This work was supported by the German Research Foundation (Cluster of Excellence &#34;Unifying Systems in Catalysis) to T.F. and N.B. and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science (BMBF Program &#34;HSP 2020&#34;, TU-WIMIplus Project SynTUBio) to F.-J.S. and T.M.T.T.

The authors disclose all and any conflicts of interest.

In nature, manipulations with protein structures and functions typically occur due to mutations, the phenomenon that leads to an exchange of an amino acid identity at certain positions in the protein sequence. This natural mechanism is widely applied as a biotechnological method for protein engineering in the form of mutagenesis, and it relies on the repertoire of the 20 canonical amino acids involved in the process. The exchange of proline residues is problematic, however. Due to its special backbone group architecture, it is hardly interchangeable with the remaining 19 residues for replacement72. For example, proline is typically known as a secondary structure breaker in polypeptide sequences because of its poor compatibility with the most common secondary structures, i.e., &#945;-helix and &#946;-strand. This proline feature is easily lost when the residue is mutated to another amino acid from the common repertoire. The replacement of proline with its chemical analogs offers an alternative approach, which enables to keep the basic backbone features of the parent proline residue while imposing bias on its specific conformational transitions or producing modulations of the molecular volume and polarity. For example, it is possible to supply bacterial cultures with analog structures such as hydroxy-, fluoro-, alkyl-, dehydroprolines, structures having variable ring sizes and more, thus facilitating the production of a protein containing specific proline residue alterations.
The selective pressure incorporation (SPI) method described in this study allows for a global, i.e., residue-specific replacement of all prolines in the target protein with related chemical analogs. The importance of the method is reflected by the fact that SPI allows creating sequence changes inaccessible to common mutagenesis techniques. For example, it allows the production of a target protein containing rather small structural changes that may typically not exceed one or two atom replacements/deletions/additions, as demonstrated in this study. Such protein modifications are dubbed &#34;atomic mutations&#34;73,74. In a fluorescent protein such as GFP, the result of this molecular intrusion can be seen in the velocity of folding, local polarities, protein packing, stability of the involved structural features. The changes in the absorbance and fluorescence properties are produced indirectly due to the impact on protein folding and residue microenvironments. The precision of the molecular changes performed by SPI is typically much higher, as compared to mutations of prolines to other canonical residues, the latter being typically detrimental for the protein folding, production, and isolation.
As a production method, the SPI approach uses the substrate tolerance of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase pocket towards chemical analogs of the native amino acid. The synthetase is responsible for the correct identification of the amino acid structure, while the incorporation into proteins occurs downstream in the translation process. Instrumentally, the protein production, isolation, and purification in SPI are performed in a way typical for any other recombinant protein expression techniques; however, with some additions to the protocol as follows: Proline, which is bound for replacement, is provided at the beginning of the fermentation process, such that the cells can grow and develop their intact cellular machinery. However, the cell culture is not allowed to reach the maximal optical density, to keep the cells in the logarithmic phase optimal for protein expression. There are two major variations of the SPI method at this point. In the first one, the concentration of proline is adjusted in the initial growth medium (a chemically defined medium) such that depletion of proline happens without any external intrusion. The cells exhaust proline in the medium before they can exit the logarithmic growth phase, and then, subsequently, the analog is added, and the protein of interest production is induced. In the second version of the method, the cells are grown in the medium containing proline until the middle of their logarithmic phase. At this point, the cells should be taken out and physically transferred into another medium, which no longer contains proline, only the analog, with subsequent induction of the protein of interest. In both versions, the analog and the protein induction reagent are provided to the pre-grown cells. The isolation and purification of the wild-type protein are performed in the same way as for the variants. In principle, every available Pro-auxotrophic strain can be used as an expression host. Nevertheless, expression tests to identify the most suitable host are advisable. Also, tests of different chemically defined media can be used to optimize protein yield.
There are certain requirements regarding the chemical analogs that need to be considered for SPI, such as solubility and concentration. The metabolic availability and uptake of amino acids are dependent on the number of dissolved molecules in the medium. To increase the solubility of a particular compound, slightly acidic or alkaline conditions can be chosen. Since the artificial molecules can cause growth inhibitory effects due to their cell toxicity, the concentration should be lowered to a minimum in order to avoid cell stress75.
A minor weakness of SPI is the decrease of incorporation efficiency with larger numbers of positions that need to be exchanged. In principle, a reduction of the amino acid frequency within the target biomolecule by site-directed mutagenesis can solve this problem. However, the structural and functional properties of a desired protein might be affected by changing the primary structure.
As mentioned before, SPI allows residue-specific&#160;replacement of the canonical amino acid. This implies that non-canonical amino acids are inserted into every position of the canonical amino acid within the target protein, including conserved residues that are indispensable for protein function or folding. Alternative methods for site-specific incorporation are the only possibility to overcome this issue3. In the past few decades, the orthogonal pair method has been developed that can produce proteins containing modified residues at predefined sites. The most common modification of this method is known as stop codon suppression. This method is based on an engineered orthogonal translation system dedicated for site-specific incorporation of synthetic amino acids76. More than 200 amino acids with different side-chain modifications have been incorporated into proteins to date using this approach77. However, these translation systems are still not suitable for insertions of proline analogs into target proteins. Furthermore, the method&#39;s performance is considered low in the case of minor amino acid modifications because some background promiscuity of the aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase typically remains in the engineered translation systems.
Using SPI, we produced a number of &#946;-barrel fluorescent protein variants and studied outcomes of the exchange of proline with its unnatural analogs. In the case of proline replacement with R-Flp and Dfp, a dysfunctional protein was produced by the expression host. The effect is likely produced by protein misfolding. The latter may originate from the C4-exo conformation promoted by R-Flp, which is unfavored by the parent protein structures27. With Dfp, the misfolding is likely to be produced by the diminished velocity of the trans-to-cis peptide bond isomerization at the proline residue27. The latter is known to be among the limiting steps in the kinetic profile of the protein folding that affects &#946;-barrel formation and subsequent chromophore maturation. Indeed, for both amino acids, R-Flp and Dfp, the protein production resulted in an aggregated and insoluble protein. Consequently, chromophore formation could not occur, and the fluorescence was lost entirely. With S-Flp and Dhp, however, proper protein maturation was observed, resulting in fluorescent protein samples for each analog/protein combination. Despite some modulations in the absorbance and fluorescence features of the protein, these largely remained similar to those of the wild-type proteins. The effect of the amino acid substitution was revealed in the refolding kinetics studies. The latter showed a faster refolding in the case of replacement with S-Flp. Model studies have shown that this residue may generate some improvement in the trans-to-cis amide rotation velocity and lead to the formation of the C4-endo conformation. Both these factors are likely to contribute to the beneficial kinetic effects of this residue in EGFP. In contrast, Dhp produced kinetic folding profiles maximally similar to the parent protein. The diversity of the outcomes produced by mere atomic mutations in the examined fluorescent proteins illustrates the potential of the SPI production method in altering target protein properties. The protein alterations induced by proline replacement with the analogs have further implications in the engineering of enzymes78,79,80&#160;and ion channels81,82, as well as in general engineering of protein stability.
The basic limitation of the SPI method is its &#34;all-or-none&#34; mode in exchanging proline resides with related analogs. It would be of great advantage to be able to select precisely, which proline residues should be replaced with the analogs, and which ones should remain unmodified. However, at present, there is no technique that could perform such a sophisticated production using a microbial production host. Chemical synthesis of proteins83,84, as well as cell-free production85,86, are the two alternative methods that can produce position-specific proline modifications. Nonetheless, their operational complexity and low production yields make them inferior compared to the production in living cells. As of now, SPI remains the most operationally simple and robust approach for the production of complex proteins bearing atomic mutations. By introducing unnatural amino acid substitutes, the method allows modifying protein features in a targeted manner, as exemplified here by alterations in folding and light absorption/emission of fluorescent proteins generated by proline replacements.

