scholarly journals Synthesis of Extended, Self-Assembled Biological Membranes containing Membrane Proteins from Gas Phase

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Wilm

1.AbstractMembrane proteins carry out a wide variety of biological functions. The reproduction of specific properties that have evolved over millions of years of biological membranes in a technically controlled environment is of significant interest. Here a method is presented that allows the self-assembly of a macroscopically large, freely transportable membrane with Outer membrane porin G from Escherichia Coli. The technique does not use protein specific characteristics and therefore, could represent a method for the generation of extended layers of membranes with arbitrary membrane protein content. Such in-vitro systems are relevant in the study of membrane-protein function and structure and the self-assembly of membrane-based protein complexes. They might become important for the incorporation of the lipid-membranes in technological devices.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan K. Okada ◽  
Kazuki Teranishi ◽  
Mark R. Ambroso ◽  
Jose Mario Isas ◽  
Elena Vazquez-Sarandeses ◽  
...  

AbstractLysine acetylation regulates the function of soluble proteins in vivo, yet it remains largely unexplored whether lysine acetylation regulates membrane protein function. Here, we use bioinformatics, biophysical analysis of recombinant proteins, live-cell fluorescent imaging and genetic manipulation of Drosophila to explore lysine acetylation in peripheral membrane proteins. Analysis of 50 peripheral membrane proteins harboring BAR, PX, C2, or EHD membrane-binding domains reveals that lysine acetylation predominates in membrane-interaction regions. Acetylation and acetylation-mimicking mutations in three test proteins, amphiphysin, EHD2, and synaptotagmin1, strongly reduce membrane binding affinity, attenuate membrane remodeling in vitro and alter subcellular localization. This effect is likely due to the loss of positive charge, which weakens interactions with negatively charged membranes. In Drosophila, acetylation-mimicking mutations of amphiphysin cause severe disruption of T-tubule organization and yield a flightless phenotype. Our data provide mechanistic insights into how lysine acetylation regulates membrane protein function, potentially impacting a plethora of membrane-related processes.


2005 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 910-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.J. Bond ◽  
J. Cuthbertson ◽  
M.S.P. Sansom

Interactions between membrane proteins and detergents are important in biophysical and structural studies and are also biologically relevant in the context of folding and transport. Despite a paucity of high-resolution data on protein–detergent interactions, novel methods and increased computational power enable simulations to provide a means of understanding such interactions in detail. Simulations have been used to compare the effect of lipid or detergent on the structure and dynamics of membrane proteins. Moreover, some of the longest and most complex simulations to date have been used to observe the spontaneous formation of membrane protein–detergent micelles. Common mechanistic steps in the micelle self-assembly process were identified for both α-helical and β-barrel membrane proteins, and a simple kinetic mechanism was proposed. Recently, simplified (i.e. coarse-grained) models have been utilized to follow long timescale transitions in membrane protein–detergent assemblies.


1988 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Kühlbrandt

As recently as 10 years ago, the prospect of solving the structure of any membrane protein by X-ray crystallography seemed remote. Since then, the threedimensional (3-D) structures of two membrane protein complexes, the bacterial photosynthetic reaction centres of Rhodopseudomonas viridis (Deisenhofer et al. 1984, 1985) and of Rhodobacter sphaeroides (Allen et al. 1986, 1987 a, 6; Chang et al. 1986) have been determined at high resolution. This astonishing progress would not have been possible without the pioneering work of Michel and Garavito who first succeeded in growing 3-D crystals of the membrane proteins bacteriorhodopsin (Michel & Oesterhelt, 1980) and matrix porin (Garavito & Rosenbusch, 1980). X-ray crystallography is still the only routine method for determining the 3-D structures of biological macromolecules at high resolution and well-ordered 3-D crystals of sufficient size are the essential prerequisite.


2021 ◽  
Vol 220 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michal Wieczorek ◽  
Shih-Chieh Ti ◽  
Linas Urnavicius ◽  
Kelly R. Molloy ◽  
Amol Aher ◽  
...  

