Formation of asymmetric vesicles via phospholipase D-mediated transphosphatidylation

Most biomembranes have an asymmetric structure with regard to phospholipid distribution between the inner and outer leaflets of the lipid bilayers. Control of the asymmetric distribution plays a pivotal role in several cellular functions such as intracellular membrane fusion and cell division. The mechanism by which membrane asymmetry and its alteration function in these transformation processes is not yet clear. To understand the significance of membrane asymmetry on trafficking and metabolism of intracellular vesicular components, a system that experimentally reproduces the asymmetric nature of biomembranes is essential. Here, we succeeded in obtaining asymmetric vesicles by means of transphosphatidylation reactions with phospholipase D (PLD), which acts exclusively on phosphatidylcholine (PC) present in the outer leaflet of vesicles. By treating PC vesicles with PLD in the presence of 1.7 M serine and 0.3 M ethanolamine, we obtained asymmetric vesicles that are topologically similar to intracellular vesicles containing phosphatidylserine and phosphatidylethanolamine in the cytosolic leaflet. PLD and other unwanted compounds could be removed by trypsin digestion followed by dialysis. Our established technique has a great advantage over conventional methods in that asymmetric vesicles can be provided at high yield and high efficiency, which is requisite for most physicochemical assays.     

Sedimentation studies on membrane vesicles

Analytical centrifugation was used in order to investigate the size distribution of vesicles in various membrane preparations. Under certain conditions depending among others on the speed of rotation and the temperature, a sedimentation profile was observed that was characteristic for membraneous material. Since the membrane vesicles exhibited a discontinuous distribution of sedimentation coefficients it was concluded that membrane vesicles only occur in a few size classes.     

The diameters of membrane vesicles fit in geometric series

Vesicles formed in vitro by fragmentation of biomembranes are restricted to certain dimensions; the diameters are represented by two geometric series. The diameters of membrane vesicles found in intact cells, including viral envelopes, are terms of the same two series. A tentative mathematical model is proposed, to explain this phenomenon by fusion of equally sized vesicles.     

Sizes and mass distributions of clathrin-coated vesicles from bovine brain

Clathrin-coated vesicles obtained from bovine brain have been studied by ultracentrifugation and dynamic light scattering techniques to provide information on their sedimentation and mass distributions and their average diffusion coefficients. "Uncoated" vesicles, obtained by removing the protein coat from coated vesicles, have been similarly characterized. For typical preparations, maximal values of approximately 210 and 95 S are observed for the sedimentation coefficients of coated and uncoated vesicles, respectively. Corresponding values for the average molecular weights, determined from values of average sedimentation and diffusion coefficients, are 49 X 10(6) and 13 X 10(6); values obtained by equilibrium sedimentation are 37.2 X 10(6) and 10.6 X 10(6). In order to obtain these results, some minor modifications of sedimentation and light-scattering techniques have been devised which may have application to other studies of size distributions of large particles.     

Endocytic vesicles in liver carry polymeric IgA from serum to bile

The distributions both of endogenous IgA and of injected 125I-labelled IgA were determined amongst the components of a liver homogenate. Rate zonal sedimentation, under conditions where separation was principally determined by particle size, showed that IgA was tightly bound to material which sedimented in the size range of the larger endoplasmic reticulum fragments. Further fractionation of the components within this size range according to their densities, by isopycnic centrifugation, showed that the IgA was associated with small vesicles with a density range of 1.12--1.17 g/ml, quite distinct from endoplasmic reticulum fragments. We therefore conclude that the IgA is present in liver cells in a distinct class of vesicles, which are, presumably, responsible for the transport of IgA from blood to bile.     

