFRET (single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer) can define the underlying conformational changes that drive ATP-dependent molecular machines. The first example is a DEAD-box helicase that alternates between two different conformations in its catalytic cycle during RNA unwinding, and the second is DNA gyrase, a topoisomerase that undergoes a set of concerted conformational changes during negative supercoiling of DNA.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Carl DeHaven

This thesis contains four topic areas: a review of single-molecule microscropy methods and splicing, conformational dynamics of stem II of the U2 snRNA, the impact of post-transcriptional modifications on U2 snRNA folding dynamics, and preliminary findings on Mango aptamer folding dynamics.


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