Name: fluorescence anisotropy as a tool to study protein-protein interactions
Uploaded: 2016-10-21T15:00:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Fluorescence Anisotropy as a Tool to Study Protein-protein Interactions at JoVE.com

Authors acknowledge the financial support from CONACyT project numbers 167359 and 177138, and from DGAPA-UNAM project number IN201615.

1. SBDS-FlAsH Tag Protein Expression and Purification
NOTE: For the anisotropy experiments, a FlAsH-tag corresponding to the sequence Cys-Cys-Pro-Gly-Cys-Cys was added to the C-terminus of the human SBDS coding sequence by PCR. This construct was subcloned into the expression vector pRSET-A and transformed into Escherichia coli C41 cells to express a protein encoding a N-terminal hexahistidine tag (His-tag), the human SBDS coding sequence and a C-terminus FlAsH tag 10.
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	<li>SBDS-...

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Most biochemical experiments with proteins require not only pure protein but also large amounts of them, irrespective of the technique used. For this reason, the proteins used for this type of experiments are obtained by heterologous expression, as it was the case presented here. Florescence spectroscopy requires the presence of a fluorophore in the studied molecule. Aromatic residues constitute the intrinsic fluorophores of a protein, however, using their signal to study protein-protein interactions complicates the anal...

Cells contain a multitude of biomacromolecules that constantly interact with each other. This association gives rise to complexes that participate in the cellular pathways responsible for their functioning in signal transduction, regulation of gene expression and cell migration amongst others. All protein-protein interactions that occur in a cell comprise a network known as the interactome. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae more than 70% of its proteins have been shown to have interacting partners 1. Understanding the interactome of a cell and their functions provide relevant information on the complexity and diversity of living organisms. Several methodologies have been described to identify and characterize protein-protein interactions. Different high through put methods such as yeast two-hybrid 2, protein-fragment complementation assays 3, affinity purification 4 coupled to mass spectrometry and protein microarrays are used to identify an interaction 5,6. Once identified, it is necessary to validate it and this may vary on a case-by-case basis. Typically, these experiments involve disrupting the interaction itself at the level of the individual members of the interaction pair, e.g., by gene deletion or overexpression of one of the proteins, and then looking for changes in the properties or function of the other member at the cellular level. Subsequently, biophysical techniques 7 are used to characterize the protein-protein interaction at the molecular level. To this end, the structure of protein complexes are determined by X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy while calorimetry and fluorescence spectroscopy are used to quantitatively and mechanistically describe them.
In this work, fluorescence anisotropy was used as a technique to characterize the interaction between the GTPase EFL1 and the SBDS protein. These proteins participate in the synthesis of ribosomes by promoting the release of eukaryotic initiation factor 6 from the surface of the 60S ribosomal subunit 8. The SBDS protein is mutated in a disease known as the Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome 9 and acts as a guanine nucleotide exchange factor for EFL1 decreasing its affinity for guanosine diphosphate 10,11. Disease mutations in SBDS abolish the interaction with EFL1 and thus prevent its activation.
Fluorescence anisotropy is commonly used in biological applications to study protein-peptide or protein-nucleic acid interactions. It is based on the principle that a fluorophore excited with polarized light results in a partially polarized emission. Fluorescence anisotropy is defined by Equation 1:
<img alt="Equation1" src="/files/ftp_upload/54640/54640eq1.jpg" />
where IVV and IVH are the fluorescence intensities of the vertically (VV) and horizontally (VH) polarized emission when the sample is excited with vertically polarized light 12. Fluorescence anisotropy is sensitive to factors that affect the rate of the rotational diffusion of the fluorophore and thus depends on the temperature, the viscosity of the solution and the apparent molecular size of the fluorophore. The apparent size of a protein containing a fluorophore increases when it interacts with another protein and such change can then be evaluated as a change in anisotropy. More specifically, a fluorophore that rotates slowly in solution relative to its fluorescent lifetime will have a large IVV value and small IVH value and therefore will exhibit a relatively large anisotropy. For fluorophores that tumble rapidly relative to their fluorescent