A membrane filtering method for the purification of giant unilamellar vesicles

The use of giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) for investigating the properties of biomembranes is advantageous compared to the use of small-sized vesicles such as large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs). Experimental methods using GUVs, such as the single GUV method, would benefit if there was a methodology for obtaining a large population of similar-sized GUVs composed of oil-free membranes. We here describe a new membrane filtering method for purifying GUVs prepared by the natural swelling method and demonstrate that, following purification of GUVs composed of dioleoylphosphatidylglycerol (DOPG)/dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC) membranes suspended in a buffer, similar-sized GUVs with diameters of 10–30 μm are obtained. Moreover, this method enabled GUVs to be separated from water-soluble fluorescent probes and LUVs. These results suggest that the membrane filtering method can be applied to GUVs prepared by other methods to purify larger-sized GUVs from smaller GUVs, LUVs, and various water-soluble substances such as proteins and fluorescent probes. This method can also be used for concentration of dilute GUV suspensions.     

Proton translocation by ATPase and bacteriorhodopsin.

Stable membrane proteins and lipids are convenient to study biomembranes. Two stable proton translocating proteins were purified and reconstituted into vesicles capable of proton translocation. One was a thermostable ATPase (TF0-F1) of thermophilic bacterium PS3 and the other was rhodopsin of Halobacterium halobium. TF0-F1 was composed of a proton pump moiety (TF1) and a proton channel moiety (TF0). TF1 was the first membrane ATPase which was crystallized and reconstituted from its five polypeptides. Like TF0 and TF1, the rhodopsin in purple membrane was highly stable against dissociating agents, acids and alkali. Phospholipids of these biomembranes were also stable and contained no unsaturated fatty acyl groups. The molecular species of the phospholipids of PS3 were determined by mass chromatography. Measurements were made of the difference in electrochemical potential of protons (deltamicronH+) across the membrane of the reconstituted vesicles. The deltamicronH+ attained was 312 mV in TF0-F1 vesciles and was 230 mV in the rhodopsin vesicles. To conclude that electron transport components are not necessary for ATP synthesis in energy yielding biomembranes, two experiments were performed: The ATP synthesis was observed i) on acid-base treatment of TF0-F1 vesicles, and ii) on illumination of the rhodopsin-TF0-F1 vesicles.     

Identification of minor components of coated vesicles by use of permeation chromatography

Coated vesicles are thought to be vehicles for the intracellular transport of membranes. Clathrin is the major protein component of coated vesicles. Minor components of these organelles can be identified in highly purified preparations if they can be shown to copurify with clathrin. To show copurification we have made use of the relatively uniform diameter of coated vesicles (50-150 nm) to fractionate conventionally purified coated vesicles according to size in glass bead columns of 200-nm pore size. We have found that bovine brain coated vesicles prepared by the standard procedure of Pearse can be contaminated with large membrane fragments that are removed by permeation chromatography on such glass bead columns. Gel electrophoretic analysis of column fractions shows that only three major polypeptide chains, and a family of polypeptides with molecular weights close to 100,000 are always in constant ratio to clathrin, and are unique to fractions containing coated vesicles. Two other major polypeptides that appear to be components of coated vesicles are also present in other membrane fractions. We have also used permeation chromatography to monitor artifactual membrane trapping during vesicle isolation. Pure radiolabeled synaptic vesicle membranes were added to bovine brain tissue before homogenization. Considerable amounts of the added radioactivity could be recovered in the fractions conventionally pooled in the preparation of coated vesicles. After permeation chromatography, the radioactivity in the coated vesicle peak was reduced essentially to background.     

Isolation and characterization of specialized regions of toad urinary bladder apical plasma membrane involved in the water permeability response to antidiuretic hormone

Summary Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) increases the apical (external facing) membrane water permeability of granular cells that line the toad urinary bladder. In response to ADH, cytoplasmic vesicles called aggrephores fuse with the apical plasma membrane and insert particle aggregates which are visualized by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Aggrephores contain particle aggregates within their limiting membranes. It is generally accepted that particle aggregates are or are related to water channels. High rates of transepithelial water flow during ADH stimulation and subsequent hormone removal decrease water permeability and cause the endocytosis of apical membrane and aggrephores which retrieve particle aggregates. We loaded the particle aggregate-rich endocytic vesicles with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) during ADH stimulation and removal. Epithelial cells were isolated and homogenized, and a subcellular fraction was enriched for sequestered HRP obtained. The HRP-enriched membrane fraction was subjected to a density shifting maneuver (Courtoy et al.,J. Cell Biol. 98:870, 1984), which yielded a purified membrane fraction containing vesicles with entrapped HRP. The density shifted vesicles were composed of approximately 20 proteins including prominent species of 55, 17 and 7 kD. Proteins of these molecular weights appear on the apical surface of ADH-stimulated bladders, but not the apical surface of control bladders. Therefore, we believe these density shifted vesicles contain proteins involved in the ADH-stimulated water permeability response, possibly components of particle aggregates and/or water channels.     

