The solubilization and morphological change of human platelets in various detergents

The solubilization of human gel-filtered platelets by octyl glucoside, Triton X-100, dodecylsulfate, and deoxycholate was compared from the analysis of (1) cell lysis, (2) marker leakiness, and (3) component solubility. These analyses all revealed that the effect of detergent concentration on the solubilization of platelets by these detergents was exerted in three stages, i.e., the prelytic, lytic, and complete platelet-lysis stages. These analyses also indicated several differences among platelets in these detergents. (i) The ratio of the platelet-saturation concentration (PSC) to critical micellar concentration (CMC) was about 1/2 for octyl glucoside. Triton X-100 and dodecylsulfate, while it was close to 1 for deoxycholate. (ii) Platelets in octyl glucoside. Triton X-100, and dodecylsulfate all showed parallel curves in cell lysis, protein solubilization and marker leakiness, while the platelet lysis in deoxycholate was identical to the phospholipid solubilization. (iii) The solubility curves of various components in Triton X-100 and deoxycholate were parallel. However, the solubility of cholesterol in octyl glucoside was lower than that of protein and phospholipid. In dodecylsulfate, the solubility of phospholipid and cholesterol was very low in comparison with that of protein. In addition, morphological studies using scanning electron microscopy (scanning EM) revealed that the solubilization by octyl glucoside or Triton X-100 might occur via membrane area expansion. On the other hand, the solubilization by dodecylsulfate or deoxycholate showed membrane vesiculation prior to cell lysis. Moreover, in the prelytic stage, the morphological change in platelets in octyl glucoside showed only concentration dependence by swelling to an ellipsoid and then to a sphere. However, the morphological change in platelets in the other three detergents was dependent not only on the detergent concentration but also on prolonged incubation. Specifically, in Triton X-100, the cells initially changed to spiculate discs and then reached their final shape as swollen discs with surface invagination. In dodecylsulfate and deoxycholate the morphological changes were almost the same. The cell initially deformed in shape to a spiculate disc and finally to a stretched-out flat form. The results are discussed according to the bilayer couple hypothesis. Also, in the prelytic stage, these detergents caused inhibition of the response of platelets to collagen and ADP-fibrinogen.     

A comparative study of the effect of various detergents on the structure and function of sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles

Summary The effects produced by the detergents Triton X-100, sodium dodecylsulphate and sodium cholate on sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles have been comparatively studied. In all cases, maximal effects are found 5 min after detergent addition. Triton X-100 and SDS are approximately ten times more effective than cholate in protein and phospholipid solubilization. Both Triton X-100 and SDS maintain Ca⁺⁺ accumulation in SR vesicles at detergent concentrations below 10^–3 M; higher concentrations cause a strong inhibition. On the other hand, cholate produces a gradual inhibition of Ca⁺⁺ accumulation in the concentration range between 10^–4 M and 2.5 × 10^–2 M. Triton X-100 and SDS produce a gradual solubilization of the specific Ca⁺⁺-ATPase activity up to a 10^–3 M detergent concentration, above which a strong inactivation occurs, while the enzyme solubilization increases with the presence of cholate in the whole concentration range under study. The different behaviour of sodium cholate, when compared to SDS or Triton X-100, is discussed in relation to the surfactant molecular structures. The possibility of membrane lysis and reassembly in the presence of some detergents is also considered.Abbreviations SR sarcoplasmic reticulum - SDS sodium dodecylsulphate - DTT dithiothreitol - EGTA ethyleneglycoltetraacetate - PEP phosphoenolpyruvate     

Mechanisms of membrane protein insertion into liposomes during reconstitution procedures involving the use of detergents. 1. Solubilization of large unilamellar liposomes (prepared by reverse-phase evaporation) by triton X-100, octyl glucoside, and sodium cholate

