We thank Dr. Claudia Cremers for her helpful advice on chaperone assays. Ken Wan is acknowledged for his technical assistance in HdeB purification. This work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (to J.C.A.B.) and the National Institutes of Health grant RO1 GM102829 to J.C.A.B. and U.J. J.-U. D. is supported by a postdoctoral research fellowship provided by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

1. Expression and Purification of Periplasmic HdeB
NOTE: HdeB was expressed in E. coli cells harboring the plasmid pTrc-hdeB10, and purified from the periplasm upon polymyxin lysis.
<ol>
	<li>Prepare an overnight culture of E. coli cells harboring the plasmid pTrc-hdeB 10 in 30 ml LB containing 200 &#181;g/ml ampicillin (LBAmp). Inoculate four 1 L cultures of LBAmp and grow them at 37 &#176;C and 200 rpm until O.D.600nm of...

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In order to study the mechanism of activation and chaperone function of HdeB, large quantities of HdeB have to be expressed and purified. A number of expression vector systems are available for the production of high levels of a target protein, including pTrc or pBAD vectors, both of which were used in this study. The promoters are readily accessible for E. coli RNA polymerase and thus allow strongly upregulated expression of HdeB in any E. coli strain. This aspect is especially relevant for in vivo...

A common natural environment in which microbial pathogens experience acid-induced protein unfolding conditions is the mammalian stomach (pH range 1-4), whose acidic pH serves as an effective barrier against food-borne pathogens 1. Protein unfolding and aggregation, which is caused by amino acid side chain protonation, affects biological processes, damages cellular structures and eventually causes cell death 1,2. Since the pH of the bacterial periplasm equilibrates almost instantaneously with the environmental pH due to the free diffusion of protons through the porous outer membrane, periplasmic and inner membrane proteins of Gram-negative bacteria are the most vulnerable cellular components under acid-stress conditions 3. To protect their periplasmic proteome against rapid acid-mediated damage, Gram-negative bacteria utilize the acid-activated periplasmic chaperones HdeA and HdeB. HdeA is a conditionally disordered chaperone 4,5: At neutral pH, HdeA is present as a folded, chaperone-inactive dimer. Upon a pH shift below pH 3, HdeA&#39;s chaperone function is quickly activated 6,7. Activation of HdeA requires profound structural changes, including its dissociation into monomers, and the partial unfolding of the monomers 6-8. Once activated, HdeA binds to proteins that unfold under acidic conditions. It effectively prevents their aggregation both during the incubation at low pH as well as upon pH neutralization. Upon return to pH 7.0, HdeA facilitates the refolding of its client proteins in an ATP-independent manner and converts back into its dimeric, chaperone-inactive conformation 9. Similarly, the homologous chaperone HdeB is also chaperone-inactive at pH 7.0. Unlike HdeA, however, HdeB&#39;s chaperone activity reaches its apparent maximum at pH 4.0, conditions under which HdeB is still largely folded and dimeric 10. Moreover, further lowering the pH causes the inactivation of HdeB. These results suggest that despite their extensive homology, HdeA and HdeB differ in their mode of functional activation allowing them to cover a broad pH range with their protective chaperone function. One other chaperone that has been implicated in the acid resistance of E. coli is the cytoplasmic Hsp31, which appears to stabilize unfolded client proteins until neutral conditions are restored. The precise mode of Hsp31&#39;s action, however, has remained enigmatic 12. Given that other enteropathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella lack the hdeAB operon, it is very likely that other yet unidentified periplasmic chaperones might exist that are involved in acid resistance of these bacteria 11.
The protocols presented here allow to monitor the pH-dependent chaperone activity of HdeB in vitro and in vivo 10 and can be applied to investigate other chaperones such as Hsp31. Alternatively, the complex network of transcription factors that control the expression of hdeAB can potentially be investigated by the in vivo stress assay. To characterize the chaperone function of proteins in vivo, different experimental setups can be applied. One route is to apply protein unfolding stress conditions and phenotypically characterize mutant strains that either overexpress the gene of interest or carry a deletion of the gene. Proteomic studies can be conducted to identify which proteins no longer aggregate under stress conditions when the chaperone is present, or the influence of a chaperone on a specific enzyme can be determined during stress conditions using enzymatic assays 14-16. In this study, we chose to overexpress HdeB in an rpoH deletion strain, which lacks the heat shock sigma factor 32. RpoH controls the expression of all major E. coli chaperones and its deletion is known to increase sensitivity to environmental stress conditions that cause protein unfolding 15. The in vivo chaperone activity of HdeB was determined by monitoring its ability to suppress the pH sensitivity of the &#916;rpoH strain. Altogether, the protocols presented here provide a fast and straightforward approach to characterize the activity of an acid-activated chaperone in vitro as well as in the in vivo context.