Classical site-directed mutagenesis allows permutation of any existing gene-encoded protein sequence by codon manipulation at the DNA level. To study protein folding and stability, it is often desirable to replace similar amino acids with similar counterparts. However, traditional protein mutagenesis is definitely limited to structurally similar replacements among canonical amino acids such as Ser/Ala/Cys, Thr/Val, Glu/Gln, Asp/Asn, Tyr/Phe, which are present in the standard genetic code repertoire. On the other hand, there are no such possibilities for other canonical amino acids such as Trp, Met, His, or Pro, which often play essential structural and functional roles in proteins1. An ideal approach to study these interactions in the context of the highly specific internal architecture of proteins and their folding process is to generate non-disruptive isosteric modifications. Indeed, when isosteric amino acid analogs of these canonical amino acids, also known as non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs), are inserted into proteins, they allow for subtle changes even at the level of single atoms or atom groups such as H/F, CH2/S/Se/Te known as &#34;atomic mutations&#34;2. Such &#34;molecular surgery&#34; produces altered proteins whose properties result solely from the exchange of single atoms or groups of atoms, which in favorable cases can be analyzed, and the detected changes can be rationalized. In this way, the scope of protein synthesis to study protein folding and structure is extended far beyond classical DNA mutagenesis. Note that proteins generated by site-directed mutagenesis are usually referred to as &#34;mutants,&#34; whereas proteins with substituted canonical amino acids are referred to as &#34;variants&#34;&#160;3, &#34;alloproteins&#34;4, or &#34;protein congeners&#34;5.
The green fluorescent protein (GFP), first identified in the marine organism Aequorea victoria, exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet-to-blue light6,7. Today, GFP is commonly used as a highly sensitive labeling tool for routine visualization of gene expression and protein localization in cells via fluorescent microscopy. GFP has also proven useful in various biophysical8,9,10 and biomedical11,12 studies, as well as in protein engineering13,14,15. Rigorous analysis of the GFP structure enabled the creation of numerous variants characterized by varied stability and fluorescence maxima16,17. Most of the GFP variants used in cell and molecular biology are monomeric proteins both in solution and in the crystal18. Their principal structural organization is typical for all members of the GFP family, independent of their phylogenetic origin, and consists of 11 &#946;-strands forming a so-called &#946;-barrel, while a kinked &#945;-helix is running through the center of the barrel and bears the chromophore (Figure 1A). The autocatalytic maturation of the chromophore (Figure 1B) requires the precise positioning of the side chains surrounding it in the central place of the protein; many of these side chains are highly conserved in other GFP variants19. In most fluorescent proteins from jellyfish such as Aequorea victoria, the green-emitting chromophore consists of two aromatic rings, including a phenol ring of Tyr66 and the five-membered heterocyclic structure of imidazolinone (Figure 1B). The chromophore, when properly embedded in the protein matrix, is responsible for the characteristic fluorescence of the whole protein. It is located in the center of the structure, while the barrel structure insulates it from the aqueous medium20. Exposure of the chromophore to the bulk water would result in fluorescence quenching, i.e., loss of fluorescence21.
The proper folding of the barrel-like structure is essential for protecting the chromophore against fluorescence quenching22. Proline (Pro) residues play a special role in the structural organization of GFP23. Being unable to support a &#946;-strand, they constitute connecting loops responsible for maintaining the protein structure as a whole. Not surprisingly, 10-15 proline residues are found in both Aequorea- and Anthoathecata-derived GFPs; some of them are highly conserved in other types of fluorescent &#946;-barrel proteins. Prolines are expected to critically influence folding properties due to their peculiar geometric features. For example, in Aequorea-derived GFPs, of the ten proline residues (Figure 2A), nine form trans- and only one forms a cis-peptide bond (Pro89). Pro58 is essential, i.e., not interchangeable with the rest of the 19 canonical amino acids. This residue may be responsible for the correct positioning of the Trp57 residue, which has been reported to be crucial for chromophore maturation and the overall GFP folding24. The fragment PVPWP with three proline residues (Pro54, Pro56, Pro58) and Trp57 is the essential part of the &#34;lower lid&#34; in the GFP structure from Figure 1A. The PVPWP structural motif is found in several proteins such as cytochromes and eukaryotic voltage-activated potassium channels25. Proline-to-alanine substitutions at positions 75 and 89 are also detrimental to protein expression and folding and abolish chromophore maturation. Pro75 and Pro89 are part of the &#34;upper lid&#34; burying the chromophore (Figure 1A) and are conserved across 11-stranded &#946;-barrel fluorescent proteins23. These two &#34;lids&#34; keep the chromophore excluded from the aqueous solvent, even when the stable tertiary structure has been partially broken26. Such a specific molecular architecture protects the fluorophore from collisional (dynamic) fluorescence quenching, e.g., by water, oxygen, or other diffusible ligands.
In order to perform molecular engineering of the GFP structure, one should introduce amino acid substitutions in the primary structure of the protein. Numerous mutations have been performed on GFP, providing variants with elevated stability, fast and reliable folding, and variable fluorescence properties17. Nonetheless, in most cases, mutation of proline residues is considered a risky approach due to the fact that none of the remaining 19 canonical amino acids can properly restore the conformational profile of the proline residue27. Thus, an alternative approach has been developed, in which proline residues are replaced with other proline-based structures, dubbed as proline analogs28. Owing to its unique cyclic chemical structure, proline exhibits two characteristic conformational transitions (Figure 1C): 1) the proline ring puckering, a fast process entailing organization of the backbone, which primarily affects the &#966; torsion angle, and 2) the peptide bond cis/trans isomerization, a slow process impacting backbone folding via the &#969; torsion angles. Due to its slow nature, the latter transition is commonly responsible for the rate-limiting steps in the folding process of the whole protein. It has been shown previously that peptide bond cis/trans isomerization around some proline residues features slow steps in the folding of GFP variants. For example, the formation of the cis-peptide bond at Pro89 features the slow step in the process of folding because it relies on the bond transition from trans to cis29. A faster refolding can be achieved after replacing Pro89 with an all-trans peptide loop, i.e., by abolishing a cis-to-trans isomerization event30. In addition to the cis/trans isomerization, the pucker transitions may also generate profound changes in protein folding due to the backbone organization and packing within the protein interior27,31.
Chemical modifications result in alteration of the intrinsic conformational transitions of the proline residues, thereby affecting the ability of the protein to fold. Certain proline analogs are particularly attractive candidates for proline substitution in proteins as they allow the manipulation and study of the folding properties. For example, (4R)-fluoroproline (R-Flp), (4S)-fluoroproline (S-Flp), 4,4-difluoroproline (Dfp), and 3,4-dehydroproline (Dhp) are four analogs (Figure 1D) that differ minimally from proline in terms of both molecular volume and polarity32. At the same time, each analog exhibits a distinct ring puckering: S-Flp stabilizes the C4-endo pucker, R-Flp stabilizes the C4-exo pucker, Dfp exhibits no apparent pucker preference, while Dhp abolishes the puckering (Figure 1D)33. By using these analogs in the protein structure, one can manipulate with the conformational transition of the proline residues, and with this, affect the properties of the resulting GFP variants.