The mechanisms governing the solubilization by Triton X-100, octyl glucoside, and sodium cholate of large unilamellar liposomes prepared by reverse-phase evaporation were investigated. The solubilization process is described by the three-stage model previously proposed for these detergents [Lichtenberg, D., Robson, R.J., & Dennis, E.A.(1983) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 737, 285-304]. In stage I, detergent monomers are incorporated into the phospholipid bilayers until they saturate the liposomes. At that point, i.e., stage II, mixed phospholipid-detergent micelles begin to form. By stage III, the lamellar to micellar transition is complete and all the phospholipids are present as mixed micelles. The turbidity of liposome preparations was systematically measured as a function of the amount of detergent added for a wide range of phospholipid concentrations (from 0.25 to 20 mM phospholipid). The results allowed a quantitative determination of RSat, the effective detergent to lipid molar ratios in the saturated liposomes, which were 0.64, 1.3, and 0.30 for Triton X-100, octyl glucoside, and sodium cholate, respectively. The corresponding ratios in the mixed micelles, RSol, were 2.5, 3.8, and 0.9 mol of detergent/mol of phospholipid. The monomer concentrations of the three detergents in the aqueous phase were also determined at the lamellar to micellar transitions (0.18, 17, and 2.8 mM, respectively). These transitions were also investigated by 31P NMR spectroscopy, and complete agreement was found with turbidity measurements. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy and permeability studies in the sublytic range of detergent concentrations indicated that during stage I of solubilization detergent partitioning between the aqueous phase and the lipid bilayer greatly affects the basic permeability of the liposomes without significantly changing the morphology of the preparations. A rough approximation of the partition coefficients was derived from the turbidity and permeability data (K = 3.5, 0.09, and 0.11 mM-1 for Triton X-100, octyl glucoside, and sodium cholate, respectively). It is concluded that when performed systematically, turbidity measurements constitute a very convenient and powerful technique for the quantitative study of the liposome solubilization process by detergents.     

Mechanisms of membrane protein insertion into liposomes during reconstitution procedures involving the use of detergents. 2. Incorporation of the light-driven proton pump bacteriorhodopsin

A method has been developed for identifying the step in a detergent-mediated reconstitution procedure at which an integral membrane protein can be associated with phospholipids to give functional proteoliposomes. Large liposomes prepared by reverse-phase evaporation were treated with various amounts of the detergents Triton X-100, octyl glucoside, or sodium cholate as described in the preceding paper [Paternostre, M.-T., Roux, M., & Rigaud, J. L. (1988) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. At each step of the solubilization process, we added bacteriorhodopsin, the light-driven proton pump from Halobacterium halobium. The protein-phospholipid detergent mixtures were then subjected to SM2 Bio-Beads treatments to remove the detergent, and the resulting vesicles were analyzed with respect to protein insertion and orientation in the membrane by freeze-fracture electron microscopy, sucrose density gradients, and proton pumping measurements. The nature of the detergent used for reconstitution proved to be important for determining the mechanism of protein insertion. With sodium cholate, proteoliposomes were formed only from ternary phospholipid-protein-detergent micelles. With octyl glucoside, besides proteoliposome formation from ternary mixed micelles, direct incorporation of bacteriorhodopsin into preformed liposomes destabilized by saturating levels of this detergent was observed and gave proteoliposomes with optimal proton pumping activity. With Triton X-100, protein insertion into destabilized liposomes was also observed but involved a transfer of the protein initially present in phospholipid-Triton X-100-protein micelles into Triton X-100 saturated liposomes. Our results further demonstrated that protein orientation in the resulting proteoliposomes was critically dependent upon the mechanism by which the protein was incorporated.     

Interaction of tubulin with octyl glucoside and deoxycholate. 2. Protein conformation, binding of colchicine ligands, and microtubule assembly