lifetime, IVV and IVH will be similar and their anisotropy value will be small 12 (Figure 1). In addition, for a good anisotropy signal to noise measurement, it is necessary to have a fluorophore with a fluorescence lifetime similar to the rotational correlation time of the molecule of interest. Otherwise, it is not possible to accurately record the difference in anisotropy between the free protein and that in the complex. For example, the anisotropy of a fluorescent probe with a lifetime close to 4 nsec such as fluorescein or rhodamine attached to a low molecular weight compound of 100 Da is 0.05. Binding to a molecule of 160 kDa will increase its anisotropy value to 0.29; a difference that can be accurately measured. In contrast, the same fluorescent probe involved in a binding reaction whose increase in molecular size varies from 65 to 1,000 kDa will only result in an anisotropy change of 0.28 to 0.3, which is too small to be accurately measured. In this scenario, a probe with a lifetime of 400 nsec would be more suitable 12.
<img alt="Figure 1" src="/files/ftp_upload/54640/54640fig1.jpg" /> 
Figure 1. Schematic representation of the equipment used to measure fluorescence anisotropy and the procedure. Schematic representation of the equipment used to perform a protein-protein interaction experiment measuring fluorescence anisotropy. Fluorophores that tumble fast display small anisotropy that increases upon binding to an interaction partner. <a href="http://cloudflare.jove.com/files/ftp_upload/54640/54640fig1large.jpg" target="_blank">Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.</a>
Fluorescence applications require the presence of a fluorophore in any of the molecules studied. To study protein-protein interactions there are three type of fluorophores: 1) the tryptophan residues present in the proteins, 2) chemically attached fluorophores and 3) fluorescent fusion partners such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its derivatives. Most proteins have tryptophan residues on its structure, thus the easiest way to measure an interaction is by monitoring the changes in the corresponding fluorescence spectra or by monitoring changes in the fluorescence intensity of the tryptophan residues. However, tryptophan residues may be present in both proteins complicating the analysis. On the other hand, for a fluorophore to change its fluorescent properties due to an interaction it needs to be located on or near the binding site and it could interfere with the interaction itself. This needs special attention when using bulky fluorophores such as GFP. If none of these fluorophores can be used for binding studies it is necessary, then, to introduce extrinsic fluorophores to the one of the proteins involved. Many chemically synthesized fluorophores exist and can be covalently attached to proteins through their reactive groups such as the amine groups (side chain of lysines or N-terminus) and the thiol groups in cysteine. Fluorophore derivatives with isothiocyanate and succinimidyl esters react with amide groups while iodoacetamide and maleimide are thiol-reactive groups 13. The most common dyes used in fluorescence applications are derivatives of the fluorescein and the rhodamine green dyes, coumarins, BODIPY fluorophores and Alexa Fluor dyes. A detailed list of commercially available fluorophores and their use can be found in references 14,15. For successful labeling, the reactive group must be exposed on the surface of the protein, but due to the large number of reactive functional groups typically present in polypeptides it is very hard to get site-specific modification. The protein of interest in this study, SBDS, contains 5 free cysteines and 33 lysines that may result in multiple site labeling. Non-uniform labeling may affect the binding and will complicate data analysis as different fluorophore molecules may elicit different fluorescent intensity signals upon binding. To overcome this problem, we used the FlAsH fluorophore, 4&#39;,5&#39;-bis(1,3,2 dithioarsolan-2-yl) fluorescein to site-direct label the SBDS protein. This is an arsenoxide dye with a high affinity for four spaced cysteines in a motif know as FlAsH-tag consisting of the sequence CCXXCC where X is any amino acid other than cysteine 16,17. This tetracysteine motif is added to the N- or C-terminus of the protein by genetic engineering together with an appropriate linker to prevent the disruption of the overall fold of the protein. The pair consisting of FlAsH dye and FlAsH-tag was originally designed to site-specific label proteins in living cells 17 but it can also be used to label purified proteins in vitro as it is exemplified here. Additionally, enzymatic strategies have also been developed to enable site-specific functionalization of proteins 18.
In this manuscript we describe the usefulness of fluorescence anisotropy as a tool to study protein-protein interactions. Binding can be assessed by simple inspection of the binding curve shape while quantitative information can be obtained from the fit of the experimental data.

