A novel recombinant expression and purification approach for the full-length anti-apoptotic membrane protein Bcl-2.

Programmed cell death (apoptosis) is an essential mechanism in life that tightly regulates embryogenesis and removal of harmful cells. Besides an extrinsic pathway, an intrinsic (mitochondrial) apoptotic pathway exists where mitochondria are actively involved in cellular clearance in response to internal stress signals. Pro-apoptotic (death) and anti-apoptotic (survival) members of the B cell CLL/lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) protein family meet at the mitochondrion's surface where they accurately regulate apoptosis. Overexpression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein is a hallmark for many types of cancers and in particular for many treatment resistant tumors. Bcl-2 is a membrane protein residing in the mitochondrial outer membrane. Due to its typical membrane protein features including very limited solubility, it is difficult to express and to purify. Therefore, most biophysical and structural studies have used truncated, soluble versions. However, to understand its membrane-coupled function and structure, access to sufficient amount of full-length human Bcl-2 protein is a necessity. Here, we present a novel, E. coli based approach for expression and purification of preparative amounts of the full-length human isoform 2 of Bcl-2 (Bcl-2(2)), solubilized in detergent micelles, which allows for easy exchange of the detergent.

Bax to the future - A novel, high-yielding approach for purification and expression of full-length Bax protein for structural studies.

Mitochondria-mediated apoptosis (programmed cell death) involves a sophisticated signaling and regulatory network that is regulated by the Bcl-2 protein family. Members of this family have either pro- or anti-apoptotic functions. An important pro-apoptotic member of this family is the cytosolic Bax. This protein is crucial for the onset of apoptosis by perforating the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). This process can be seen as point of no return, since disintegration of the MOM leads to the release of apotogenic factors such as cytochrome c into the cytosol triggering the activation of caspases and subsequent apoptotic steps. Bax is able to interact with the MOM with both its termini, making it inherently difficult to express in E. coli. In this study, we present a novel approach to express and purify full-length Bax with significantly increased yields, when compared to the commonly applied strategy. Using a double fusion approach with an N-terminal GST-tag and a C-terminal Intein-CBD-tag, we were able to render both Bax termini inactive and prevent disruptive interactions from occurring during gene expression. By deploying an Intein-CBD-tag at the C-terminus we were further able to avoid the introduction of any artificial residues, hence ensuring the native like activity of the membrane-penetrating C-terminus of Bax. Further, by engineering a His6-tag to the C-terminus of the CBD-tag we greatly improved the robustness of the purification procedure. We report yields for pure, full-length Bax protein that are increased by an order of magnitude, when compared to commonly used Bax expression protocols.

Apoptotic Bax at Oxidatively Stressed Mitochondrial Membranes: Lipid Dynamics and Permeabilization.

Mitochondria are crucial compartments of eukaryotic cells because they function as the cellular power plant and play a central role in the early stages of programmed cell death (apoptosis). To avoid undesired cell death, this apoptotic pathway is tightly regulated by members of the Bcl-2 protein family, which interact on the external surface of the mitochondria, i.e., the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM), and modulate its permeability to apoptotic factors, controlling their release into the cytosol. A growing body of evidence suggests that the MOM lipids play active roles in this permeabilization process. In particular, oxidized phospholipids (OxPls) formed under intracellular stress seem to directly induce apoptotic activity at the MOM. Here we show that the process of MOM pore formation is sensitive to the type of OxPls species that are generated. We created MOM-mimicking liposome systems, which resemble the cellular situation before apoptosis and upon triggering of oxidative stress conditions. These vesicles were studied using 31P solid-state magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry, together with dye leakage assays. Direct polarization and cross-polarization nuclear magnetic resonance experiments enabled us to probe the heterogeneity of these membranes and their associated molecular dynamics. The addition of apoptotic Bax protein to OxPls-containing vesicles drastically changed the membranes' dynamic behavior, almost completely negating the previously observed effect of temperature on the lipids' molecular dynamics and inducing an ordering effect that led to more cooperative membrane melting. Our results support the hypothesis that the mitochondrion-specific lipid cardiolipin functions as a first contact site for Bax during its translocation to the MOM in the onset of apoptosis. In addition, dye leakage assays revealed that different OxPls species in the MOM-mimicking vesicles can have opposing effects on Bax pore formation.

The oxidized phospholipid PazePC promotes permeabilization of mitochondrial membranes by Bax.

Mitochondria play a crucial role in programmed cell death via the intrinsic apoptotic pathway, which is tightly regulated by the B-cell CLL/lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) protein family. Intracellular oxidative stress causes the translocation of Bax, a pro-apoptotic family member, to the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM) where it induces membrane permeabilization. Oxidized phospholipids (OxPls) generated in the MOM during oxidative stress directly affect the onset and progression of mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. Here we use MOM-mimicking lipid vesicles doped with varying concentrations of 1-palmitoyl-2-azelaoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (PazePC), an OxPl species known to significantly enhance Bax-membrane association, to investigate three key aspects of Bax's action at the MOM: 1) induction of Bax pores in membranes without additional mediator proteins, 2) existence of a threshold OxPl concentration required for Bax-membrane action and 3) mechanism by which PazePC disturbs membrane organization to facilitate Bax penetration. Fluorescence leakage studies revealed that Bax-induced leakage, especially its rate, increased with the vesicles' PazePC content without any detectable threshold neither for OxPl nor Bax. Moreover, the leakage rate correlated with the Bax to lipid ratio and the PazePC content. Solid state NMR studies and calorimetric experiments on the lipid vesicles confirmed that OxPl incorporation disrupted the membrane's organization, enabling Bax to penetrate into the membrane. In addition, 15N cross polarization (CP) and insensitive nuclei enhanced by polarization transfer (INEPT) MAS NMR experiments using uniformly (15)N-labeled Bax revealed dynamically restricted helical segments of Bax embedded in the membrane, while highly flexible protein segments were located outside or at the membrane surface.