The structural change induced by binding of mild detergents to cytoplasmic calf brain tubulin and the effects on the functional properties of this protein have been characterized. Massive binding of octyl glucoside or deoxycholate monomers induces circular dichroism changes indicating a partial alpha-helix to disordered structure transition of tubulin. The protein also becomes more accessible to controlled proteolysis by trypsin, thermolysin, or V8 protease. This is consistent with the looser protein structure proposed in previous binding and hydrodynamic studies [Andreu, J. M., & Mu?oz, J. A. (1986) Biochemistry (preceding paper in this issue)]. Micelles of octyl glucoside and deoxycholate bind colchicine and its analogue 2-methoxy-5-(2,3,4-trimethoxyphenyl)-2,4,6-cycloheptatrien-1-one (MTC). This impedes the determination of colchicine binding in the presence of detergents. Both detergents cause a reduction in the number of tubulin equilibrium binding sites for the colchicine site probe MTC. Deoxycholate monomers bind poorly to the tubulin-colchicine complex, but deoxycholate above the critical micelle concentration effectively dissociates the complex. Microtubule assembly in glycerol-containing buffer is inhibited by octyl glucoside, which raises the critical protein concentration. Low concentrations of deoxycholate enhance tubulin polymerization, allowing it to proceed without glycerol. The polymers formed are microtubules, pairwise associated open microtubular sheets, and macrotubules possibly generated by helical folding of the sheets, as indicated by the optical diffraction patterns. Saturation of tubulin with octyl glucoside, followed by full dissociation of the detergent, allowed the recovery of binding to the colchicine site and microtubule assembly, indicating the reversibility of the protein structural change.     

The interaction of detergents with bilayer lipid membranes

Detergents are widely used for extracting and purifying membrane proteins. Four such detergents have been studied to find the extent to which they alone can alter black lipid film conductances. The slope of the plot of conductivity versus concentration for Triton X-100 is 4.54 in the range 0.025–0.15 mM; dodecyl sulphate 0.82 in the range 0.01–1 mM; sodium deoxycholate 1.03 in the range 0.01–1 mM and sodium cholate 1.37 in the range 0.1–10 mM. These ranges are below the respective critical micelle concentrations; above these concentrations the membranes break. Bilayer lipid membrane conductivity measured at constant detergent concentration increases with the conductivity of the bathing salt solution with a slope greater than 1, indicating an effect on the putative pore structures induced by detergents.     

Molecular characterization of the human erythrocyte anion transport protein in octyl glucoside

Band 3 protein, the anion transport protein of the human erythrocyte membrane, was purified in the presence of the nonionic detergent octyl glucoside. A molecular characterization was carried out to investigate whether the native structure of the protein was retained in the presence of this detergent. Band 3 bound octyl glucoside below the critical micelle concentration (cmc) of the detergent, approaching saturation above the cmc. At 40 mM octyl glucoside, close to saturating concentrations, 0.64 g of octyl glucoside is bound per gram of band 3 protein, corresponding to 208 molecules of detergent bound per monomer of band 3. Sedimentation velocity and gel filtration studies, performed at 40 mM octyl glucoside, indicated that the band 3-octyl glucoside complex had an average molecular weight of 1.98 X 10(6), which corresponds to a dodecamer. Sedimentation equilibrium experiments confirmed that band 3 in octyl glucoside exists in a heterogeneous and high oligomeric state. This high oligomeric state did not change dramatically over octyl glucoside concentrations ranging from 6 to 60 mM. The circular dichroism spectrum of band 3 changed only slightly over this range of octyl glucoside concentrations. The alpha-helical and beta-sheet contents of band 3 in 2 mM octyl glucoside were calculated to be 40% and 27%, respectively, indicating that no gross alteration in the secondary structure of the protein had occurred in octyl glucoside. The ability of band 3 to bind 4-benzamido-4'-aminostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (BADS), a potent inhibitor (Ki = 1 microM) of anion transport, was measured to assess the integrity of the inhibitor binding site of the protein in octyl glucoside.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Ectoenzymes of the kidney microvillar membrane. Differential solubilization by detergents can predict a glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol membrane anchor.

The pattern of solubilization of nine kidney microvillar ectoenzymes by a range of detergents distinguished two classes of membrane proteins: those released from the membrane by bacterial phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C and those not so released. The latter group of transmembrane proteins were solubilized efficiently (greater than 80%) by all the detergents examined. In contrast, proteins released by phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C were solubilized effectively only by octyl glucoside, 3-[(3-cholamidopropyl)dimethylammonio]-1-propanesulphonate and sodium deoxycholate. Octyl glucoside solubilized the amphipathic forms of the ectoenzymes examined, suggesting that this may be a useful detergent in the purification of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored ectoenzymes.     