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		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">NEB10-beta E. coli cells</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">C3019I</td>
			<td style="width:1791px;"></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Ampicillin</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Gold Biotechnology</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">A-301-3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">LB Broth mix, Lennox</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">LAB Express</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">3003</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">IPTG</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Gold Biotechnology</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">I2481C50</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Sodium chloride</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">S271-10</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Tris</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Amresco</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">0826-5kg</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">EDTA</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BP120-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Polymyxin B sulfate&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">ICN Biomedicals Inc.</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">100565</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">0.2 UM pore sterile Syringe Filter</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Corning</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">431218</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="84">
			<td height="84" style="height:84px;width:216px;">HiTrap Q HP (CV 5 ml)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">GE Healthcare Life Sciences</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">17-1153-01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Mini-Protean TGX, 15%</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Bio-Rad</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">4561046</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Malate dehydrogenase (MDH)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10127914001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Potassium phosphate (Monobasic)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BP362-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Potassium phosphate (Dibasic)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BP363-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">F-4500 fluorescence spectrophotometer</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Hitachi</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">FL25</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Oxaloacetate</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Sigma</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">O4126-5G</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">NADH</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Sigma&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">N8129-100MG</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Sodium phosphate monobasic</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Sigma&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">S9390-2.5KG</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Sodium phosphate dibasic</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Sigma&#160;</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">S397-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Roche</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10127230001</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Beckman Proteome Lab XL-I analytical Ultracentrifuge</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">392764</td>
			<td>https://www.beckmancoulter.com/wsrportal/wsrportal.portal?_nfpb=true&#38;_windowLabel=UCM_RENDERER&#38;_urlType=render&#38;wlpUCM_RENDERER_path=%252Fwsr%252Fresearch-and-discovery%252Fproducts-and-services%252Fcentrifugation%252Fproteomelab-xl-a-xl-i%252Findex.htm#2/10//0/25/1/0/asc/2/392764///0/1//0/%2Fwsrportal%2Fwsr%2Fresearch-and-discovery%2Fproducts-and-services%2Fcentrifugation%2Fproteomelab-xl-a-xl-i%2Findex.htm/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Centerpiece, 12 mm, Epon Charcoal-filled</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">306493</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">AN-50 Ti Rotor, Analytical, 8-Place</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">363782</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="21">
			<td height="21" style="height:21px;width:216px;">Wizard Plus Miniprep Kit</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Promega</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">A1470</td>
			<td>used for plasmid purification (Protocol 5.1)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">L-arabinose</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Gold Biotechnology</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">A-300-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Glycine</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">DOT Scientific Inc</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">DSG36050-1000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Fluorescence Cell cuvette</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Hellma Analytics</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">119004F-10-40</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Oligonucleotides</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Phusion High-Fidelity DNA polymerase</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">New England Biolabs</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">M0530S</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">dNTP set</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Invitrogen</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">10297018</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Hydrochloric Acid</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">A144-212</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Sodium Hydroxide</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">BP359-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Amicon Ultra 15 mL 3K NMWL</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Millipore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">UFC900324</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">Centrifuge Avanti J-26XPI</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Beckman Coulter</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">393127</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Varian Cary 50 spectrophotometer</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Agilent Tech</td>
			<td style="width:119px;"></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="84">
			<td height="84" style="height:84px;width:216px;">Spectra/Por 1 Dialysis Membrane MWCO: 6 kDa</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Spectrum Laboratories</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">132650</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Amicon Ultra Centrifugal Filter Units 30K</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Millipore</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">UFC803024</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="63">
			<td height="63" style="height:63px;width:216px;">SDS</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">bp166-500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr height="42">
			<td height="42" style="height:42px;width:216px;">Veriti 96-Well Thermal Cycler</td>
			<td style="width:64px;">Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td style="width:119px;">4375786</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

detection of the ph-dependent activity of escherichia coli chaperone hdeb in vitro and in vivo