Human cytoplasmic copper chaperones Atox1 and CCS exchange copper ions in vitro.

After Ctr1-mediated copper ion (Cu) entry into the human cytoplasm, chaperones Atox1 and CCS deliver Cu to P1B-type ATPases and to superoxide dismutase, respectively, via direct protein-protein interactions. Although the two Cu chaperones are presumed to work along independent pathways, we here assessed cross-reactivity between Atox1 and the first domain of CCS (CCS1) using biochemical and biophysical methods in vitro. By NMR we show that CCS1 is monomeric although it elutes differently from Atox1 in size exclusion chromatography (SEC). This property allows separation of Atox1 and CCS1 by SEC and, combined with the 254/280 nm ratio as an indicator of Cu loading, we demonstrate that Cu can be transferred from one protein to the other. Cu exchange also occurs with full-length CCS and, as expected, the interaction involves the metal binding sites since mutation of Cu-binding cysteine in Atox1 eliminates Cu transfer from CCS1. Cross-reactivity between CCS and Atox1 may aid in regulation of Cu distribution in the cytoplasm.

T versus D in the MTCXXC motif of copper transport proteins plays a role in directional metal transport.

To avoid toxicity and control levels of metal ions, organisms have developed specific metal transport systems. In humans, the cytoplasmic Cu chaperone Atox1 delivers Cu to metal-binding domains of ATP7A/B in the Golgi, for incorporation into Cu-dependent proteins. The Cu-binding motif in Atox1, as well as in target Cu-binding domains of ATP7A/B, consists of a MX1CXXC motif where X1 = T. The same motif, with X1 = D, is found in metal-binding domains of bacterial zinc transporters, such as ZntA. The Asp is proposed to stabilize divalent over monovalent metals in the binding site, although metal selectivity in vivo appears predominantly governed by protein-protein interactions. To probe the role of T versus D at the X1 position for Cu transfer in vitro, we created MDCXXC variants of Atox1 and the fourth metal-binding domain of ATP7B, WD4. We find that the mutants bind Cu like the wild-type proteins, but when mixed, in contrast to the wild-type pair, the mutant pair favors Cu-dependent hetero-dimers over directional Cu transport from Atox1 to WD4. Notably, both wild-type and mutant proteins can bind Zn in the absence of competing reducing agents. In presence of zinc, hetero-complexes are strongly favored for both protein pairs. We propose that T is conserved in this motif of Cu-transport proteins to promote directional metal transfer toward ATP7B, without formation of energetic sinks. The ability of both Atox1 and WD4 to bind zinc ions may not be a problem in vivo due to the presence of specific transport chains for Cu and Zn ions.

Neutron reflectometry and NMR spectroscopy of full-length Bcl-2 protein reveal its membrane localization and conformation.

B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2) proteins are the main regulators of mitochondrial apoptosis. Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins possess a hydrophobic tail-anchor enabling them to translocate to their target membrane and to shift into an active conformation where they inhibit pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins to ensure cell survival. To address the unknown molecular basis of their cell-protecting functionality, we used intact human Bcl-2 protein natively residing at the mitochondrial outer membrane and applied neutron reflectometry and NMR spectroscopy. Here we show that the active full-length protein is entirely buried into its target membrane except for the regulatory flexible loop domain (FLD), which stretches into the aqueous exterior. The membrane location of Bcl-2 and its conformational state seems to be important for its cell-protecting activity, often infamously upregulated in cancers. Most likely, this situation enables the Bcl-2 protein to sequester pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins at the membrane level while sensing cytosolic regulative signals via its FLD region.

Enthalpy-entropy compensation at play in human copper ion transfer.

Copper (Cu) is an essential trace element but toxic in free form. After cell uptake, Cu is transferred, via direct protein-protein interactions, from the chaperone Atox1 to the Wilson disease protein (WD) for incorporation into Cu-dependent enzymes. Cu binds to a conserved C(1)XXC(2) motif in the chaperone as well as in each of the cytoplasmic metal-binding domains of WD. Here, we dissect mechanism and thermodynamics of Cu transfer from Atox1 to the fourth metal binding domain of WD. Using chromatography and calorimetry together with single Cys-to-Ala variants, we demonstrate that Cu-dependent protein heterocomplexes require the presence of C(1) but not C(2). Comparison of thermodynamic parameters for mutant versus wild type reactions reveals that the wild type reaction involves strong entropy-enthalpy compensation. This property is explained by a dynamic inter-conversion of Cu-Cys coordinations in the wild type ensemble and may provide functional advantage by protecting against Cu mis-ligation and bypassing enthalpic traps.