Extracellular zinc induces phosphoethanolamine addition to Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipid A via the ColRS two-component system.

Gram-negative bacteria survive harmful environmental stressors by modifying their outer membrane. Much of this protection is afforded upon remodeling of the lipid A region of the major surface molecule lipopolysaccharide (LPS). For example, the addition of cationic substituents, such as 4-amino-4-deoxy-L-arabinose (L-Ara4N) and phosphoehthanolamine (pEtN) at the lipid A phosphate groups, is often induced in response to specific environmental flux stabilizing the outer membrane. The work herein represents the first report of pEtN addition to Pseudomonas aeruginosa lipid A. We have identified the key pEtN transferase which we named EptAPa and characterized its strict activity on only one position of lipid A, contrasting from previously studied EptA enzymes. We further show that transcription of eptAP a is regulated by zinc via the ColRS two-component system instead of the PmrAB system responsible for eptA regulation in E. coli and Salmonella enterica. Further, although L-Ara4N is readily added to the same position of lipid A as pEtN under certain environmental conditions, ColR specifically induces pEtN addition to lipid A in lieu of L-Ara4N when Zn2+ is present. The unique, specific regulation of eptAP a transcription and enzymatic activity described in this work demonstrates the tight yet inducible control over LPS modification in P. aeruginosa.

The molecular mechanism of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase activation.

Calmodulin (CaM)-dependent eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF-2K) impedes protein synthesis through phosphorylation of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF-2). It is subject to complex regulation by multiple upstream signaling pathways, through poorly described mechanisms. Precise integration of these signals is critical for eEF-2K to appropriately regulate protein translation rates. Here, an allosteric mechanism comprising two sequential conformations is described for eEF-2K activation. First, Ca(2+)/CaM binds eEF-2K with high affinity (Kd(CaM)(app) = 24 ± 5 nm) to enhance its ability to autophosphorylate Thr-348 in the regulatory loop (R-loop) by > 10(4)-fold (k(auto) = 2.6 ± 0.3 s(-1)). Subsequent binding of phospho-Thr-348 to a conserved basic pocket in the kinase domain potentially drives a conformational transition of the R-loop, which is essential for efficient substrate phosphorylation. Ca(2+)/CaM binding activates autophosphorylated eEF-2K by allosterically enhancing k(cat)(app) for peptide substrate phosphorylation by 10(3)-fold. Thr-348 autophosphorylation results in a 25-fold increase in the specificity constant (k(cat)(app)/K(m)(Pep-S) (app)), with equal contributions from k(cat)(app) and K(m)(Pep-S)(app), suggesting that peptide substrate binding is partly impeded in the unphosphorylated enzyme. In cells, Thr-348 autophosphorylation appears to control the catalytic output of active eEF-2K, contributing more than 5-fold to its ability to promote eEF-2 phosphorylation. Fundamentally, eEF-2K activation appears to be analogous to an amplifier, where output volume may be controlled by either toggling the power switch (switching on the kinase) or altering the volume control (modulating stability of the active R-loop conformation). Because upstream signaling events have the potential to modulate either allosteric step, this mechanism allows for exquisite control of eEF-2K output.

Characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa†LpxT reveals dual positional lipid A kinase activity and co-ordinated control of outer membrane modification.

Gram-negative bacteria have evolved modification machinery to promote a dynamic outer membrane in response to a continually fluctuating environment. The kinase LpxT, for example, adds a phosphate group to the lipid A moiety of some Gram-negatives including Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica. LpxT activity is inhibited under conditions that compromise membrane integrity, resulting instead in the addition of positively charged groups to lipid A that increase membrane stability and provide resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. We have now identified a functional lpxT orthologue in P. aeruginosa. LpxTPa has unique enzymatic characteristics, as it is able to phosphorylate P. aeruginosa lipid A at two sites of the molecule. Surprisingly, a previously uncharacterized lipid A 4'-dephospho-1-triphosphate species was detected. LpxTPa activity is inhibited by magnesium independently of lpxTPa transcription. Modulation of LpxTPa activity is influenced by transcription of the lipid A aminoarabinose transferase ArnT, known to be activated in response to limiting magnesium. These results demonstrate a divergent activity of LpxTPa , and suggest the existence of a co-ordinated regulatory mechanism that permits adaptation to a changing environment.