Bacteria are frequently exposed to environmental changes, such as alterations in pH, temperature, redox status, light exposure or mechanical force. Many of these conditions cause protein unfolding in the cell and have detrimental impact on the survival of the organism. A group of unrelated, stress-specific molecular chaperones have been shown to play essential roles in the survival of these stress conditions. While fully folded and chaperone-inactive before stress, these proteins rapidly unfold and become chaperone-active under specific stress conditions. Once activated, these conditionally disordered chaperones bind to a large number of different aggregation-prone proteins, prevent their aggregation and either directly or indirectly facilitate protein refolding upon return to non-stress conditions. The primary approach for gaining a more detailed understanding about the mechanism of their activation and client recognition involves the purification and subsequent characterization of these proteins using in vitro chaperone assays. Follow-up in vivo stress assays are absolutely essential to independently confirm the obtained in vitro results.
This protocol describes in vitro and in vivo methods to characterize the chaperone activity of E. coli HdeB, an acid-activated chaperone. Light scattering measurements were used as a convenient read-out for HdeB&#39;s capacity to prevent acid-induced aggregation of an established model client protein, MDH, in vitro. Analytical ultracentrifugation experiments were applied to reveal complex formation between HdeB and its client protein LDH, to shed light into the fate of client proteins upon their return to non-stress conditions. Enzymatic activity assays of the client proteins were conducted to monitor the effects of HdeB on pH-induced client inactivation and reactivation. Finally, survival studies were used to monitor the influence of HdeB&#39;s chaperone function in vivo.

HdeA and HdeB are homologous E. coli proteins, known to protect periplasmic proteins against acid stress conditions 10. Our work revealed that similar to HdeA, HdeB also functions as an acid activated molecular chaperone. However, in contrast to HdeA, HdeB functions at a pH that is still potentially bactericidal, but significantly higher than the pH optimum of HdeA 6,9,10,22. To investigate the pH optimum of HdeB&#39;s chaperone activity in vitro, n...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Detection of the pH-dependent Activity of Escherichia coli Chaperone HdeB In Vitro and In Vivo at JoVE.com

Detection of the pH-dependent Activity of Escherichia coli Chaperone HdeB In Vitro and In Vivo

This study describes biophysical, biochemical and molecular techniques to characterize the chaperone activity of Escherichia coli HdeB under acidic pH conditions. These methods have been successfully applied for other acid-protective chaperones such as HdeA and can be modified to work for other chaperones and stress conditions.

Detection of the pH-dependent Activity of Escherichia coli Chaperone HdeB In Vitro and In Vivo

Bacteria are frequently exposed to environmental changes, such as alterations in pH, temperature, redox status, light exposure or mechanical force. Many ...