In this work, we set out to incorporate the designated set of proline analogs (Figure 1D) into the structure of GFP variants using the selective pressure incorporation method (SPI, Figure 3)34. Replacement of amino acid residues with their closest isostructural analogs is an applied biotechnological concept in protein design35,36. Thus, the effects of proline analogs in a model protein illustrate their potential to serve as tools in protein engineering37. The production of proteins containing desired analogs was performed in modified E. coli strains that are not able to produce proline (proline-auxotrophy). Thus, they could be forced to accept replacement of substrates in the process of protein biosynthesis38. This global substitution of proline is enabled by the natural substrate flexibility of endogenous aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases39, the key enzymes catalyzing the esterification of tRNAs with appropriate amino acids40. In general, as outlined in Figure 3, cellular growth is performed in a defined medium until the mid-logarithmic growth phase is reached. In the next step, the amino acid to be replaced is intracellularly depleted from the expression system during fermentation and subsequently exchanged by the desired analog or ncAA. Target protein expression is then induced for residue-specific non-canonical amino acid incorporation. The substitution of the cognate amino acid with its analog occurs in a proteome-wide manner. Although this side effect may have a negative impact on the growth of the host strain, the quality of target protein production is mostly not affected, since, in recombinant expression, the cellular resources are mainly directed to the production of the target protein41,42. Therefore, a tightly regulated, inducible expression system and strong promoters are crucial for high incorporation efficiency43. Our approach is based on multiple residue-specific incorporation of ncAAs in response to sense codons (sense codon reassignment), whereby within the target gene, the number of positions for Pro analog insertion can be manipulated via site-directed mutagenesis44. A similar approach was applied in our previous report on the preparation of recombinant peptides with antimicrobial properties45. In this work, we have applied the SPI method, which allows all proline residues to be replaced by related analogs, to generate proteins expected to possess distinct physicochemical properties not present in proteins synthesized with the canonical amino acid repertoire. By characterizing the folding and fluorescence profile of resulting variants, we aim to showcase the effects of atomic substitutions in variants of GFP.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Acetonitrile</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>HiPerSolv CHROMANORM ULTRA for LC-MS, 83642</td>
			<td>LC-MS grade required</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Acrylamide and bisacrylamide aqueous stock solution at a ratio of 37.5:1 (ROTIPHORESE Gel 30)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>3029.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Agar-agar</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>5210</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonium molybdate ((NH4)2MoO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>277908</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonium peroxydisulphate (APS)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>9592.2</td>
			<td>&#8805;98 %, p.a., ACS grade required</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ammonium sulfate ((NH4)2SO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A4418</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ampicillin sodium salt</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>K029</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Biotin</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>B4501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Bromophenol blue</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>B0126</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Calcium chloride (CaCl2)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C5670</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Coomassie Brillant Blue R 250</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>3862</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Copper sulfate (CuSO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>CP86.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>D-glucose</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>6780</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1,2-Bis-(dimethylamino)-ethane,&#160;N,N,N&#39;,N&#39;-Tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>2367.3</td>
			<td>&#8805;99 %, p.a., for electrophoresis</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>1,4-dithiothreitol (DTT)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>6908</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dichloromethane (DCM)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>270997</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>di-potassium hydrogen phosphate (K2HPO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>P749.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>di-sodium hydrogen phosphate (Na2HPO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>X987</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>DNase I</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>D5025</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dowex 50WX8-100 (hydrogen form)</td>
			<td>Acros Organics / Thermo Fisher Scientific (Waltham, U.S.A.)</td>
			<td>10731181</td>
			<td>cation exchange resin</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ethanol</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>9065.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Formic acid</td>
			<td>VWR</td>
			<td>HiPerSolv CHROMANORM for LC-MS, 84865</td>
			<td>LC-MS grade required</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glacial acetic acid</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>3738.5</td>
			<td>100 %, p. a.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Glycerol</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>3783</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Imidazole</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>X998</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hydrogen chlroide (HCl)</td>
			<td>Merck</td>
			<td>295426</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Iron(II) chloride (FeCl2)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>380024</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isopropanol</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>AE73.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Isopropyl &#946;-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>I6758</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Lysozyme</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L6876</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium chloride (MgCl2)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>KK36.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>8283.2</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Manganese chloride (MnCl2)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>63535</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>&#946;-mercaptoethanol</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>4227.3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>PageRuler Unstained Protein Ladder</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>26614</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium chloride (KCl)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>6781.3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P5655</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>RNase A</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>7156</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium chloride (NaCl)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>P029</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium dihydrogen phosphate (NaH2PO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>T879</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Sodium dodecyl sulphate (NaC12H25SO4)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>0183</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Thiamine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T4625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T6508</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tris hydrochloride (Tris-HCl)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>857645</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tris(hydroxymethyl)-aminomethane (Tris)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>5429</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tryptone</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>8952</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Yeast extract</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>2363</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Zinc chloride (ZnCl2)</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>229997</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-alanine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A7627</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-arginine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A5006</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-asparagine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A8381</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-aspartic acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>A0884</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-cysteine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>C7352</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-glutamic acid</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G2128</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-glutamine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G3126</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-glycine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>G7126</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-histidine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>H8000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-isoleucine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>I2752</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-leucine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L8000</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-lysine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>L5501</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-methionine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>M9625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-phenylalanine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P2126</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-proline</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>P0380</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-serine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>S4500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-threonine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T8625</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-tryptophan</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T0254</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-tyrosine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>T3754</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>L-valine</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>V0500</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(4S)-fluoroproline</td>
			<td>Bachem</td>
			<td>4033274</td>
			<td>Make sure that all proline analogs are proline free, check content. Otherwise include a step to consume proline contaminations during expression.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>(4R)-fluoroproline</td>
			<td>Bachem</td>
			<td>4033275</td>
			<td>Make sure that all proline analogs are proline free, check content. Otherwise include a step to consume proline contaminations during expression</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>3,4-dehydroproline</td>
			<td>Bachem</td>
			<td>4003545</td>
			<td>Make sure that all proline analogs are proline free, check content. Otherwise include a step to consume proline contaminations during expression</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>4,4-difluoroproline</td>
			<td>Enamine</td>
			<td>EN400-17448</td>
			<td>Make sure that all proline analogs are proline free, check content. Otherwise include a step to consume proline contaminations during expression</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Conical polystyrene (Falcon) tubes, 15 mL</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>14-959-49B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Conical polystyrene (Falcon) tubes, 50 mL</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>14-432-22</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Dialysis membrane, Molecular Weight Cut-Off (MWCO) 5,000</td>
			<td>Spectrum Medical Industries</td>
			<td>Spectra/Por MWCO 5000 dialysis membrane, 133198</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Immobilized Metal ion Affinity Chromatography (IMAC) column 1 mL, Ni-NTA</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare</td>
			<td>HisTrap HP, 1 mL, 17-5247-01</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Luer-Lock syringe, 5 mL</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>EP96.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Luer-Lock syringe, 20 mL</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>T550.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Luer-Lock syringe, 50 mL</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>T552.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Microcentrifuge tubes, 1.5 mL</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>30120086</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Petri dishes (polystyrene, sterile)</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>TA19</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>pQE-80L plasmid vector</td>
			<td>Qiagen</td>
			<td>no longer available</td>
			<td>replaced by N-terminus pQE Vector set Cat No./ID: 32915</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pro-auxotrophic E. coli strain JM83</td>
			<td>Addgene</td>
			<td>50348</td>
			<td>https://www.addgene.org/50348/</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pro-auxotrophic E. coli strain JM83</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>35607</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Round-bottom polystyrene tubes, 14 mL</td>
			<td>Fisher Scientific</td>
			<td>Corning Falcon, 14-959-1B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Syringe filter 0.45 &#181;m with polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membrane</td>
			<td>Carl Roth</td>
			<td>CCY1.1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) column for LC-ESI-TOF-MS</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Supelco Discovery BIO Wide Pore C5 HPLC column, 3 &#181;m particle size, 10 cm x 2.1 mm</td>
			<td>with conical 0.1 mL glass inserts, screw caps and septa</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>HPLC autosampler vials 1.5 mL</td>
			<td>Sigma-Aldrich</td>
			<td>Supelco 854165</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mass spectrometer for LC-ESI-TOF-MS</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>Agilent 6530 Accurate-Mass QTOF</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mass spectrometry data analysis software</td>
			<td>Agilent</td>
			<td>MassHunter Qualitative Analysis software v. B.06.00</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Benchtop centrifuge for 1.5 mL Eppendorf tubes</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>5427 R</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Cooling centrifuge for 50 mL Falcon tubes</td>
			<td>Eppendorf</td>
			<td>5810 R</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) system</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare</td>
			<td>&#196;KTA pure 25 L</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fluorescence spectrometer</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>LS 55</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>High pressure microfluidizer for bacterial cell disruption</td>
			<td>Microfluidics</td>
			<td>LM series with &#8220;Z&#8221; type chamber</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Orbital shaker for bacterial cultivation</td>
			<td>Infors HT</td>
			<td>Minitron</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Peristaltic pump for liquid chromatography (LC)</td>
			<td>GE Healthcare</td>
			<td>P-1</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Ultrasonic homogenizer for bacterial cell disruption</td>
			<td>Omnilab</td>
			<td>Bandelin SONOPULS HD 3200, 5650182</td>
			<td>with MS72 sonifier tip</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>UV-Vis spectrophotometer</td>
			<td>Biochrom</td>
			<td>ULTROSPEC 2100</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometer</td>
			<td>Perkin Elmer</td>
			<td>LAMBDA 950 UV/Vis/NIR</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