Identification of a broad family of lipid A late acyltransferases with non-canonical substrate specificity.

Most Gram-negative organisms produce lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a complex macromolecule anchored to the bacterial membrane by the lipid A moiety. Lipid A is synthesized via the Raetz pathway, a conserved nine-step enzymatic process first characterized in Escherichia coli. The Epsilonproteobacterium Helicobacter pylori uses the Raetz pathway to synthesize lipid A; however, only eight of nine enzymes in the pathway have been identified in this organism. Here, we identify the missing acyltransferase, Jhp0255, which transfers a secondary acyl chain to the 3'-linked primary acyl chain of lipid A, an activity similar to that of E. coli LpxM. This enzyme, reannotated as LpxJ due to limited sequence similarity with LpxM, catalyses addition of a C12:0 or C14:0 acyl chain to the 3'-linked primary acyl chain of lipid A, complementing an E. coli LpxM mutant. Enzymatic assays demonstrate that LpxJ and homologues in Campylobacter jejuni and Wolinella succinogenes can act before the 2' secondary acyltransferase, LpxL, as well as the 3-deoxy-d-manno-octulosonic acid (Kdo) transferase, KdtA. Ultimately, LpxJ is one member of a large class of acyltransferases found in a diverse range of organisms that lack an E. coli LpxM homologue, suggesting that LpxJ participates in lipid A biosynthesis in place of an LpxM homologue.

Characterization of native protein complexes using ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry.

Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry (MS) was used to characterize the sequences of proteins in native protein-ligand and protein-protein complexes and to provide auxiliary information about the binding sites of the ligands and protein-protein interfaces. UVPD outperformed collisional induced dissociation (CID), higher-energy collisional dissociation (HCD), and electron transfer dissociation (ETD) in terms of yielding the most comprehensive diagnostic primary sequence information about the proteins in the complexes. UVPD also generated noncovalent fragment ions containing a portion of the protein still bound to the ligand which revealed some insight into the nature of the binding sites of myoglobin/heme, eIF4E/m(7)GTP, and human peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase 1 (Pin1) in complex with the peptide derived from the C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase II (CTD). Noncovalently bound protein-protein fragment ions from oligomeric ß-lactoglobulin dimers and hexameric insulin complexes were also produced upon UVPD, providing some illumination of tertiary and quaternary protein structural features.

193 nm ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry for the structural elucidation of lipid A compounds in complex mixtures.

Here we implement ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) in an online liquid chromatographic tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) strategy to support analysis of complex mixtures of lipid A combinatorially modified during development of vaccine adjuvants. UVPD mass spectrometry at 193 nm was utilized to characterize the structures and fragment ion types of lipid A from Escherichia coli, Vibrio cholerae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using an Orbitrap mass spectrometer. The fragment ions generated by UVPD were compared to those from collision induced dissociation (CID) and higher energy collision dissociation (HCD) with respect to the precursor charge state. UVPD afforded the widest array of fragment ion types including acyl chain C-O, C-N, and C-C bond cleavages and glycosidic C-O and cross ring cleavages, thus providing the most comprehensive structural analysis of the lipid A. UVPD exhibited virtually no dependence on precursor ion charge state and was best at determining lipid A structure including acyl chain length and composition, giving it an advantage over collision based methods. UVPD was incorporated into an LC-MS/MS methodology for the analysis of a number of structural variants in a complex mixture of combinatorially engineered Escherichia coli lipid A.