The overall goal of these in vivo and in vitro chaperone assays is to characterize the pH-dependent activity of the Escherichia coli chaperone HdeB under acidic pH conditions. Acid activated chaperones have only one job to do, they need to protect proteins against acid induced protein unfolding and degradation. This function is particularly important for enteric bacteria, which have to survive the acidic environment of the stomach if they want to successfully colonize the gut.The methods that we are presenting here allow you to identify and characterize acid activated chaperones, and define the pH conditions that lead to their activation. After watching this video, you should have a good understanding of how to characterize the chaperones, such as HdeB in vitro and in vivo, which helps you to decipher the mechanism of its activation. These methods have been successfully applied for other acid protective chaperones, such as HDA, and can be further modified to work with other chaperones, and/or stress conditions.The influence of purified HdeB on the aggregation of thermally unfolding porcine mitochondrial malate dehydrogenase at different pH values is monitored. Dialyzed MDH at four degrees Celsius over night against four liters of buffer C.Then concentrate the protein to approximately 100 micromolar using centrifugal filter units with a molecular weight cutoff of 30 kilodaltons. To remove aggregates, centrifuge the protein for 20 minutes at 20, 000 times G at four degrees Celsius.Determine MDH concentration by absorbance at 280 nanomolar. Then prepare 50 micro liter aliquots of MDH and flash-freeze the aliquots for storage. Place a one milliliters quartz cuvette into a florescent spectrophotometer equipped with temperature controlled sample holders and stirrers.Set the excitation and admission wavelength to 350 nanometers. Add the appropriate volumes of pre-warmed buffer D at the desired pH values to the cuvette. The total volume is 1, 000 microliters.Set the temperature in the cuvette holder to 43 degrees Celsius. Add 12.5 micromolar HdeB to the buffer, followed by the addition of 0.5 micromolar MDH. Begin monitoring light scattering.Incubate the reaction for 360 seconds to allow sufficient unfolding of MDH. Raise the pH to seven by adding a 0.16 to 0.34 volume of two molar un-buffered dipotassium phosphate, and continue recording light scattering for another 440 seconds. Analyze the data as described in the text protocol.Transform the plasmid expressing HdeB or the MD vector control, PBAD 18, into strain BB7224 Delta RPOH using chemically competent cells. This strain is temperature sensitive and has to be cultivated at 30 degrees Celsius. After 45 seconds of heat shock at 42 degrees Celsius and prior to plating, incubate the cells at 30 degrees Celsius and 200 RPM.Perform single colony streak outs of positive clones, and incubate over night at 30 degrees Celsius. Prepare an over night culture in 50 milliliters of LB with Ampicillin, and cultivate the cells at 200 RPM and 30 degrees Celsius. Dilute over night cultures 40 fold into 25 milliliters of LB with Ampicillin.Grow the bacteria in the presence of 0.5%arabinose at 30 degrees Celsius and 200 RPM to an optical density at 600 nanometers, or OD 600 equal to 1.0, to induce HDEB protein expression. For the pH shift experiments, use LB with Ampicillin and arabinose to dilute the cells to an OD 600 of 0.5. Adjust to the respective pH values by adding appropriate volumes of five molar hydrochloric acid.After the indicated time points, neutralize the cultures by addition of the appropriate volumes of five molar sodium hydroxide. Monitor the growth of the neutralized cultures and liquid culture for 12 hours at 30 degrees Celsius using OD measurements. To investigate the pH optimum of HdeB's chaperone activity in vitro, native MDH was diluted into pre-warmed buffer of the indicated pH in the presence, or absence, or HdeB.Following 360 seconds of incubation, aggregation of MDH at 43 degrees Celsius was triggered through neutralization. In the presence of HdeB, the light scattering signal is significantly decreased upon neutralization from pH four, indicating that HdeB prevents the aggregation of MDH. Aggregation measurements are very sensitive to changes in temperature or buffer content.To eliminate false positive results, the influence of chaperone storage buffer on client aggregation was investigated. The HdeB storage buffer had no effect on MDH aggregation. To investigate the effects of HdeB in vivo, pH dependent survival assays were conducted using the temperature sensitive RPOH deletion strain.This strain lacks most chaperones, and is therefore more susceptible to elevated temperature, low pH, or oxidated stress. Over expression of the HdeB under neutral pH conditions showed no effect on the growth rate of the strain, which grew comparably well to the control strain that harbors the empty vector, PBAD 18. In contrast, clear differences were found in their ability to resume growth upon pH three or pH four treatments, with the HdeB over expressing strain showing reproducibly improved recovery from low pH treatment as compared to the control strain.Once mastered, the purification can be done in three days, the in vitro scattering assay in one day, and the in vivo survival assays in two days if it is performed properly. When you're doing these experiments, make sure that you consider your experimental design carefully, both in regards to the type of client proteins, their concentrations, and the buffer conditions that you use. The main advantage of this technique is that it helps to gain a more detailed understanding about the mechanism of chaperone activation and its effects in an in vivo context.And don't forget that studying the pH optimum of an acid protective chaperone can quite challenging. This is because the aggregation behavior of the client protein that you use will likely also change with the pH. So therefore, make sure to choose buffer systems that are suitable for both the chaperone and the client protein.Following this procedure, other methods like spin down assays by SCS page, can be performed in auto quantified chaperone mediated suppression of client aggregation.

detection-ph-dependent-activity-escherichia-coli-chaperone-hdeb-vitro

Research

JoVE Journal

Biochemistry

10.2K visualizações.  University of Michigan. The overall goal of these in vivo and in vitro chaperone assays is to characterize the pH-dependent activity of the Escherichia coli chaperone HdeB under acidic pH conditions. Acid activated chaperones have only one job to do, they need to protect proteins against acid induced protein unfolding and degradation. This function is particularly important for enteric bacteria, which have to survive the acidic environment of the stomach if they want to successfully colonize the gut.The metho...