The formation of cellular microtubule networks is regulated by the γ-tubulin ring complex (γ-TuRC). This ∼2.3 MD assembly of >31 proteins includes γ-tubulin and GCP2-6, as well as MZT1 and an actin-like protein in a “lumenal bridge” (LB). The challenge of reconstituting the γ-TuRC has limited dissections of its assembly and function. Here, we report a biochemical reconstitution of the human γ-TuRC (γ-TuRC-GFP) as a ∼35 S complex that nucleates microtubules in vitro. In addition, we generate a subcomplex, γ-TuRCΔLB-GFP, which lacks MZT1 and actin. We show that γ-TuRCΔLB-GFP nucleates microtubules in a guanine nucleotide–dependent manner and with similar efficiency as the holocomplex. Electron microscopy reveals that γ-TuRC-GFP resembles the native γ-TuRC architecture, while γ-TuRCΔLB-GFP adopts a partial cone shape presenting only 8–10 γ-tubulin subunits and lacks a well-ordered lumenal bridge. Our results show that the γ-TuRC can be reconstituted using a limited set of proteins and suggest that the LB facilitates the self-assembly of regulatory interfaces around a microtubule-nucleating “core” in the holocomplex.


Genes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Es Darley ◽  
Jasleen Kaur Daljit Singh ◽  
Natalie A. Surace ◽  
Shelley F. J. Wickham ◽  
Matthew A. B. Baker

Lipid membranes form the boundary of many biological compartments, including organelles and cells. Consisting of two leaflets of amphipathic molecules, the bilayer membrane forms an impermeable barrier to ions and small molecules. Controlled transport of molecules across lipid membranes is a fundamental biological process that is facilitated by a diverse range of membrane proteins, including ion-channels and pores. However, biological membranes and their associated proteins are challenging to experimentally characterize. These challenges have motivated recent advances in nanotechnology towards building and manipulating synthetic lipid systems. Liposomes—aqueous droplets enclosed by a bilayer membrane—can be synthesised in vitro and used as a synthetic model for the cell membrane. In DNA nanotechnology, DNA is used as programmable building material for self-assembling biocompatible nanostructures. DNA nanostructures can be functionalised with hydrophobic chemical modifications, which bind to or bridge lipid membranes. Here, we review approaches that combine techniques from lipid and DNA nanotechnology to engineer the topography, permeability, and surface interactions of membranes, and to direct the fusion and formation of liposomes. These approaches have been used to study the properties of membrane proteins, to build biosensors, and as a pathway towards assembling synthetic multicellular systems.


2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (supplement1-2) ◽  
pp. S176
Author(s):  
Kenichi Ataka ◽  
Joachim Heberle ◽  
Axel Baumann ◽  
Silke Kerruth ◽  
Ramona Schlesinger ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (6) ◽  
pp. 1150-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jichun Ma ◽  
Di Xia

Crystallization has long been one of the bottlenecks in obtaining structural information at atomic resolution for membrane proteins. This is largely due to difficulties in obtaining high-quality protein samples. One frequently used indicator of protein quality for successful crystallization is the monodispersity of proteins in solution, which is conventionally obtained by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) or by dynamic light scattering (DLS). Although useful in evaluating the quality of soluble proteins, these methods are not always applicable to membrane proteins either because of the interference from detergent micelles or because of the requirement for large sample quantities. Here, the use of blue native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (BN–PAGE) to assess aggregation states of membrane protein samples is reported. A strong correlation is demonstrated between the monodispersity measured by BN–PAGE and the propensity for crystallization of a number of soluble and membrane protein complexes. Moreover, it is shown that there is a direct correspondence between the oligomeric states of proteins as measured by BN–PAGE and those obtained from their crystalline forms. When applied to a membrane protein with unknown structure, BN–PAGE was found to be useful and efficient for selecting well behaved proteins from various constructs and in screening detergents. Comparisons of BN–PAGE with DLS and SEC are provided.


Soft Matter ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 988-997 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Lam ◽  
V. VanDelinder ◽  
A. M. R. Kabir ◽  
H. Hess ◽  
G. D. Bachand ◽  
...  

The last decade of work on biomolecular motor-driven active self-assembly in in vitro systems is reviewed.


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