residue-specific exchange of proline by proline analogs in fluorescent proteins: how "molecular surgery" of the backbone affects folding and stability

Replacement of proline (Pro) residues in proteins by the traditional site-directed mutagenesis by any of the remaining 19 canonical amino acids is often detrimental to protein folding and, in particular, chromophore maturation in green fluorescent proteins and related variants. A reasonable alternative is to manipulate the translation of the protein so that all Pro residues are replaced residue-specifically by analogs, a method known as selective pressure incorporation (SPI). The built-in chemical modifications can be used as a kind of &#34;molecular surgery&#34; to finely dissect measurable changes or even rationally manipulate different protein properties. Here, the study demonstrates the usefulness of the SPI method to study the role of prolines in the organization of the typical &#946;-barrel structure of spectral variants of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) with 10-15 prolines in their sequence: enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP), NowGFP, and KillerOrange. Pro residues are present in connecting sections between individual &#946;-strands and constitute the closing lids of the barrel scaffold, thus being responsible for insulation of the chromophore from water, i.e., fluorescence properties. Selective pressure incorporation experiments with (4R)-fluoroproline (R-Flp), (4S)-fluoroproline (S-Flp), 4,4-difluoroproline (Dfp), and 3,4-dehydroproline (Dhp) were performed using a proline-auxotrophic E. coli strain as expression host. We found that fluorescent proteins with S-Flp and Dhp are active (i.e., fluorescent), while the other two analogs (Dfp and R-Flp) produced dysfunctional, misfolded proteins. Inspection of UV-Vis absorption and fluorescence emission profiles showed few characteristic alterations in the proteins containing Pro analogs. Examination of the folding kinetic profiles in EGFP variants showed an accelerated refolding process in the presence of S-Flp, while the process was similar to wild-type in the protein containing Dhp. This study showcases the capacity of the SPI method to produce subtle modifications of protein residues at an atomic level (&#34;molecular surgery&#34;), which can be adopted for the study of other proteins of interest. It illustrates the outcomes of proline replacements with close chemical analogs on the folding and spectroscopic properties in the class of &#946;-barrel fluorescent proteins.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability at JoVE

Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability

To overcome the limitations of classical site-directed mutagenesis, proline analogs with specific modifications were incorporated into several fluorescent proteins. We show how the replacement of hydrogen by fluorine or of the single by double bonds in proline residues ("molecular surgery") affects fundamental protein properties, including their folding and interaction with light.

Replacement of proline (Pro) residues in proteins by the traditional site-directed mutagenesis by any of the remaining 19 canonical amino acids is often ...

residue-specific-exchange-proline-proline-analogs-fluorescent

Research

JoVE Journal

Bioengineering

2.8K Views.  Technische Universität Berlin. To overcome the limitations of classical site-directed mutagenesis, proline analogs with specific modifications were incorporated into several fluorescent proteins. We show how the replacement of hydrogen by fluorine or of the single by double bonds in proline residues ("molecular surgery") affects fundamental protein properties, including their folding and interaction with light.

Video: Residue-Specific Exchange of Proline by Proline Analogs in Fluorescent Proteins: How "Molecular Surgery" of the Backbone Affects Folding and Stability

Thermodynamics of Membrane Protein Folding Measured by Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Membrane protein folding is an emerging topic with both fundamental and health-related significance. The abundance of membrane proteins in cells underlies the need for comprehensive study of the folding of this ubiquitous family of proteins. Additionally, advances in our ability to characterize diseases associated with misfolded proteins have motivated significant experimental and theoretical efforts in the field of protein folding. Rapid progress in this important field is unfortunately hindered by the inherent challenges associated with membrane proteins and the complexity of the folding mechanism. Here, we outline an experimental procedure for measuring the thermodynamic property of the Gibbs free energy of unfolding in the absence of denaturant, &Delta;G&deg;H2O, for a representative integral membrane protein from E. coli. This protocol focuses on the application of fluorescence spectroscopy to determine equilibrium populations of folded and unfolded states as a function of denaturant concentration. Experimental considerations for the preparation of synthetic lipid vesicles as well as key steps in the data analysis procedure are highlighted. This technique is versatile and may be pursued with different types of denaturant, including temperature and pH, as well as in various folding environments of lipids and micelles. The current protocol is one that can be generalized to any membrane or soluble protein that meets the set of criteria discussed below.

This video article details the experimental procedure for obtaining the Gibbs free energy of membrane protein folding by tryptophan fluorescence.

Membrane protein folding is an emerging topic with both fundamental and health-related significance.  The abundance of membrane proteins in cells ...

Fluorescent Nanoparticles for the Measurement of Ion Concentration in Biological Systems

Tightly regulated ion homeostasis throughout the body is necessary for the prevention of such debilitating states as dehydration.1 In contrast, rapid ion fluxes at the cellular level are required for initiating action potentials in excitable cells.2 Sodium regulation plays an important role in both of these cases; however, no method currently exists for continuously monitoring sodium levels in vivo 3 and intracellular sodium probes 4 do not provide similar detailed results as calcium probes. In an effort to fill both of these voids, fluorescent nanosensors have been developed that can monitor sodium concentrations in vitro and in vivo.5,6 These sensors are based on ion-selective optode technology and consist of plasticized polymeric particles in which sodium specific recognition elements, pH-sensitive fluorophores, and additives are embedded.7-9 Mechanistically, the sodium recognition element extracts sodium into the sensor. 10 This extraction causes the pH-sensitive fluorophore to release a hydrogen ion to maintain charge neutrality within the sensor which causes a change in fluorescence. The sodium sensors are reversible and selective for sodium over potassium even at high intracellular concentrations.6 They are approximately 120 nm in diameter and are coated with polyethylene glycol to impart biocompatibility. Using microinjection techniques, the sensors can be delivered into the cytoplasm of cells where they have been shown to monitor the temporal and spatial sodium dynamics of beating cardiac myocytes.11 Additionally, they have also tracked real-time changes in sodium concentrations in vivo when injected subcutaneously into mice.3 Herein, we explain in detail and demonstrate the methodology for fabricating fluorescent sodium nanosensors and briefly demonstrate the biological applications our lab uses the nanosensors for: the microinjection of the sensors into cells; and the subcutaneous injection of the sensors into mice.

Fluorescent nanoparticles produced in our lab are used for imaging ion concentrations and ion fluxes in biological systems such as cells during signaling and interstitial fluid during physiological homeostasis.

Tightly regulated ion homeostasis throughout the body is necessary for the prevention of such debilitating states as dehydration.1 In contrast, rapid ion ...

Fabrication of Electrochemical-DNA Biosensors for the Reagentless Detection of Nucleic Acids, Proteins and Small Molecules

As medicine is currently practiced, doctors send specimens to a central laboratory for testing and thus must wait hours or days to 
receive the results. Many patients would be better served by rapid, bedside tests. To this end our laboratory and others have developed a versatile, reagentless 
biosensor platform that supports the quantitative, reagentless, electrochemical detection of nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), proteins (including antibodies) and small 
molecules analytes directly in unprocessed clinical and environmental samples. In this video, we demonstrate the preparation and use of several biosensors in this 
"E-DNA" class. In particular, we fabricate and demonstrate sensors for the detection of a target DNA sequence in a polymerase chain reaction mixture, an HIV-specific antibody and the drug cocaine. The preparation procedure requires only three hours of hands-on effort followed by an overnight incubation, and their use requires only minutes.

"E-DNA" sensors, reagentless, electrochemical biosensors that perform well even when challenged directly in blood and other complex matrices, have been adapted to the detection of a wide range of nucleic acid, protein and small molecule analytes. Here we present a general procedure for the fabrication and use of such sensors.

As medicine is currently practiced, doctors send specimens to a central laboratory for testing and thus must wait hours or days to 
receive the results. ...

Visualizing Proteins and Macromolecular Complexes by Negative Stain EM: from Grid Preparation to Image Acquisition

Single particle electron microscopy (EM), of both negative stained or frozen hydrated biological samples, has become a versatile tool in structural biology 1. In recent years, this method has achieved great success in studying structures of proteins and macromolecular complexes 2, 3. Compared with electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM), in which frozen hydrated protein samples are embedded in a thin layer of vitreous ice 4, negative staining is a simpler sample preparation method in which protein samples are embedded in a thin layer of dried heavy metal salt to increase specimen contrast 5. The enhanced contrast of negative stain EM allows examination of relatively small biological samples. In addition to determining three-dimensional (3D) structure of purified proteins or protein complexes 6, this method can be used for much broader purposes. For example, negative stain EM can be easily used to visualize purified protein samples, obtaining information such as homogeneity/heterogeneity of the sample, formation of protein complexes or large assemblies, or simply to evaluate the quality of a protein preparation.
In this video article, we present a complete protocol for using an EM to observe negatively stained protein sample, from preparing carbon coated grids for negative stain EM to acquiring images of negatively stained sample in an electron microscope operated at 120kV accelerating voltage. These protocols have been used in our laboratory routinely and can be easily followed by novice users.