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			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Yeast nitrogen base without amino acids</td>
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			<td style="width:119px;">CYN0410</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">Yeast extract</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Formedium</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">YEM03</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Micro Granulated</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">L-Tyroisne</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Formedium</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">DOC0193</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">Adenine sulphate</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Formedium</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">DOC0230</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">Casamino acids</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Formedium</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">CAS03</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Tryptone</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">IBI Shelton Scientific, Inc</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">IB49182</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">IPTG</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Formedium</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">IPTG025</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">Name of Material</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Catalog Number</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Comments/Description</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Filtration units</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Merck Millipore Corporation</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">UFC901096</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Amicon Ultra-15, membrana PLGC Ultracel-PL, 10&#160;kDa</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:219px;">Membrane Filter</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Merck Millipore Corporation</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">GSWP04700</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Membrane Filter, mixed cellulose esters, Hydrophilic, 0.22&#160;&#181;m, 47&#160;mm, white, plain</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Ni2+ affinity column</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">QIAGEN</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">30760</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Cartridge pre-filled with 5 ml Ni-NTA Superflow</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Strong Sulfopropyl cation exchanger column</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">GE Healthcare Life Science</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">17-5157-01</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">HiTrap SP Sepharose FF 5 ml</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Size Exclusion column</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">GE Healthcare Life Science</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">28989335</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">HiLoad 16/600 Superdex 200 PG</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Fluorescence cell</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Hellma Analytics</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">111-057-40</td>
			<td style="width:225px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:219px;">Name of Equipment</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Company</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Catalog Number</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Comments/Description</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Spectrophotometer</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Agilent Technologies</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">G6860AA</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Cary 60 UV-Vis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:219px;">Shaker</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">ThermoFischer Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">SHKA4000-7</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">MaxQ 4000 Benchtop temperature range Ambient-15&#176; to 60&#176;C</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Centrifuge</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">ThermoFischer Scientific</td>
			<td>75004271</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Heraeus Megafuge 16R</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:219px;">FPLC</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Pharmacia Biotech</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">Discontinued</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">FPLC system conductivity UV-MM II monitor P500 pump fraction</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:219px;">Spectrofluorometer</td>
			<td style="width:112px;">Olis</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">No applicable</td>
			<td style="width:225px;">Olis DM 45 with Polarization Toolbox</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

fluorescence anisotropy as a tool to study protein-protein interactions

Protein-protein interactions play an essential role in the function of a living organism. Once an interaction has been identified and validated it is necessary to characterize it at the structural and mechanistic level. Several biochemical and biophysical methods exist for such purpose. Among them, fluorescence anisotropy is a powerful technique particularly used when the fluorescence intensity of a fluorophore-labeled protein remains constant upon protein-protein interaction. In this technique, a fluorophore-labeled protein is excited with vertically polarized light of an appropriate wavelength that selectively excites a subset of the fluorophores according to their relative orientation with the incoming beam. The resulting emission also has a directionality whose relationship in the vertical and horizontal planes defines anisotropy (r) as follows: r=(IVV-IVH)/(IVV+2IVH), where IVV and IVH are the fluorescence intensities of the vertical and horizontal components, respectively. Fluorescence anisotropy is sensitive to the rotational diffusion of a fluorophore, namely the apparent molecular size of a fluorophore attached to a protein, which is altered upon protein-protein interaction. In the present text, the use of fluorescence anisotropy as a tool to study protein-protein interactions was exemplified to address the binding between the protein mutated in the Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SBDS) and the Elongation factor like-1 GTPase (EFL1). Conventionally, labeling of a protein with a fluorophore is carried out on the thiol groups (cysteine) or in the amino groups (the N-terminal amine or lysine) of the protein. However, SBDS possesses several cysteines and lysines that did not allow site directed labeling of it. As an alternative technique, the dye 4&#39;,5&#39;-bis(1,3,2 dithioarsolan-2-yl) fluorescein was used to specifically label a tetracysteine motif, Cys-Cys-Pro-Gly-Cys-Cys, genetically engineered in the C-terminus of the recombinant SBDS protein. Fitting of the experimental data provided quantitative and mechanistic information on the binding mode between these proteins.

To perform any anisotropy experiment it is important to rule out large changes in the fluorescence intensity of the fluorophore since the observed anisotropy of a mixture of species is represented by Equation 5:
<img alt="Equation5" src="/files/ftp_upload/54640/54640eq5.jpg" />
where Fi represents the fractional fluorescence of each component and <e...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Fluorescence Anisotropy as a Tool to Study Protein-protein Interactions at JoVE.com

Fluorescence Anisotropy as a Tool to Study Protein-protein Interactions

Protein interactions are at the heart of a cell&#39;s function. Calorimetric and spectroscopic techniques are commonly used to characterize them. Here we describe fluorescence anisotropy as a tool to study the interaction between the protein mutated in the Shwachman-Diamond Syndrome (SBDS) and the Elongation factor-like 1 GTPase (EFL1).

Protein-protein interactions play an essential role in the function of a living organism. Once an interaction has been identified and validated it is ...

