Labeling of bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase with analogues of phospholipids. Synthesis and reactivity of a new cardiolipin benzaldehyde probe

The syntheses of two new radioactive probes derived from cardiolipin and phosphatidylcholine are reported. These probes are derivatives of natural lipids and contain an amine-specific benzaldehyde in the head-group region. This functional group allows a choice of timing of the reaction (e.g., after equilibration and detergent removal) because an irreversible covalent bond is formed only upon the addition of reducing agent. These probes, as well as a benzaldehyde analogue of phosphatidic acid, and a water-soluble benzaldehyde reagent were covalently attached to bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase. After reconstitution into vesicles, the lipid-benzaldehyde probes selectively incorporated into the smaller polypeptides of the enzyme, while the remaining subunits (I-IV) exhibited little incorporation of label. The accessibility of amine groups labeled under the conditions used here was independent of the structural and charge differences between the benzaldehyde probes. This suggests that all three lipid probes react with polypeptides of the cytochrome c oxidase complex at general contact sites for membrane phospholipids. A water-soluble benzaldehyde reagent predominantly labeled subunits IV, Va, and Vb and polypeptides of VII-VIII. A comparison of these results facilitates a more refined view of the disposition of polypeptides of cytochrome c oxidase in respect to the lipid and aqueous phases.     

Multiple equilibria binding treatment of lipid and detergent interactions with membrane proteins. Application to cytochrome c oxidase solubilized in cholate

A modified multiple binding equilibria treatment is presented that allows determination of thermodynamic parameters of the interaction of phospholipids with integral membrane proteins solubilized in excess detergent. Lipid binding is modeled as a series of exchange reactions between lipid molecules and detergent molecules at the hydrophobic protein surface. A general equation is derived which expresses a relative association constant (K) and the total number of contact sites at the lipid-protein interface (N) in terms of experimentally measurable variables. A useful simplification of the general equation occurs when the amount of detergent is high relative to the total number of lipid binding sites in the sample. Computer simulations show that in cases we have examined there appears to be an experimentally accessible range of detergent to protein molar ratios where the approximation at high detergent is useful for analyzing experimental data. This model is used to examine the competition between cholate and spin-labeled phospholipids for the hydrophobic surfaces of bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase. We find, for example, that K = 12 +/- 2 for phosphatidylcholine relative to cholate (i.e., the cholate molecules are relatively easily displaced by membrane lipids). This helps to explain the experimental observation that cholate is an effective detergent both for solubilizing cytochrome c oxidase and for reconstituting this protein into a defined lipid bilayer environment. An excess of cholate readily displaces almost all of the native phospholipids, and the protein is dispersed in cholate micelles. However, when phospholipids are added back, the cholate molecules at the protein surface are replaced because of the higher relative binding of the phospholipids. Observed differences between the behavior of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylglycerol suggest that reconstitution in cholate is a selective process in which detergent molecules in localized areas on the protein surface are more readily displaced by certain phospholipids.     

Trimethyloxonium modification of single batrachotoxin-activated sodium channels in planar bilayers. Changes in unit conductance and in block by saxitoxin and calcium

Single batrachotoxin-activated sodium channels from rat brain were modified by trimethyloxonium (TMO) after incorporation in planar lipid bilayers. TMO modification eliminated saxitoxin (STX) sensitivity, reduced the single channel conductance by 37%, and reduced calcium block of inward sodium currents. These effects always occurred concomitantly, in an all-or-none fashion. Calcium and STX protected sodium channels from TMO modification with potencies similar to their affinities for block. Calcium inhibited STX binding to rat brain membrane vesicles and relieved toxin block of channels in bilayers, apparently by competing with STX for the toxin binding site. These results suggest that toxins, permeant cations, and blocking cations can interact with a common site on the sodium channel near the extracellular surface. It is likely that permeant cations transiently bind to this superficial site, as the first of several steps in passing inward through the channel.     

Relative apparent synapomorphy analysis (RASA). I: The statistical measurement of phylogenetic signal

We have developed a new approach to the measurement of phylogenetic signal in character state matrices called relative apparent synapomorphy analysis (RASA). RASA provides a deterministic, statistical measure of natural cladistic hierarchy (phylogenetic signal) in character state matrices. The method works by determining whether a measure of the rate of increase of cladistic similarity among pairs of taxa as a function of phenetic similarity is greater than a null equiprobable rate of increase. Our investigation of the utility and limitations of RASA using simulated and bacteriophage T7 data sets indicates that the method has numerous advantages over existing measures of signal. A first advantage is computational efficiency. A second advantage is that RASA employs known methods of statistical inference, providing measurable sensitivity and power. The performance of RASA is examined under various conditions of branching evolution as the number of characters, character states per character, and mutations per branch length are varied. RASA appears to provide an unbiased and reliable measure of phylogenetic signal, and the general approach promises to be useful in the development of new techniques that should increase the rigor and reliability of phylogenetic estimates.      