Visualizing protein samples by negative stain electron microscopy (EM) has become a popular structural analysis method. It is useful for quantitative structural analysis, such as calculating a 3D reconstruction of the molecules being studied, and also for qualitative examination of the quality of protein preparations. In this article we present detailed protocols for preparing the EM grids, staining the sample and visualizing the sample in an electron microscope. Novice users can follow these protocols easily and to utilize negative stain EM as a routine assay, in addition to other biochemical assays, for evaluating their protein samples.

Single particle electron microscopy (EM), of both negative stained or frozen hydrated biological samples, has become a versatile tool in structural ...

Microfluidic Mixers for Studying Protein Folding

The process by which a protein folds into its native conformation is highly relevant to biology and human health yet still poorly understood. One reason for this is that folding takes place over a wide range of timescales, from nanoseconds to seconds or longer, depending on the protein1. Conventional stopped-flow mixers have allowed measurement of folding kinetics starting at about 1 ms. We have recently developed a microfluidic mixer that dilutes denaturant ~100-fold in ~8 &mu;s2. Unlike a stopped-flow mixer, this mixer operates in the laminar flow regime in which turbulence does not occur. The absence of turbulence allows precise numeric simulation of all flows within the mixer with excellent agreement to experiment3-4.
Laminar flow is achieved for Reynolds numbers Re &le;100. For aqueous solutions, this requires micron scale geometries. We use a hard substrate, such as silicon or fused silica, to make channels 5-10 &mu;m wide and 10 &mu;m deep (See Figure 1). The smallest dimensions, at the entrance to the mixing region, are on the order of 1 &mu;m in size. The chip is sealed with a thin glass or fused silica coverslip for optical access. Typical total linear flow rates are ~1 m/s, yielding Re~10, but the protein consumption is only ~0.5 nL/s or 1.8 &mu;L/hr. Protein concentration depends on the detection method: For tryptophan fluorescence the typical concentration is 100 &mu;M (for 1 Trp/protein) and for FRET the typical concentration is ~100 nM.
The folding process is initiated by rapid dilution of denaturant from 6 M to 0.06 M guanidine hydrochloride. The protein in high denaturant flows down a central channel and is met on either side at the mixing region by buffer without denaturant moving ~100 times faster (see Figure 2). This geometry causes rapid constriction of the protein flow into a narrow jet ~100 nm wide. Diffusion of the light denaturant molecules is very rapid, while diffusion of the heavy protein molecules is much slower, diffusing less than 1 &mu;m in 1 ms. The difference in diffusion constant of the denaturant and the protein results in rapid dilution of the denaturant from the protein stream, reducing the effective concentration of the denaturant around the protein. The protein jet flows at a constant rate down the observation channel and fluorescence of the protein during folding can be observed using a scanning confocal microscope5.

In this work we explain the fabrication and use of a microfluidic mixer capable of mixing two solutions in ~8 &mu;s. We also demonstrate the use of these mixers with spectroscopic detection using UV fluorescence and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET).

The process by which a protein folds into its native conformation is highly relevant to biology and human health yet still poorly understood. One reason ...

Quantification of Global Diastolic Function by Kinematic Modeling-based Analysis of Transmitral Flow via the Parametrized Diastolic Filling Formalism

Quantitative cardiac function assessment remains a challenge for physiologists and clinicians.&#160;Although historically invasive methods have comprised the only means available, the development of noninvasive imaging modalities (echocardiography, MRI, CT) having high temporal and spatial resolution provide a new window for quantitative diastolic function assessment. Echocardiography is the agreed upon standard for diastolic function assessment, but indexes in current clinical use merely utilize selected features of chamber dimension (M-mode) or blood/tissue motion (Doppler) waveforms without incorporating the physiologic causal determinants of the motion itself.&#160;The recognition that all left ventricles (LV) initiate filling by serving as mechanical suction pumps allows global diastolic function to be assessed based on laws of motion that apply to all chambers. What differentiates one heart from another are the parameters of the equation of motion that governs filling. Accordingly, development of the Parametrized Diastolic Filling (PDF) formalism&#160;has shown that the entire range of clinically observed early transmitral flow (Doppler E-wave) patterns are extremely well fit by the laws of damped oscillatory motion.&#160;This permits analysis of individual E-waves in accordance with a causal mechanism (recoil-initiated suction) that yields three (numerically) unique lumped parameters whose physiologic analogues are chamber stiffness (k), viscoelasticity/relaxation (c), and load (xo).&#160;The recording of transmitral flow (Doppler E-waves) is standard practice in clinical cardiology and, therefore, the echocardiographic recording method is only briefly reviewed. Our focus is on determination of the PDF parameters from routinely recorded E-wave data.&#160;As the highlighted results indicate, once the PDF parameters have been obtained from a suitable number of load varying E-waves, the investigator is free to use the parameters or construct indexes from the parameters (such as stored energy 1/2kxo2, maximum A-V pressure gradient kxo, load independent index of diastolic function, etc.) and select the aspect of physiology or pathophysiology to be quantified.

Accurate, causality-based quantification of global diastolic function has been achieved by kinematic modeling-based analysis of transmitral flow via the Parametrized Diastolic Filling (PDF) formalism. PDF generates unique stiffness, relaxation,&#160;and load parameters and elucidates &#39;new&#39; physiology while providing sensitive and specific indexes of dysfunction.

Quantitative cardiac function assessment remains a challenge for physiologists and clinicians.&#160;Although historically invasive methods have comprised ...