The overall goal of this experiment is to evaluate and quantify the interaction between two proteins of interest using Fluorescence Anisotropy. These measures can help answer key questions. The protein biochemistry and protein biophysics field, such as protein whose interactions are important for cellular function.The main advantage of this technique is that we can obtain quantitative and qualitative information on the protein-protein interaction. To prepare purified SBDS-FlAsH protein, first prepare one liter of LB liquid medium supplemented with 100 micrograms per milliliter ampicillin. And in it, culture transformed bacteria at 37 degrees Celsius until the optical density at 600 nanometers reaches 0.5 to 0.7.Induce SBDS-FlAsH protein expression by adding 0.5 millimolar IPTG to the culture and continue the incubation for five more hours. Next, collect the bacterial suspension by centrifugation at 3800 times G for ten minutes at four degrees Celsius. Remove the supernatant.Re-suspend the cells in 35 milliliters of SBDS lysis butter supplemented with one millimolar PMSF. Lyse by sonication for a total time of four minutes using cycles of ten seconds on and 30 seconds off at four degrees Celsius. Then, centrifuge the sample at 9, 000 times G for 50 minutes at four degrees Celsius.Keep the supernatant and discard the palette to remove cellular debris. After equilibrating the nickel affinity column with three column volumes of SBDS lysis buffer, introduce the whole clarified supernatant onto the column. Remove the unbound protein by washing with three column volumes of SBDS lysis buffer.Following the column wash, elute the bound protein with three column volumes of SBDS elution buffer. To further purify the protein, equilibrate the sulfopropyl cation exchanger column with three column volumes of Low salt S column buffer. Dilute the protein six-fold with 50 millimolar phosphate buffer PH 6.5 and introduce it to the column.Wash the unbound material with three column volumes of Low salt S column buffer. Then, elute the protein in one step by adding 50 millimolar phosphate buffer PH 6.5, one molar sodium chloride onto the column. Dilute the eluate three-fold with 50 millimolar phosphate buffer PH 6.5.Then, concentrate the protein with ultra filtration devices by centrifugation at 3800 times G for fifteen minutes. The quality of the proteins used in this type of experiment are very potent. Interpretation of the data gets complicated if the protein samples used are not of high purity.Verify the purity of the SBDS-FlAsH protein by SDS-PAGE analysis and Coomassie staining. Flash-freeze the protein in liquid nitrogen and store it at minus 80 degrees Celsius until further use. To prepare purified EFL1 protein, first culture transformed yeast at 30 degrees Celsius in one liter of synthetic drop-out medium without uracil, supplemented with 0.5 percent glucose until the optical density at 600 nanometers reaches 1.8.Induce protein expression by adding 2.8 percent galactose to the culture and continue the incubation for 18 hours at 30 degrees Celsius. Collect the yeast suspension by centrifugation at 3800 times G for ten minutes at four degrees Celsius. Remove the supernatant following centrifugation.Re-suspend the cells in 50 milliliters of EFL1 lysis buffer supplemented with one millimolar PMSF and one millimolar benzamidine. Disrupt the cells by friction on a bead-beater using glass beads for a total time of six minutes using cycles of two minutes on and fifteen minutes off at four degrees Celsius. Then, centrifuge the sample at 9, 000 times G for 50 minutes at four degrees Celsius.Keep the supernatant and discard the palate to remove cellular debris. Next, equilibrate the nickel affinity column with three column volumes of EFL1 lysis buffer. Introduce all the clarified supernatant onto the equilibrated column.After removing unbound protein by washing the column with three column volumes of EFL1 lysis buffer, elute the bound protein with three column volumes of EFL1 elution buffer. To further purify the EFL1 protein, equilibrate the size exclusion column with 1.5 column volumes of Anisotropy buffer. Concentrate the EFL1 protein eluded from the nickel affinity column to one milliliter with ultra filtration devices by centrifugation at 3800 times G.Then, introduce the concentrated sample onto the size exclusion column.Collect the eluded protein and concentrate by ultra filtration to a final concentration of approximately 30 micromolar. Verify the purity of the EFL1 protein by SDS-PAGE analysis and Coomassie staining. Flash-freeze the protein in liquid nitrogen and store at minus 80 degrees Celsius until further use.Mix three nanomoles of the SBDS-FlAsH protein with three nanomoles of the lumio green dye in a five micrometer volume of anisotropy buffer. Let the reaction proceed for eight hours at four degrees Celsius. After eight hours, dialyze the sample against the anisotropy buffer overnight to remove the free dye.Measure the absorbents at 280 nanometers and 508 nanometers in a spectrophotometer using a Quartz Cuvette. Then, use the Lambert-Beer Law to quantify the percent of labeled protein as described in the text protocol. Before measuring the anisotrophy value, each filtration step from the protein legion should be done carefully, ensuring that the entire sample is dispensed into the solution and becomes homogeneous.In a Fluorescence Cuvette, place 200 microliters of 30 nanomolar SBDS-FlAsH in anisotrophy buffer and titrate two microliters of 30 micromolar EFL1. Mix thoroughly, and let the reaction stand for three minutes before measuring the anisotrophy and fluorescence value. Repeat this process until a total volume of 40 microliters of EFL1 has been added.As a final step, fit the data to a presumed binding model as described in the text protocol. To perform any anisotrophy experiment it is important to rule out large changes in the fluorescence intensity. As shown here, the fluorescence of SBDS-FlAsH does not noticeably change upon binding to EFL1.Titration of EFL1 into a Quartz Cuvette containing SBDS-FlAsH results in an increase of the initial observed anisotrophy. Several additions of EFL1 describe the corresponding binding curve that can be fit using non-linear least squares regression to a presumed binding model. In this case, a one binding site model does not appropriately describe the experimental data.Instead, a two non-identical binding sites model does appropriately describe the experimental data. Once mastered, the fluorescence anisotrophy binding experiment can be done in three hours if it is performed properly. While attempting this procedure, it is important to have purified protein in large quantities.In parallel with this procedure, other methods like this used to have with fragment-based complementation assay, or fluorescence anisotrophy with different domains of the studied protein can be performed in order to support the appropriate binding model. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to perform a binding experiment followed by fluorescence anisotrophy.