Mapping protein surface accessibility via an electron transfer dissociation selectively cleavable hydrazone probe.

A protein's surface influences its role in protein-protein interactions and protein-ligand binding. Mass spectrometry can be used to give low resolution structural information about protein surfaces and conformations when used in combination with derivatization methods that target surface accessible amino acid residues. However, pinpointing the resulting modified peptides upon enzymatic digestion of the surface-modified protein is challenging because of the complexity of the peptide mixture and low abundance of modified peptides. Here a novel hydrazone reagent (NN) is presented that allows facile identification of all modified surface residues through a preferential cleavage upon activation by electron transfer dissociation coupled with a collision activation scan to pinpoint the modified residue in the peptide sequence. Using this approach, the correlation between percent reactivity and surface accessibility is demonstrated for two biologically active proteins, wheat eIF4E and PARP-1 Domain C.

Evaluating the conformation and binding interface of cap-binding proteins and complexes via ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry.

We report the structural analysis of cap-binding proteins using a chemical probe/ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry strategy for evaluating solvent accessibility of proteins. Our methodology utilized a chromogenic probe (NN) to probe the exposed amine residues of wheat eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (eIF4E), eIF4E in complex with a fragment of eIF4G ("mini-eIF4F"), eIF4E in complex with full length eIF4G, and the plant specific cap-binding protein, eIFiso4E. Structural changes of eIF4E in the absence and presence of excess dithiothreitol and in complex with a fragment of eIF4G or full-length eIF4G are mapped. The results indicate that there are particular lysine residues whose environment changes in the presence of dithiothreitol or eIF4G, suggesting that changes in the structure of eIF4E are occurring. On the basis of the crystal structure of wheat eIF4E and a constructed homology model of the structure for eIFiso4E, the reactivities of lysines in each protein are rationalized. Our results suggest that chemical probe/UVPD mass spectrometry can successfully predict dynamic structural changes in solution that are consistent with known crystal structures. Our findings reveal that the binding of m(7)GTP to eIF4E and eIFiso4E appears to be dependent on the redox state of a pair of cysteines near the m(7)GTP binding site. In addition, tertiary structural changes of eIF4E initiated by the formation of a complex containing a fragment of eIF4G and eIF4E were observed.

EptC of Campylobacter jejuni mediates phenotypes involved in host interactions and virulence.

Campylobacter jejuni is a natural commensal of the avian intestinal tract. However, the bacterium is also the leading cause of acute bacterial diarrhea worldwide and is implicated in development of Guillain-Barré syndrome. Like many bacterial pathogens, C. jejuni assembles complex surface structures that interface with the surrounding environment and are involved in pathogenesis. Recent work in C. jejuni identified a gene encoding a novel phosphoethanolamine (pEtN) transferase, EptC (Cj0256), that plays a promiscuous role in modifying the flagellar rod protein, FlgG; the lipid A domain of lipooligosaccharide (LOS); and several N-linked glycans. In this work, we report that EptC catalyzes the addition of pEtN to the first heptose sugar of the inner core oligosaccharide of LOS, a fourth enzymatic target. We also examine the role pEtN modification plays in circumventing detection and/or killing by host defenses. Specifically, we show that modification of C. jejuni lipid A with pEtN results in increased recognition by the human Toll-like receptor 4-myeloid differentiation factor 2 (hTLR4-MD2) complex, along with providing resistance to relevant mammalian and avian antimicrobial peptides (i.e., defensins). We also confirm the inability of aberrant forms of LOS to activate Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2). Most exciting, we demonstrate that strains lacking eptC show decreased commensal colonization of chick ceca and reduced colonization of BALB/cByJ mice compared to wild-type strains. Our results indicate that modification of surface structures with pEtN by EptC is key to its ability to promote commensalism in an avian host and to survive in the mammalian gastrointestinal environment.

Structural characterization of gangliosides and glycolipids via ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry.

Ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry was used to characterize the structures of amphiphilic glycosphingolipids and gangliosides in comparison to collision induced dissociation (CID) and higher energy collision dissociation (HCD) in a high performance Orbitrap mass spectrometer. UVPD produced the widest array of fragment ions diagnostic for both the ceramide base and oligosaccharide moieties. CID and HCD generated mainly glycosidic B/Y and C/Z cleavages of the oligosaccharides moieties and very few informative fragments related to the hydrophobic ceramide base. Several unique cleavages at the sphingoid base and the fatty acid chain occurred upon UVPD, as well as a wider variety of cross ring cleavages (A/X ions), thus affording differentiation of isobaric gangliosides. An LC-UVPD-MS strategy allowed the elucidation of 27 gangliosides among five different classes.

Chromogenic chemical probe for protein structural characterization via ultraviolet photodissociation mass spectrometry.

A chemical probe/ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry strategy for evaluating structures of proteins and protein complexes is reported, as demonstrated for lysozyme and beta-lactoglobulin with and without bound ligands. The chemical probe, NN, incorporates a UV chromophore that endows peptides with high cross sections at 351 nm, a wavelength not absorbed by unmodified peptides. Thus, NN-modified peptides can readily be differentiated from nonmodified peptides in complex tryptic digests created upon proteolysis of proteins after their exposure to the NN chemical probe. The NN chemical probe also affords two diagnostic reporter ions detected upon UVPD of the NN-modified peptide that provides a facile method for the identification of NN peptides within complex mixtures. Quantitation of the modified and unmodified peptides allows estimation of the surface accessibilities of lysine residues based on their relative reactivities with the NN chemical probe.

Calcium/calmodulin stimulates the autophosphorylation of elongation factor 2 kinase on Thr-348 and Ser-500 to regulate its activity and calcium dependence.

Eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase (eEF-2K) is an atypical protein kinase regulated by Ca(2+) and calmodulin (CaM). Its only known substrate is eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF-2), whose phosphorylation by eEF-2K impedes global protein synthesis. To date, the mechanism of eEF-2K autophosphorylation has not been fully elucidated. To investigate the mechanism of autophosphorylation, human eEF-2K was coexpressed with λ-phosphatase and purified from bacteria in a three-step protocol using a CaM affinity column. Purified eEF-2K was induced to autophosphorylate by incubation with Ca(2+)/CaM in the presence of MgATP. Analyzing tryptic or chymotryptic peptides by mass spectrometry monitored the autophosphorylation over 0-180 min. The following five major autophosphorylation sites were identified: Thr-348, Thr-353, Ser-445, Ser-474, and Ser-500. In the presence of Ca(2+)/CaM, robust phosphorylation of Thr-348 occurs within seconds of addition of MgATP. Mutagenesis studies suggest that phosphorylation of Thr-348 is required for substrate (eEF-2 or a peptide substrate) phosphorylation, but not self-phosphorylation. Phosphorylation of Ser-500 lags behind the phosphorylation of Thr-348 and is associated with the Ca(2+)-independent activity of eEF-2K. Mutation of Ser-500 to Asp, but not Ala, renders eEF-2K Ca(2+)-independent. Surprisingly, this Ca(2+)-independent activity requires the presence of CaM.

Microdroplet Fusion Chemistry for Charge State Reduction of Synthetic Polymers via Bipolar Dual Spray with Anionic Reagents.