Delivery of Proteins, Peptides or Cell-impermeable Small Molecules into Live Cells by Incubation with the Endosomolytic Reagent dfTAT

Macromolecular delivery strategies typically utilize the endocytic pathway as a route of cellular entry. However, endosomal entrapment severely limits the efficiency with which macromolecules penetrate the cytosolic space of cells. Recently, we have circumvented this problem by identifying the reagent dfTAT, a disulfide bond dimer of the peptide TAT labeled with the fluorophore tetramethylrhodamine. We have generated a fluorescently labeled dimer of the prototypical cell-penetrating peptide (CPP) TAT, dfTAT, which penetrates live cells and reaches the cytosolic space of cells with a particularly high efficiency. Cytosolic delivery of dfTAT is achieved in multiple cell lines, including primary cells. Moreover, delivery does not noticeably impact cell viability, proliferation or gene expression. dfTAT can deliver small molecules, peptides, antibodies, biologically active enzymes and a transcription factor. In this report, we describe the protocols involved in dfTAT synthesis and cellular delivery. The manuscript describes how to control the amount of protein delivered to the cytosolic space of cells by varying the amount of protein administered extracellularly. Finally, the current limitations of this new technology and steps involved in validating delivery are discussed. The described protocols should be extremely useful for cell-based assays as well as for the ex vivo manipulation and reprogramming of cells.

We describe how to deliver proteins and cell-impermeable small molecules into cultured mammalian cells by a simple co-incubation protocol with a reagent that causes endocytic organelles to become leaky.

Macromolecular delivery strategies typically utilize the endocytic pathway as a route of cellular entry. However, endosomal entrapment severely limits the ...

Merging Ion Concentration Polarization between Juxtaposed Ion Exchange Membranes to Block the Propagation of the Polarization Zone

The ion concentration polarization (ICP) phenomenon is one of the most prevailing methods to preconcentrate low-abundance biological samples. The ICP induces a noninvasive region for charged biomolecules (i.e., the ion depletion zone), and targets can be preconcentrated on this region boundary. Despite the high preconcentration performances with ICP, it is difficult to find the operating conditions of non-propagating ion depletion zones. To overcome this narrow operating window, we recently developed a new platform for spatiotemporally fixed preconcentration. Unlike preceding methods that only use ion depletion, this platform also uses the opposite polarity of the ICP (i.e., ion enrichment) to stop the propagation of the ion depletion zone. By confronting the enrichment zone with the depletion zone, the two zones merge together and stop. In this paper, we describe a detailed experimental protocol to build this spatiotemporally defined ICP platform and characterize the preconcentration dynamics of the new platform by comparing them with those of the conventional device. Qualitative ion concentration profiles and current-time responses successfully capture the different dynamics between the merged ICP and the stand-alone ICP. In contrast to the conventional one that can fix the preconcentration location at only ~5 V, the new platform can produce a target-condensed plug at a specific location in the broad ranges of operating conditions: voltage (0.5-100 V), ionic strength (1-100 mM), and pH (3.7-10.3).

The protocol for a novel ion concentration polarization (ICP) platform that can stop the propagation of the ICP zone, regardless of the operating conditions is described. This unique ability of the platform lies in the use of merging ion depletion and enrichment, which are two polarities of the ICP phenomenon.

The ion concentration polarization (ICP) phenomenon is one of the most prevailing methods to preconcentrate low-abundance biological samples. The ICP ...

Making Conjugation-induced Fluorescent PEGylated Virus-like Particles by Dibromomaleimide-disulfide Chemistry

The recent rise in virus-like particles (VLPs) in biomedical and materials research can be attributed to their ease of biosynthesis, discrete size, genetic programmability, and biodegradability. While they&#39;re highly amenable to bioconjugation reactions for adding synthetic ligands onto their surface, the range in bioconjugation methodologies on these aqueous born capsids is relatively limited. To facilitate the direction of functional biomaterials research, non-traditional bioconjugation reactions must be considered. The reaction described in this protocol uses dibromomaleimides to introduce new functionality in the solvent exposed disulfide bonds of a VLP based upon Bacteriophage Q&#946;. Furthermore, the final product is fluorescent, which has the added benefit of generating a trackable in vitro probe using a commercially available filter set.

Here, we present a procedure to fluorescently functionalize the disulfides on Q&#946; VLP with dibromomaleimide. We describe Q&#946; expression and purification, the synthesis of dibromomaleimide-functionalized molecules, and the conjugation reaction between dibromomaleimide and Q&#946;. The resulting yellow fluorescent conjugated particle can be used as a fluorescence probe inside cells.

The recent rise in virus-like particles (VLPs) in biomedical and materials research can be attributed to their ease of biosynthesis, discrete size, ...

Detection of Endotoxin in Nano-formulations Using Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) Assays

When present in pharmaceutical products, a Gram-negative bacterial cell wall component endotoxin (often also called lipopolysaccharide) can cause inflammation, fever, hypo- or hypertension, and, in extreme cases, can lead to tissue and organ damage that may become fatal. The amounts of endotoxin in pharmaceutical products, therefore, are strictly regulated. Among the methods available for endotoxin detection and quantification, the Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate (LAL) assay is commonly used worldwide. While any pharmaceutical product can interfere with the LAL assay, nano-formulations represent a particular challenge due to their complexity. The purpose of this paper is to provide a practical guide to researchers inexperienced in estimating endotoxins in engineered nanomaterials and nanoparticle-formulated drugs. Herein, practical recommendations for performing three LAL formats including turbidity, chromogenic and gel-clot assays are discussed. These assays can be used to determine endotoxin contamination in nanotechnology-based drug products, vaccines, and adjuvants.

Detection of Endotoxin in Nano-formulations Using Limulus Amoebocyte Lysate LAL Assays

Detection of endotoxins in engineered nanomaterials represents one of the grand challenges in the field of nanomedicine. Here, we present a case study that describes the framework composed of three different LAL formats to estimate potential endotoxin contamination in nanoparticles.