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Utilizing the Ethylene-releasing Compound, 2-Chloroethylphosphonic Acid, as a Tool to Study Ethylene Response in Bacteria

Ethylene (C2H4) is a gaseous phytohormone that is involved in numerous aspects of plant development, playing a dominant role in senescence and fruit ripening. Exogenous ethylene applied during early plant development triggers the triple response phenotype; a shorter and thicker hypocotyl with an exaggerated apical hook. Despite the intimate relationship between plants and bacteria, the effect of exogenous ethylene on bacteria has been greatly overlooked. This is partly due to the difficulty of controlling gaseous ethylene within the laboratory without specialized equipment. 2-Chloroethylphosphonic acid (CEPA) is a compound that decomposes into ethylene, chlorine, and phosphate in a 1:1:1:1 molar ratio when dissolved in an aqueous medium of pH 3.5 or greater. Here we describe the use of CEPA to produce in situ ethylene for the investigation of ethylene response in bacteria using the fruit-associated, cellulose-producing bacterium Komagataeibacter xylinus as a model organism. The protocols described herein include both the verification of ethylene production from CEPA via the Arabidopsis thaliana triple response assay and the effects of exogenous ethylene on K. xylinus cellulose production, pellicle properties and colonial morphology. These protocols can be adapted to examine the effect of ethylene on other microbes using appropriate growth media and phenotype analyses. The use of CEPA provides researchers with a simple and efficient alternative to pure ethylene gas for the routine determination of bacterial ethylene response.

The protocols outlined herein facilitate the convenient investigation of bacterial ethylene responses by utilizing 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid (CEPA). Ethylene is produced in situ through the decomposition of CEPA in an aqueous bacterial growth medium, circumventing the requirement for pure ethylene gas.

Ethylene (C2H4) is a gaseous phytohormone that is involved in numerous aspects of plant development, playing a dominant role in senescence and fruit ...

Using Scaffold Liposomes to Reconstitute Lipid-proximal Protein-protein Interactions In Vitro

Studies of integral membrane proteins in vitro are frequently complicated by the presence of a hydrophobic transmembrane domain. Further complicating these studies, reincorporation of detergent-solubilized membrane proteins into liposomes is a stochastic process where protein topology is impossible to enforce. This paper offers an alternative method to these challenging techniques that utilizes a liposome-based scaffold. Protein solubility is enhanced by deletion of the transmembrane domain, and these amino acids are replaced with a tethering moiety, such as a His-tag. This tether interacts with an anchoring group (Ni2+ coordinated by nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA(Ni2+)) for His-tagged proteins), which enforces a uniform protein topology at the surface of the liposome. An example is presented wherein the interaction between Dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) with an integral membrane protein, Mitochondrial Fission Factor (Mff), was investigated using this scaffold liposome method. In this work, we have demonstrated the ability of Mff to efficiently recruit soluble Drp1 to the surface of liposomes, which stimulated its GTPase activity. Moreover, Drp1 was able to tubulate the Mff-decorated lipid template in the presence of specific lipids. This example demonstrates the effectiveness of scaffold liposomes using structural and functional assays and highlights the role of Mff in regulating Drp1 activity.