Microdroplet fusion chemistry is an emerging area of analyte manipulation that utilizes the ion source region of a mass spectrometer to covalently derivatize or manipulate the charge state distribution. This technique utilizes two electrospray emitters in close proximity, where the droplets from each electrospray plume fuse and undergo the subsequent chemistry. In this study, microdroplet fusion chemistry via bipolar dual spray has demonstrated the ability to reduce the average charge state of polyethylene glycol (PEG) cations using anionic reagents. Bipolar dual spray was implemented on a commercial mass spectrometer with limited hardware modifications to the ion source. Reagents including ammonium hydroxide, formic acid, and lithium chloride showed dramatic shifts in the average charge state of PEG 3.8 K cations (e.g., 5.0+ to 2.5+) along with the emergence of newly detected charge states. An organic base, tributylamine, had no effect on the charge state distribution of PEG 3.8 K cations. These results were consistent with an ion-pairing mechanism, where reagent anions destabilized ammonium cation interactions with PEG 3.8 K upon droplet fusion from the negative and positive emitters. Additional bipolar dual spray experiments with PEG 12.6 K demonstrated the ability to transform uninterpretable mass information into distinct charge states ranging from [M+8NH4]+ to [M+3NH4]+. Overall, this study provides insight into the nature of dual spray chemistry and will aid future experimental design in microdroplet covalent chemistry.

Fragmentation of Protonated N-(3-Aminophenyl)Benzamide and Its Derivatives in Gas Phase.

An ion of m/z 110.06036 (ion formula [C6H8NO](+); error: 0.32 mDa) was observed in the collision induced dissociation tandem mass spectrometry experiments of protonated N-(3-aminophenyl)benzamide, which is a rearrangement product ion purportedly through nitrogen-oxygen (N-O) exchange. The N-O exchange rearrangement was confirmed by the MS/MS spectrum of protonated N-(3-aminophenyl)-O (18) -benzamide, where the rearranged ion, [C6H8NO (18) ](+) of m/z 112 was available because of the presence of O (18) . Theoretical calculations using Density Functional Theory (DFT) at B3LYP/6-31 g(d) level suggest that an ion-neutral complex containing a water molecule and a nitrilium ion was formed via a transition state (TS-1), followed by the water molecule migrating to the anilide ring, eventually leading to the formation of the rearranged ion of m/z 110. The rearrangement can be generalized to other protonated amide compounds with electron-donating groups at the meta position, such as, -OH, -CH3, -OCH3, -NH(CH3)2, -NH-Ph, and -NHCOCH3, all of which show the corresponding rearranged ions in MS/MS spectra. However, the protonated amide compounds containing electron-withdrawing groups, including -Cl, -Br, -CN, -NO2, and -CF3, at the meta position did not display this type of rearrangement during dissociation. Additionally, effects of various acyl groups on the rearrangement were investigated. It was found that the rearrangement can be enhanced by substitution on the ring of the benzoyl with electron-withdrawing groups.

Top-Down Strategies for the Structural Elucidation of Intact Gram-negative Bacterial Endotoxins.

Re-modelling of lipopolysaccharides, which are the primary constituent of the outer cell membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, modulates pathogenesis and resistance to microbials. Reported herein is the characterization of intact Gram-negative bacterial lipooligosaccharides (LOS) via a new strategy utilizing online liquid chromatography (LC) coupled with ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) mass spectrometry. Compared to collision-based MS/MS methods, UVPD and UVPD/HCD promoted a greater array of cleavages within both the glycan and lipid moieties, including C-C, C-N, C-O cleavages in the acyl chains as well as glycosidic and cross-ring cleavages, thus providing the most far-reaching structural characterization of LOS. This LC-MS/MS strategy affords a robust analytical method to structurally characterize complex mixtures of bacterial endotoxins that maintains the integrity of the core oligosaccharide and lipid A domains of LOS, providing direct feedback about the cell envelope architectures and LOS modification strategies involved in resistance host innate immune defense.

Sustaining enrollment in health insurance for vulnerable populations: lessons from Massachusetts.

