Genetically encoded phosphatidylserine biosensor for in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo labelling.

BACKGROUND: The dynamics of phosphatidylserine in the plasma membrane is a tightly regulated feature of eukaryotic cells. Phosphatidylserine (PS) is found preferentially in the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane. Disruption of this asymmetry leads to the exposure of phosphatidylserine on the cell surface and is associated with cell death, synaptic pruning, blood clotting and other cellular processes. Due to the role of phosphatidylserine in widespread cellular functions, an efficient phosphatidylserine probe is needed to study them. Currently, a few different phosphatidylserine labelling tools are available; however, these labels have unfavourable signal-to-noise ratios and are difficult to use in tissues due to limited permeability. Their application in living tissue requires injection procedures that damage the tissue and release damage-associated molecular patterns, which in turn stimulates phosphatidylserine exposure. METHODS: For this reason, we developed a novel genetically encoded phosphatidylserine probe based on the C2 domain of the lactadherin (MFG-E8) protein, suitable for labelling exposed phosphatidylserine in various research models. We tested the C2 probe specificity to phosphatidylserine on hybrid bilayer lipid membranes by observing surface plasmon resonance angle shift. Then, we analysed purified fused C2 proteins on different cell culture lines or engineered AAVs encoding C2 probes on tissue cultures after apoptosis induction. For in vivo experiments, neurotropic AAVs were intravenously injected into perinatal mice, and after 2 weeks, brain slices were collected to observe C2-SNAP expression. RESULTS: The biophysical analysis revealed the high specificity of the C2 probe for phosphatidylserine. The fused recombinant C2 proteins were suitable for labelling phosphatidylserine on the surface of apoptotic cells in various cell lines. We engineered AAVs and validated them in organotypic brain tissue cultures for non-invasive delivery of the genetically encoded C2 probe and showed that these probes were expressed in the brain in vivo after intravenous AAV delivery to mice. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated that the developed genetically encoded PS biosensor can be utilised in a variety of assays as a two-component system of C2 and C2m2 fusion proteins. This system allows for precise quantification and PS visualisation at directly specified threshold levels, enabling the evaluation of PS exposure in both physiological and cell death processes.

Pro-inflammatory protein S100A9 alters membrane organization by dispersing ordered domains.

Pro-inflammatory, calcium-binding protein S100A9 is localized in the cytoplasm of many cells and regulates several intracellular and extracellular processes. S100A9 is involved in neuroinflammation associated with the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The number of studies on the impact of S100A9 in co-aggregation processes with amyloid-like proteins is increasing. However, there is still a lack of data on how this protein interacts with lipid membranes. We employed atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and fluorescence measurements (Laurdan and Thioflavin-T) to study the interaction between protein and the membrane surface. We used lipid vesicles in bulk and planar tethered lipid bilayers as biomimetic membrane models. We demonstrated that the protein accumulates on negatively charged lipid bilayers but with no further loss of the bilayer's integrity. The most important result is that the initial adsorption and accumulation of apo-form of S100A9 on the lipid membrane surface is lipid phase-sensitive. The breaking down of raft-like and disappearance of gel-like domains indicate that protein incorporates into the hydrophobic part of the lipid bilayer. We observed the most noticeable loss of integrity in lipid bilayers constructed from a lipid mixture (brain total lipid extract). Understanding the function and interactions of these proteins in cellular environments might expand the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for AD or other related diseases.

Electrochemical assessment of dielectric damage to phospholipid bilayers by amyloid ß-Oligomers.

Amyloid beta (Aß1-42) oligomers produced in vitro with and without the oligomerization inhibitor hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) were studied and compared as agents inflicting damage to the phospholipid bilayers. Tethered lipid membranes (tBLMs) of different compositions were used as model membranes. Dielectric damage of tBLMs by Aß1-42 oligomers was monitored by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Membranes containing sphingomyelin exhibited the highest susceptibility to Aß1-42 oligomers when assembled in the absence of an inhibitor. The activation barrier of ion translocation through the Aß1-42 oligomer entities in tBLMs was lowest in sphingomyelin membranes (<15 kJ/mol). This is consistent with the formation of water-filled, highly conductive (>50 pS) nanopores in tBLMs by Aß1-42 oligomers assembled without HFIP. Conversely, HFIP-generated Aß1- 42 oligomers exhibited conductance with high activation energies (>38 kJ/mol), suggesting the formation of assemblies with relatively narrow ion pores and the effective conductance in the range < 15 pS. Finally, the EIS data analysis revealed differences in the lateral distribution of Aß1-42 oligomers in tBLMs. The inhibitor-free Aß1-42 oligomers populate the tBLM surface in a random manner, whereas the HFIP-generated Aß1-42 oligomers tend to cluster forming surface areas with markedly different densities of Aß1-42 defects.