Using Scaffold Liposomes to Reconstitute Lipid-proximal Protein-protein Interactions In Vitro

This paper describes a method for assessing the interactions and assemblies of integral membrane proteins in vitro with various partner factors in a lipid-proximal environment.

Studies of integral membrane proteins in vitro are frequently complicated by the presence of a hydrophobic transmembrane domain. Further complicating ...

Biotinylated Cell-penetrating Peptides to Study Intracellular Protein-protein Interactions

Here we present a protocol to study intracellular protein-protein interactions that is based on the widely used biotin-avidin pull-down system. The modification presented includes the combination of this technique with cell-penetrating sequences. We propose to design cell-penetrating baits that can be incubated with living cells instead of cell lysates and therefore the interactions found will reflect those that occur within the intracellular context. Connexin43 (Cx43), a protein that forms gap junction channels and hemichannels is down-regulated in high-grade gliomas. The Cx43 region comprising amino acids 266-283 is responsible for the inhibition of the oncogenic activity of c-Src in glioma cells. Here we use TAT as the cell-penetrating sequence, biotin as the pull-down tag and the region of Cx43 comprised between amino acids 266-283 as the target to find intracellular interactions in the hard-to-transfect human glioma stem cells. One of the limitations of the proposed method is that the molecule used as bait could fail to fold properly and, consequently, the interactions found could not be associated with the effect. However, this method can be especially interesting for the interactions involved in signal transduction pathways because they are usually carried out by intrinsically disordered regions and, therefore, they do not require an ordered folding. In addition, one of the advantages of the proposed method is that the relevance of each residue on the interaction can be easily studied. This is a modular system; therefore, other cell-penetrating sequences, other tags, and other intracellular targets can be employed. Finally, the scope of this protocol is far beyond protein-protein interaction because this system can be applied to other bioactive cargoes such as RNA sequences, nanoparticles, viruses or any molecule that can be transduced with cell-penetrating sequences and fused to pull-down tags to study their intracellular mechanism of action.

This is a protocol to study intracellular protein-protein interactions based on the biotin-avidin pull-down system with the novelty of combining cell-penetrating sequences. The main advantage is that the target sequence is incubated with living cells instead of cell lysates and therefore the interactions will occur within the cellular context.

Here we present a protocol to study intracellular protein-protein interactions that is based on the widely used biotin-avidin pull-down system. The ...

Using Three-color Single-molecule FRET to Study the Correlation of Protein Interactions

Single-molecule F&#246;rster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) has become a widely used biophysical technique to study the dynamics of biomolecules. For many molecular machines in a cell proteins have to act together&#160;with interaction partners in a functional cycle to fulfill their task. The extension of two-color to multi-color smFRET makes it possible to simultaneously probe more than one interaction or conformational change. This not only adds a new dimension to smFRET experiments but it also offers the unique possibility to directly study the sequence of events and to detect correlated interactions when using an immobilized sample and a total internal reflection fluorescence microscope (TIRFM). Therefore, multi-color smFRET is a versatile tool for studying biomolecular complexes in a quantitative manner and in a previously unachievable detail.
Here, we demonstrate how to overcome the special challenges of multi-color smFRET experiments on proteins. We present detailed protocols for obtaining the data and for extracting kinetic information. This includes trace selection criteria, state separation, and the recovery of state trajectories from the noisy data using a 3D ensemble Hidden Markov Model (HMM). Compared to other methods, the kinetic information is not recovered from dwell time histograms but directly from the HMM. The maximum likelihood framework allows us to critically evaluate the kinetic model and to provide meaningful uncertainties for the rates.
By applying our method to the heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), we are able to disentangle the nucleotide binding and the global conformational changes of the protein. This allows us to directly observe the cooperativity between the two nucleotide binding pockets of the Hsp90 dimer.

Here, we present a protocol to obtain three-color smFRET data and its analysis with a 3D ensemble Hidden Markov Model. With this approach, scientists can extract kinetic information from complex protein systems, including cooperativity or correlated interactions.

Single-molecule F&#246;rster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) has become a widely used biophysical technique to study the dynamics of biomolecules. For ...

