The architecture of transmembrane and cytoplasmic juxtamembrane regions of Toll-like receptors.

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the important participants of the innate immune response. Their spatial organization is well studied for the ligand-binding domains, while a lot of questions remain unanswered for the membrane and cytoplasmic regions of the proteins. Here we use solution NMR spectroscopy and computer simulations to investigate the spatial structures of transmembrane and cytoplasmic juxtamembrane regions of TLR2, TLR3, TLR5, and TLR9. According to our data, all the proteins reveal the presence of a previously unreported structural element, the cytoplasmic hydrophobic juxtamembrane α-helix. As indicated by the functional tests in living cells and bioinformatic analysis, this helix is important for receptor activation and plays a role, more complicated than a linker, connecting the transmembrane and cytoplasmic parts of the proteins.

Dimeric structure of the transmembrane domain of glycophorin a in lipidic and detergent environments.

Specific interactions between transmembrane α-helices, to a large extent, determine the biological function of integral membrane proteins upon normal development and in pathological states of an organism. Various membrane-like media, partially those mimicking the conditions of multicomponent biological membranes, are used to study the structural and thermodynamic features that define the character of oligomerization of transmembrane helical segments. The choice of the composition of the membrane-mimicking medium is conducted in an effort to obtain a biologically relevant conformation of the protein complex and a sample that would be stable enough to allow to perform a series of long-term experiments with its use. In the present work, heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations were used to demonstrate that the two most widely used media (detergent DPC micelles and lipid DMPC/DHPC bicelles) enable to perform structural studies of the specific interactions between transmembrane α-helices by the example of dimerizing the transmembrane domain of the bitopic protein glycophorin A. However, a number of peculiarities place lipid bicelles closer to natural lipid bilayers in terms of their physical properties.

Bacterial Synthesis and Purification of Normal and Mutant Forms of Human FGFR3 Transmembrane Segment.

The fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 (FGFR3) is a protein belonging to the family of receptor tyrosine kinases. FGFR3 plays an important role in human skeletal development. Mutations in this protein, including Gly380Arg or Ala391Glu substitutions in the transmembrane (TM) region, can cause different disorders in bone development. The determination of the spatial structure of the FGFR3 TM domain in a normal protein and in a protein with single Gly380Arg and Ala391Glu mutations is essential in order to understand the mechanisms that control dimerization and signal transduction by receptor tyrosine kinases. The effective system of expression of eukaryotic genes in bacteria and the purification protocol for the production of milligram amounts of both normal TM fragments of FGFR3 and those with single pathogenic mutations Gly380Arg and Ala391Glu, as well as their(15)N- and [(15)N,(13)C]-isotope-labelled derivatives, were described. Each peptide was produced inEscherichia coliBL21(DE3)pLysS cells as a C-terminal extension of thioredoxin A. The purification protocol involved immobilized metal affinity chromatography and cation- and anion-exchange chromatography, as well as the fusion protein cleavage with the light subunit of human enterokinase. The efficiency of the incorporation of target peptides into DPC/SDS and DPC/DPG micelles was confirmed using NMR spectroscopy. The described methodology of production of the native FGFR3 TM domain in norma and with single Gly380Arg and Ala391Glu mutations enables one to study their spatial structure using high-resolution heteronuclear NMR spectroscopy.

[Bacterial synthesis, purification, and solubilization of transmembrane segments of ErbB family members].

A family of epidermal growth factor receptors, ErbB, represents an important class of receptor tyrosine kinases, playing a leading role in cellular growth, development and differentiation. Transmembrane domains of these receptors transduce biochemical signals across plasma membrane via lateral homo- and heterodimerization. Relatively small size of complexes of ErbB transmembrane domains with detergents or lipids allows one to study their detailed spatial structure using three-dimensional heteronuclear high-resolution NMR spectroscopy. Here, we describe the effective expression system and purification procedure for preparative-scale production of transmembrane peptides from four representatives of ErbB family, ErbB1, ErbB2, ErbB3, ErbB4, for structural studies. The recombinant peptides were produced in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3)pLysS as C-terminal extensions of thioredoxin A. The fusion protein cleavage was accomplished with the light subunit of human enterokinase. Several (10-30) milligrams of purified isotope-labeled transmembrane peptides were isolated with the use of a simple and convenient procedure, which consists of consecutive steps of immobilized metal affinity chromatography and cation-exchange chromatography. The purified peptides were reconstituted in lipid/detergent environment (micelles or bicelles) and characterized using dynamic light scattering, CD and NMR spectroscopy. The data obtained indicate that the purified ErbB transmembrane peptides are suitable for structural and dynamic studies of their homo- and heterodimer complexes using high resolution NMR spectroscopy.

Computer simulations and modeling-assisted ToxR screening in deciphering 3D structures of transmembrane alpha-helical dimers: ephrin receptor A1.

Membrane-spanning segments of numerous proteins (e.g. receptor tyrosine kinases) represent a novel class of pharmacologically important targets, whose activity can be modulated by specially designed artificial peptides, the so-called interceptors. Rational construction of such peptides requires understanding of the main factors driving peptide-peptide association in lipid membranes. Here we present a new method for rapid prediction of the spatial structure of transmembrane (TM) helix-helix complexes. It is based on computer simulations in membrane-like media and subsequent refinement/validation of the results using experimental studies of TM helix dimerization in a bacterial membrane by means of the ToxR system. The approach was applied to TM fragments of the ephrin receptor A1 (EphA1). A set of spatial structures of the dimer was proposed based on Monte Carlo simulations in an implicit membrane followed by molecular dynamics relaxation in an explicit lipid bilayer. The resulting models were employed for rational design of wild-type and mutant genetic constructions for ToxR assays. The computational and the experimental data are self-consistent and provide an unambiguous spatial model of the TM dimer of EphA1. The results of this work can be further used to develop new biologically active 'peptide interceptors' specifically targeting membrane domains of proteins.