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

Summary

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.

Abstract

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'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's chaperone function in vivo.

Introduction

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 bacteri....

Protocol

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.

1. Prepare an overnight culture of E. coli cells harboring the plasmid pTrc-hdeB ¹⁰ in 30 ml LB containing 200 µg/ml ampicillin (LB_Amp). Inoculate four 1 L cultures of LB_Amp and grow them at 37 °C and 200 rpm until O.D._600nm of.......

Discussion

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.......

Materials

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