Variation in heat-shock proteins among species of desert fishes (Poeciliidae, Poeciliopsis)

Analysis of the heat-shock proteins (hsps) of six closely related species of Poeciliopsis demonstrated the existence of biochemical diversity in the hsp100, hsp70, hsp60, and hsp30 protein families among species. Each species expressed five to seven hsp70-related isoforms. Constitutive 70-kD isoforms were identical among species, but four different patterns of heat-inducible isoforms were seen in these six species. Members of the hsp70 family of molecular chaperones are included among the most highly conserved proteins known, and the possibility of variation in hsp70 among closely related species has rarely been addressed. The hsp30 family is known to be less conserved than the hsp70 family, and, as expected, the Poeciliopsis hsp30 patterns showed more variation. Most of the hsp30 isoforms characteristic of a particular species were unique to that species. Hsp100 and hsp60 were identical in five of the species, but alternate isoforms were found in P. monacha. The small size and limited geographical distribution of the P. monacha population have probably contributed to the uniqueness of the monacha pattern. Two of the species were shown to acquire thermotolerance, the ability to withstand normally lethal temperatures when subjected to a gradual temperature increase. Rapid-heating protocols commonly used to establish critical thermal maxima of organisms do not include this inducible component of thermoresistance and therefore do not adequately assess an organism's capacity to withstand thermal stress.      

Variation in heat shock proteins within tropical and desert species of poeciliid fishes

The 70-kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp70) family of molecular chaperones, which contains both stress-inducible and normally abundant constitutive members, is highly conserved across distantly related taxa. Analysis of this protein family in individuals from an outbred population of tropical topminnows, Poeciliopsis gracilis, showed that while constitutive hsp70 family members showed no variation in protein isoforms, inducibly synthesized hsp70 was polymorphic. Several species of Poeciliopsis adapted to desert environments exhibited lower levels of inducible hsp70 polymorphism than the tropical species, but constitutive forms were identical to those in P. gracilis, as they were in the confamilial species Gambusia affinis. These differences suggest that inducible and constitutive members of this family are under different evolutionary constraints and may indicate differences in their function within the cell. Also, northern desert species of Poeciliopsis synthesize a subset of the inducible hsp70 isoforms seen in tropical species. This distribution supports the theory that ancestral tropical fish migrated northward and colonized desert streams; the subsequent decrease in variation of inducible hsp70 may have been due to genetic drift or a consequence of adaptation to the desert environment. Higher levels of variability were found when the 30- kilodalton heat shock protein (hsp30) family was analyzed within different strains of two desert species of Poeciliopsis and also in wild-caught individuals of Gambusia affinis. In both cases the distribution of hsp30 isoform diversity was similar to that seen previously with allozyme polymorphisms.      

Cdc42 and Rac1 regulate late events in Salmonella typhimurium-induced interleukin-8 secretion from polarized epithelial cells

Salmonella typhimurium colonization of the intestinal epithelium initiates biochemical cross-talk between pathogen and host that results in the secretion of chemokines, such as interleukin (IL)-8, that direct neutrophil migration to the site of infection. In nonpolarized cells, Rac1 and Cdc42 have been shown to regulate both bacterial invasion and signaling events leading to nuclear responses and IL-8 secretion. However, because the underlying actin cytoskeleton and the associated signaling machinery are distributed much differently in polarized epithelial cells, we used polarized Madin-Darby canine kidney monolayers to investigate the role of Rac1 and Cdc42 in S. typhimurium-induced pro-inflammatory responses in the more physiologically relevant polarized state. In Madin-Darby canine kidney monolayers expressing dominant-negative Rac1 or Cdc42, both Salmonella- and tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced activation of NFkappaB and mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling cascades proceeded normally, but IL-8 secretion was inhibited. We found that Rac1 and Cdc42 were not involved in early pro-inflammatory signaling events, as in nonpolarized cells, but rather regulated the basolateral exocytosis and secretion of IL-8. In contrast, dominant-negative Rac1 inhibited apical actin pedestal formation, indicating that pedestal formation and nuclear signaling for pro-inflammatory activation are not linked. These findings indicate that there are significant differences in the requirements of pathogen-induced host cell signaling pathways in polarized and nonpolarized cells.