Efficient removal of detergents from proteins and peptides in a spin column format

Detergents are commonly used in protein–chemistry protocols and may be necessary for protein extraction, solubilization, and denaturation; however, their presence interferes with many downstream analysis techniques, including mass spectrometry (MS). To enable downstream analysis, it is critical to remove unbound detergents from protein and peptide samples. In this study, we describe a high-performance resin that offers exceptional detergent removal for proteins and peptides. When used in a spin column format, this resin dramatically improves protein and peptide MS results by more than 95% removal of 1–5% detergents, including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), sodium deoxycholate, Chaps, Triton X-100, Triton X-114, NP-40, Brij-35, octyl glucoside, octyl thioglucoside, and lauryl maltoside, with high recovery of proteins and peptides. Postcolumn liquid chromatography–tandem MS (LC–MS/MS) analysis of trypsin digests of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and HeLa cell lysate revealed excellent sequence coverage, indicating successful removal of detergent from the peptides. Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)–MS analysis of unprocessed and processed samples further confirmed efficient removal of detergents. The advantages of this method include speed (<15 min), efficient detergent removal, and high recovery of proteins and peptides.     

Inactivation by detergents of the proline transport system in membrane vesicles from Escherichia coli and its reactivation by bovine serum albumin

The proline transport system of membrane vesicles from Escherichia coli was inactivated by a low concentration of detergents such as deoxycholate, dodecyl sulfate and Triton X-100. The addition of a large amount of bovine serum albumin to membrane vesicles which had been treated with one of these detergents resulted in the restoration of the proline transport activity. The restoration of the transport activity by bovine serum albumin was most remarkable with the deoxycholate-inactivated membrane vesicle. 80% inactivation of the transport system with 0.005% deoxycholate was completely overcome by the addition of albumin. The degree of restoration was dependent on the concentration of albumin. Although albumin stimulated the proline transport activity itself, the stimulatory effect could not account for the restoration transport activity. The binding of deoxy[¹⁴C]cholate to the membrane vesicle was roughly proportional to the amount of detergent added. Deoxycholate once bound to the membrane vesicle was removed almost completely by the incubation with albumin. It is concluded that the removal of detergent from the membrane vesicle by bovine serum albumin results in the restoration of the proline transportactivity.     

Solubilization of Myelin Membranes by Detergents

The major proteins of myelin have classically been extracted in organic solvents. Here we investigated some of the characteristics of brain myelin solubilization in aqueous detergent solutions. At comparable molar concentrations, two nonionic detergents, i.e., octyl glucoside and Lubrol PX, proved relatively better myelin solubilizers than the detergents related to the bile salts, i.e., cholate and CHAPS. The two former detergents solubilized more protein than lipid and the two latter ones more lipid than protein from myelin membranes. All four detergents solubilized the phospholipid more efficiently than the cholesterol component of myelin. The detergent concentrations required for myelin solubilization were reduced substantially if the temperature and the salt concentration of the media were increased. As much as 3 mg of lyophilized myelin (about 1 mg of protein) were solubilized readily per milliliter of a solution containing 30 mM octyl glucoside and 0.1 M sodium sulfate in 0.1 M sodium phosphate buffer, pH 6.7. Each of the detergents studied, including the above four, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Triton X-100, and Zwittergent 3-14, had its own advantages and drawbacks as myelin protein extractors. The nonionic amphiphiles and CHAPS left a small residue mainly composed of proteins of the Wolfgram fraction, as revealed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Octyl glucoside was preferred, given its versatility as solubilizer, ultraviolet transparency, and high critical micellar concentration. Observations on possible difficulties that may be encountered are also included.     

Effect of surfactants and natural detergents on phosphatidylcholine synthesis in photoreceptor membranes.

The synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) in rod outer segments (ROS) catalysed by lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase and phosphatidylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PE N-MTase) was studied and the effects of natural (FA and lysophospholipids) and synthetic (Triton X-100, deoxycholate and CHAPS) surfactants was evaluated. In all experimental conditions used, incorporation of labelled oleate into lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) was at least 40 times greater than oleate incorporation into any other lysophospholipid. Acylation of lysoPC was slightly affected by Triton X-100 and was totally inhibited in the presence of 10 mM sodium deoxycholate (NaDOC) or CHAPS. Below their critical micelle concentration (cmc) Triton X-100 and NaDOC stimulated acylation of all ROS lysophospholipids analysed. The activity of PE N-MTase was stimulated at detergent concentrations below the cmc and inhibited at concentrations above the cmc for all three detergents tested. The effect of FA with differing degree of unsaturation on PC synthesis was evaluated. Oleic acid (10 microM) inhibited methyl group incorporation into total PC, whereas from 100 microM onward, the methylating activity increased with preferential synthesis of PC. Docosahexaenoic acid, in turn, inhibited PE N-MTase activity at every concentration tested. These results suggest that PC synthesis in ROS membranes is modified by bioregulators and surfactants altering the physico-chemical state of the membrane.     

Solubilizing effect of anionic detergents on cobalamin-protein compounds in Propionibacterium shermanii cells

The effect of some anionic detergents on Propionibacterium shermanii cells was studied. The correlation was investigated between detergent concentrations and the content of solubilized protein in cell-free extracts. Sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium deoxycholate and sodium cholate were shown to be capable of extracting cobalamin-protein and flavin-protein compounds from P. shermanii cells.     

Interactions between sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium adenosintriphosphatase and nonionic detergents

The interaction of Triton X-100 and other nonionic detergents with a delipidated preparation of the Ca2+ ATPase from sarcoplasmic reticulum has been studied. Binding of radiolabeled Triton X-100 was determined by column chromatography at 6 degrees C, and two classes of binding sites were observed. Below the critical micelle concentration (cmc), binding of Triton occurred at 35-40 equivalent sites on the delipidated ATPase with a binding constant of 2.7 X 10(4) M-1. Near the cmc cooperative binding of an additional 70 molecules of the detergent was observed. The binding of monomeric Triton X-100 below the cmc was associated with a parallel activation of over half of the ATPase activity, and the remainder of the activity was recovered after the detergent concentration was increased to the cmc. The ability to reactivate ATPase activity was more dependent on the polar poly(oxyethylene) portion of nonionic detergents than on the hydrocarbon portion. Generalizing for all amphiphiles, these results suggest that there are discrete binding sites on the Ca2+ ATPase for phospholipid molecules in the native membrane and that the polar head groups of phospholipids interact more strongly with the protein than the hydrophobic acyl chains. Perturbations in micelle structure were observed for several nonionic detergents by measurement of cis-parinaric acid fluorescence and differential scanning calorimetry, and discontinuities in Arrhenius plots occurred at the transition temperature of the detergent used for reactivation of ATPase activity. It is concluded that both the physiol state of teh micelle and the intrinsic behavior of the ATPase polypeptide affect the temperature dependence of ATPase activity.     

Structural characterization of the ATP-hydrolyzing portion of the coated vesicle proton pump

The ATP-hydrolyzing portion of the proton pump from clathrin-coated vesicles (isolated from calf brain) was solubilized with three nondenaturing detergents (cholate, octyl glucoside, and Triton X-100). The hydrodynamic properties of the solubilized (Mg2+)-ATPase were then determined by sedimentation analysis in H2O and D2O and gel filtration on Sepharose 4B. The coated vesicle (Mg2+)-ATPase migrated under all conditions as a single peak of activity. In cholate, the sedimentation coefficient (S20,w), Stokes radius (a), and partial specific volume (vc) were 8.25 (+/- 0.20) S, 68 (+/- 2) A, and 0.71 (+/- 0.03) cm3/g, respectively. In octyl glucoside and Triton X-100 these values were respectively 7.90 (+/- 0.20) and 7.45 (+/- 0.20) S, 68 (+/- 3) and 101 (+/- 5) A, and 0.74 (+/- 0.03) and 0.75 (+/- 0.03) cm3/g. Application of the Svedberg equation to these data gave a molecular weight for the protein-detergent complex of 217,000 +/- 21,000 (cholate), 234,000 +/- 26,000 (octyl glucoside), and 337,000 +/- 40,000 (Triton X-100). Assuming the protein binds one micelle of detergent, these values correspond to a protein molecular weight of 215,000 +/- 21,000 (cholate), 226,000 +/- 26,000 (octyl glucoside), and 247,000 +/- 40,000 (Triton X-100). The cholate-solubilized, gradient-purified (Mg2+)-ATPase, when combined with a 100,000 g pellet fraction, could be reconstituted by dialysis into phospholipid vesicles which displayed ATP-dependent proton uptake.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Reconstitution of the sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)-ATPase: mechanisms of membrane protein insertion into liposomes during reconstitution procedures involving the use of detergents.