A Yeast 2-Hybrid Screen in Batch to Compare Protein Interactions

Screening for protein-protein interactions using the yeast 2-hybrid assay has long been an effective tool, but its use has largely been limited to the discovery of high-affinity interactors that are highly enriched in the library of interacting candidates. In a traditional format, the yeast 2-hybrid assay can yield too many colonies to analyze when conducted at low stringency where low affinity interactors might be found. Moreover, without a comprehensive and complete interrogation of the same library against different bait plasmids, a comparative analysis cannot be achieved. Although some of these problems can be addressed using arrayed prey libraries, the cost and infrastructure required to operate such screens can be prohibitive. As an alternative, we have adapted the yeast 2-hybrid assay to simultaneously uncover dozens of transient and static protein interactions within a single screen utilizing a strategy termed DEEPN (Dynamic Enrichment for Evaluation of Protein Networks), which incorporates high-throughput DNA sequencing and computation to follow the evolution of a population of plasmids that encode interacting partners. Here, we describe customized reagents and protocols that allow a DEEPN screen to be executed easily and cost-effectively.

Batch processing of yeast 2-hybrid screens allows for direct comparison of the interaction profiles of multiple bait proteins with a highly complex set of prey fusion proteins. Here, we describe refined methods, new reagents, and how to implement their use for such screens.

Screening for protein-protein interactions using the yeast 2-hybrid assay has long been an effective tool, but its use has largely been limited to the ...

A Fluorescence Fluctuation Spectroscopy Assay of Protein-Protein Interactions at Cell-Cell Contacts

A variety of biological processes involves cell-cell interactions, typically mediated by proteins that interact at the interface between neighboring cells. Of interest, only few assays are capable of specifically probing such interactions directly in living cells. Here, we present an assay to measure the binding of proteins expressed at the surfaces of neighboring cells, at cell-cell contacts. This assay consists of two steps: mixing of cells expressing the proteins of interest fused to different fluorescent proteins, followed by fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy measurements at cell-cell contacts using a confocal laser scanning microscope. We demonstrate the feasibility of this assay in a biologically relevant context by measuring the interactions of the amyloid precursor-like protein 1 (APLP1) across cell-cell junctions. We provide detailed protocols on the data acquisition using fluorescence-based techniques (scanning fluorescence cross-correlation spectroscopy, cross-correlation number and brightness analysis) and the required instrument calibrations. Further, we discuss critical steps in the data analysis and how to identify and correct external, spurious signal variations, such as those due to photobleaching or cell movement.
In general, the presented assay is applicable to any homo- or heterotypic protein-protein interaction at cell-cell contacts, between cells of the same or different types and can be implemented on a commercial confocal laser scanning microscope. An important requirement is the stability of the system, which needs to be sufficient to probe diffusive dynamics of the proteins of interest over several minutes.

This protocol describes a fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy-based approach to investigate interactions among proteins mediating cell-cell interactions, i.e. proteins localized in cell junctions, directly in living cells. We provide detailed guidelines on instrument calibration, data acquisition and analysis, including corrections to possible artefact sources.

A variety of biological processes involves cell-cell interactions, typically mediated by proteins that interact at the interface between neighboring ...

Application of Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) for Studying Protein-Protein Interactions in Transcription

A transcription factor&#160;(TF) is a protein that regulates gene expression by interacting with the RNA polymerase, another TF, and/or template DNA. GrgA is a novel transcription activator found specifically in the obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen Chlamydia. Protein pulldown assays using affinity beads have revealed that GrgA binds two &#963; factors, namely &#963;66 and &#963;28, which recognize different sets of promoters for genes whose products are differentially required at developmental stages. We have used BLI to confirm and further characterize the interactions. BLI demonstrates several advantages over pulldown: 1) It reveals real-time association and dissociation between binding partners, 2) It generates quantitative kinetic parameters, and 3) It can detect bindings that pulldown assays often fail to detect. These characteristics have enabled us to deduce the physiological roles of GrgA in gene expression regulation in Chlamydia, and possible detailed interaction mechanisms. We envision that this relatively affordable technology can be extremely useful for studying transcription and other biological processes.

Application of Biolayer Interferometry BLI for Studying Protein-Protein Interactions in Transcription

Interactions of transcription factors (TFs) with the RNA polymerase are usually studied using pulldown assays. We apply a Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) technology to characterize the interaction of GrgA with the chlamydial RNA polymerase. Compared to pulldown assays, BLI detects real-time association and dissociation, offers higher sensitivity, and is highly quantitative.