OBJECTIVE: Since 2008 Massachusetts has had universal health insurance with an individual mandate. As a result, only about 3% of the population is uninsured. However, patients who use behavioral health services are uninsured at much higher rates. This 2011 study sought to understand reasons for the discrepancy and identify approaches to reduce disenrollment and sustain coverage. METHODS: The qualitative study was based on structured interviews and focus groups. Structured interviews were conducted with 15 policy makers, consumer advocates, and chief executive officers of provider organizations, and three focus groups were held with 33 patient volunteers. RESULTS: The interviews and focus groups identified several disenrollment opportunities, all of which contribute to "churn" (the process by which disenrolled persons who remain eligible are reenrolled in the same or a different plan): missing and incomplete documentation, acute and chronic conditions and long-term disabilities that interfere with a patient's ability to respond to program communications, and lack of awareness among beneficiaries of the consequences of changes that trigger termination and the need to transfer to another program. Although safeguards are built into the system to avoid some disenrollments, the policies and procedures that drive the system are built on a default assumption of ineligibility or disenrollment until the individual establishes eligibility and completes requirements. Practices that can sustain enrollment include real-time Web-based prepopulated enrollment and redetermination processes, redetermination flexibility for designated chronic illnesses, and standardized performance metrics for churn and associated costs. CONCLUSIONS: Changes in the information system infrastructure and in outreach, enrollment, disenrollment, and reenrollment procedures can improve continuity and retention of health insurance coverage.

Isolation and chemical characterization of lipid A from gram-negative bacteria.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the major cell surface molecule of gram-negative bacteria, deposited on the outer leaflet of the outer membrane bilayer. LPS can be subdivided into three domains: the distal O-polysaccharide, a core oligosaccharide, and the lipid A domain consisting of a lipid A molecular species and 3-deoxy-D-manno-oct-2-ulosonic acid residues (Kdo). The lipid A domain is the only component essential for bacterial cell survival. Following its synthesis, lipid A is chemically modified in response to environmental stresses such as pH or temperature, to promote resistance to antibiotic compounds, and to evade recognition by mediators of the host innate immune response. The following protocol details the small- and large-scale isolation of lipid A from gram-negative bacteria. Isolated material is then chemically characterized by thin layer chromatography (TLC) or mass-spectrometry (MS). In addition to matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) MS, we also describe tandem MS protocols for analyzing lipid A molecular species using electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to collision induced dissociation (CID) and newly employed ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) methods. Our MS protocols allow for unequivocal determination of chemical structure, paramount to characterization of lipid A molecules that contain unique or novel chemical modifications. We also describe the radioisotopic labeling, and subsequent isolation, of lipid A from bacterial cells for analysis by TLC. Relative to MS-based protocols, TLC provides a more economical and rapid characterization method, but cannot be used to unambiguously assign lipid A chemical structures without the use of standards of known chemical structure. Over the last two decades isolation and characterization of lipid A has led to numerous exciting discoveries that have improved our understanding of the physiology of gram-negative bacteria, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, the human innate immune response, and have provided many new targets in the development of antibacterial compounds.

A recombinant triblock protein polymer with dispersant and binding properties for digital printing.

A structured triblock protein was designed to explore the potential of engineered peptides to function as high-performance ink dispersants and binders. The protein consists of three functional elements, including a pigment binding domain, a hydrophilic linker, and a printing surface binding domain. To construct such a chimeric protein, a carbon black binding peptide, FHENWPS, and a cellulose binding peptide, THKTSTQRLLAA, were identified from phage display libraries through biopanning, based on their strong and specific binding affinities to carbon black and cellulose. They were used as carbon black and cellulose binding domains, respectively, in a recombinant triblock protein. A linker sequence, PTPTPTPTPTPTPTPTPTPTPTP, was adapted from endoglucanase A of the bacterium Cellulomonas fimi, as a small, rigid, and hydrophilic interdomain linker. When incorporated into the triblock structure between the carbon black and cellulose binding sequences, the linker sufficiently isolates these two elements and allows dual binding activity. The structured triblock protein was shown to disperse carbon black particles and attach it to paper surfaces. Thus, the utility of structured proteins having useful dispersant and binding properties for digital printing inks was demonstrated.