The Ca(2+)-ATPase from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum was reconstituted into sealed phospholipid vesicles using the method recently developed for bacteriorhodopsin (Rigaud, J.L., Paternostre, M.T. and Bluzat, A. (1988) Biochemistry 27, 2677-2688). Liposomes prepared by reverse-phase evaporation were treated with various amounts of Triton X-100, octyl glucoside, sodium cholate or dodecyl octa(oxyethylene) glycol ether (C12E8) and protein incorporation was studied at each step of the liposome solubilization process by each of these detergents. After detergent removal by SM-2 Bio-Beads the resulting vesicles were analyzed with respect to protein incorporation by freeze-fracture electron microscopy, sucrose density gradients and Ca2+ pumping measurements. The nature of the detergent used for reconstitution proved to be important for determining the mechanism of protein insertion. With octyl glucoside, direct incorporation of Ca(2+)-ATPase into preformed liposomes destabilized by saturating levels of this detergent was observed and gave proteoliposomes homogeneous in regard to protein distribution. With the other detergents, optimal Ca(2+)-ATPase pumping activities were obtained when starting from Ca(2+)-ATPase/detergent/phospholipid micellar solutions. However, the homogeneity of the resulting recombinants was shown to be dependent upon the detergent used and in the presence of Triton X-100 or C12E8 different populations were clearly evidenced. It was further demonstrated that the rate of detergent removal drastically influenced the composition of resulting proteoliposomes: upon slow detergent removal from samples solubilized with Triton X-100 or C12E8, Ca(2+)-ATPase was found seggregated and/or aggregated in very few liposomes while upon rapid detergent removal compositionally homogeneous proteoliposomes were obtained with high Ca2+ pumping activities. The reconstitution process was further analyzed by centrifugation experiments and the results demonstrated that the different mechanisms of reconstitution were driven predominantly by the tendency for self-aggregation of the Ca(2+)-ATPase. A model for Ca(2+)-ATPase reconstitution was proposed which accounted for all our results. In summary, the advantage of the systematic studies reported in this paper was to allow a rapid and easy determination of the experimental conditions for optimal detergent-mediated reconstitution of Ca(2+)-ATPase. Proteoliposomes prepared by the present simple method exhibited the highest Ca2+ pumping activities reported to date in Ca(2+)-ATPase reconstitution experiments performed in the absence of Ca2+ precipitating agents.     

On the effect of lysophosphatidylcholine, platelet activating factor and other surfactants on calcium permeability in sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles.

The effect of low concentrations of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC), platelet-activating factor (PAF) and other surfactants (Triton X-100, C12E8, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium cholate and sodium deoxycholate) on membrane permeability of native sarcoplasmic reticulum vesicles and sarcoplasmic reticulum lipid vesicles, has been studied. Triton X-100, C12E8, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium cholate and sodium deoxycholate were all able to permeabilize membranes at concentrations of surfactants below their critical micellar concentration (CMC) in both lipid and native vesicles, being the K0.5 of calcium release from native vesicles lower than that from lipid vesicles. The values of these K0.5 were well correlated with the corresponding CMC values for each type of membrane. However, both LPC and PAF behaved in a different way since, although they induced permeabilization of the native vesicles at values of K0.5 close to their CMC, their K0.5 values for permeabilizing vesicles, prepared by using lipids extracted from sarcoplasmic reticulum, were much higher than their corresponding CMC.     