A transcription factor&#160;(TF) is a protein that regulates gene expression by interacting with the RNA polymerase, another TF, and/or template DNA. GrgA ...

Evaluation of Protein&#8211;Protein Interactions using an On-Membrane Digestion Technique

Numerous intracellular proteins physically interact in accordance with their intracellular and extracellular circumstances. Indeed, cellular functions largely depend on intracellular protein&#8211;protein interactions. Therefore, research regarding these interactions is indispensable to facilitating the understanding of physiologic processes. Co-precipitation of associated proteins, followed by mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, enables the identification of novel protein interactions. In this study, we have provided details of the novel technique of immunoprecipitation-liquid chromatography (LC)-MS/MS analysis combined with on-membrane digestion for the analysis of protein&#8211;protein interactions. This technique is suitable for crude immunoprecipitants and can improve the throughput of proteomic analyses. Tagged recombinant proteins were precipitated using specific antibodies; next, immunoprecipitants blotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membrane pieces were subjected to reductive alkylation. Following trypsinization, the digested protein residues were analyzed using LC-MS/MS. Using this technique, we were able to identify several candidate associated proteins. Thus, this method is convenient and useful for the characterization of novel protein&#8211;protein interactions.

Here, we present a protocol for an on-membrane digestion technique for the preparation of samples for mass spectrometry. This technique facilitates the convenient analysis of protein&#8211;protein interactions.

Numerous intracellular proteins physically interact in accordance with their intracellular and extracellular circumstances. Indeed, cellular functions ...

In Vivo Hydroxyl Radical Protein Footprinting for the Study of Protein Interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans

Fast oxidation of proteins (FPOP) is a hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) method used to study protein structure, protein-ligand interactions, and protein-protein interactions. FPOP utilizes a KrF excimer laser at 248 nm for photolysis of hydrogen peroxide to generate hydroxyl radicals which in turn oxidatively modify solvent-accessible amino acid side chains. Recently, we expanded the use of FPOP of in vivo oxidative labeling in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), entitled IV-FPOP. The transparent nematodes have been used as model systems for many human diseases. Structural studies in C. elegans by IV-FPOP is feasible because of the animal&#8217;s ability to uptake hydrogen peroxide, their transparency to laser irradiation at 248 nm, and the irreversible nature of the modification. The assembly of a microfluidic flow system for IV-FPOP labeling, IV-FPOP parameters, protein extraction, and LC-MS/MS optimized parameters are described herein.

In Vivo Hydroxyl Radical Protein Footprinting for the Study of Protein Interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans

In vivo fast photochemical oxidation of proteins (IV-FPOP) is a hydroxyl radical protein footprinting technique that allows for mapping of protein structure in their native environment. This protocol describes the assembly and set-up of the IV-FPOP microfluidic flow system.

Fast oxidation of proteins (FPOP) is a hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) method used to study protein structure, protein-ligand interactions, ...

Optical Tweezers to Study RNA-Protein Interactions in Translation Regulation

RNA adopts diverse structural folds, which are essential for its functions and thereby can impact diverse processes in the cell. In addition, the structure and function of an RNA can be modulated by various trans-acting factors, such as proteins, metabolites or other RNAs. Frameshifting RNA molecules, for instance, are regulatory RNAs located in coding regions, which direct translating ribosomes into an alternative open reading frame, and thereby act as gene switches. They may also adopt different folds after binding to proteins or other trans-factors. To dissect the role of RNA-binding proteins in translation and how they modulate RNA structure and stability, it is crucial to study the interplay and mechanical features of these RNA-protein complexes simultaneously.&#160;This work illustrates how to employ single-molecule-fluorescence-coupled optical tweezers to explore the conformational and thermodynamic landscape of RNA-protein complexes at a high resolution. As an example, the interaction of the SARS-CoV-2 programmed ribosomal frameshifting element with the trans-acting factor short isoform of zinc-finger antiviral protein is elaborated. In addition, fluorescence-labeled ribosomes were monitored using the confocal unit, which would ultimately enable the study of translation elongation. The fluorescence coupled OT assay can be widely applied to explore diverse RNA-protein complexes or trans-acting factors regulating translation and could facilitate studies of RNA-based gene regulation.

This protocol presents a complete experimental workflow for studying RNA-protein interactions using optical tweezers. Several possible experimental setups are outlined including the combination of optical tweezers with confocal microscopy.