Interaction of tubulin with octyl glucoside and deoxycholate. 1. Binding and hydrodynamic studies

Tubulin purified from calf brain cytoplasm, normally a compact water-soluble dimer, is able to interact with the mild detergents octyl glucoside (a minimum of 60 detergent molecules) and deoxycholate (95 +/- 8 molecules). Binding is cooperative and approaches saturation below the critical micelle concentration of the amphiphiles. Binding is accompanied by a quenching of the intrinsic protein fluorescence, but no spectral shape changes indicating denaturation such as in the case of sodium dodecyl sulfate are observed. Glycerol, which is known to be preferentially excluded from the tubulin domain and to favor the folded and associated forms of this protein, inhibits the binding of the mild detergents. Octyl glucoside induces a rapidly equilibrating tubulin self-association reaction characterized by a bimodal sedimentation velocity profile with boundaries at approximately 5 and 12 S. Full dissociation of this detergent restores the normal sedimentation behavior to 90% of the protein. Binding of deoxycholate slows the sedimentation velocity of tubulin from s(0)20,w = 5.6 +/- 0.2 S to s(0)20,w = 4.8 +/- 0.3 S. Measurements of the molecular weight of the tubulin-deoxycholate complex indicate an increase from 100,000 to 143,000 +/- 5,000. The diffusion rate consistently decreases from (5.3 +/- 0.5) X 10(-7) to (3.8 +/- 0.2) X 10(-7) cm2 S-1. This is most simply interpreted as an expansion of the undissociated tubulin dimer upon detergent binding (a change in the frictional ratio, f/f min, from 1.35 to 1.86). It is concluded that tubulin shows a reversible transition between the water-soluble state and amphipathic detergent-bound forms which constitute a model system of tubulin-membrane interactions.     

Phospholipid vesicle formation using nonionic detergents with low monomer solubility. Kinetic factors determine vesicle size and permeability

The method developed previously for formation of unilamellar vesicles from mixed micelles of egg lecithin and octyl glucoside [Mimms, L. T., Zampighi, G., Nozaki, Y., Tanford, C., & Reynolds, J. A. (1981) Biochemistry 20, 833-840] has been extended to allow for (1) use of nonionic detergents with much lower critical micelle concentrations and (2) variation in the time course of detergent removal. The results demonstrate the importance of kinetic factors, especially in the determination of vesicle size: initially formed vesicles are small, but the size increases slowly thereafter if detergent is not removed too quickly. Vesicle size remains fixed when the molar detergent/lipid ratio falls below about 1/1, and detergent removal becomes increasingly difficult thereafter, presumably because flip-flop of detergent from the inner to the outer leaflet of the bilayer membrane is very slow. Residual detergent (to about 25 mol %) has surprisingly little effect on anion permeability but increases cation permeability to the point where the normal discrimination between anions and cations (in pure lipid vesicles) is lost. Detergent added to initially detergent-free vesicles readily partitions into vesicular membranes (presumably only into the outer leaflet) and has a qualitatively similar effect on permeability. Vesicles produced by this method, regardless of residual detergent level, were found to be predominantly unilamellar: no multilamellar liposomes or other lipid aggregates could be detected within the accuracy of the methods employed.     

Erythroid spectrin in miceller detergents

We have studied the interaction of spectrin, the major protein of the erythrocyte cytoskeleton, with four commonly used detergents at concentrations above their critical miceller concentrations (cmc). Fluorescence spectroscopic studies on the emission intensity, steady state polarization, quenching with acrylamide, and time-resolved fluorescence measurements were done with spectrin in anionic detergents, e.g., SDS, deoxycholate, and nonionic detergents, e.g., Triton-X-100 and octylglucoside at concentrations double their respective cmc's. The spectrin-detergent complexes in all four systems have been characterized by far-UV CD and measurements on tryptophan fluorescence in combination with fluorescence of the extrinsic probe, pyrene. Tryptophan fluorescence studies revealed quaternary structural changes due to unzipping of the spectrin subunits in Triton-X-100 without complete dissociation. Both Triton-X-100 and SDS were found to partially denature spectrin indicated by the far-UV CD. Octylglucoside and deoxycholate are shown to have the least structural perturbations on the cytoskeletal protein, rationalizing the use of octylglucoside, in particular and also deoxycholate to be the most effective in preparing cytoskeletal fractions from erythrocytes rather than the Triton-X-100 that has long been used for preparing the Triton shells.