Tubulin as a molecular component of coated vesicles

Two proteins of 53,000 and 56,000 mol wt have been found to be associated with coated vesicles (CV) purified from bovine brain and chicken liver. These proteins share molecular weights, isoelectric points, and antigenic determinants with alpha- and beta-tubulins purified from bovine brain. Based on SDS PAGE and electron microscopic analysis of controlled pore glass bead exclusion column fractions, both the tubulins and the major CV polypeptide clathrin were found to chromatograph as components of a single kinetic particle. In addition, tubulin and CV antigens assayed by a sensitive enzyme-linked-immunoadsorbent method eluted from the columns with constant stoichiometry. These data provide evidence that tubulin is a molecular component of coated vesicles.     

Isolation of exocytic carrier vesicles from BHK cells

Newly synthesized cell surface glycoproteins are transported from the trans-Golgi network (TGN) to the plasma membrane in vesicular carriers. Here we describe a cell-free system in which the formation of these carrier vesicles is reconstituted. Vesicle formation and release occurred specifically from the TGN and were dependent on ATP and cytosol. The released vesicles were isolated by density gradient sedimentation and specific immunoadsorption. Electron microscopy demonstrated that the vesicles had a diameter of 84 +/- 6 nm. The immunoisolated vesicles had a highly simplified protein pattern on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.     

Biogenesis of synaptic vesicles in vitro

Synaptic vesicles are synthesized at a rapid rate in nerve terminals to compensate for their rapid loss during neurotransmitter release. Their biogenesis involves endocytosis of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins from the plasma membrane and requires two steps, the segregation of synaptic vesicle membrane proteins from other cellular proteins, and the packaging of those unique proteins into vesicles of the correct size. By labeling an epitope-tagged variant of a synaptic vesicle protein, VAMP (synaptobrevin), at the cell surface of the neuroendocrine cell line PC12, synaptic vesicle biogenesis could be followed with considerable precision, quantitatively and kinetically. Epitope-tagged VAMP was recovered in synaptic vesicles within a few minutes of leaving the cell surface. More efficient targeting was obtained by using the VAMP mutant, del 61-70. Synaptic vesicles did not form at 15 degrees C although endocytosis still occurred. Synaptic vesicles could be generated in vitro from a homogenate of cells labeled at 15 degrees C. The newly formed vesicles are identical to those formed in vivo in their sedimentation characteristics, the presence of the synaptic vesicle protein synaptophysin, and the absence of detectable transferrin receptor. Brain, but not fibroblast cytosol, allows vesicles of the correct size to form. Vesicle formation is time and temperature-dependent, requires ATP, is calcium independent, and is inhibited by GTP-gamma S. Thus, two key steps in synaptic vesicle biogenesis have been reconstituted in vitro, allowing direct analysis of the proteins involved.     

The basic property of biomembranes

In order to explain the experimentally obtained results with biomembranes it has been assumed, that the diameter of all vesicles, defined by a lipid bilayer, form a perfect crystal. Later on it appeared that biomembranes are liquid crystals. Nevertheless already with biomembranes as crystals it was possible to calculate the diameters of all existing vesicles. As shown in the present paper, the results with liquid crystals were identical to those with a perfect crystal-model. Here I demonstrate that the geometric progression of the diameters of vesicles of biomembranes is based on the entropy of the lipids and it is shown that the diameters of biomembranes fit four geometric series. The surface areas of these series of biomembranes can be approximated by the two geometric series published previously. The experiments and the theoretical studies on which this work is based have been carried out at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.     

Folate binding and transport by rat kidney brush-border membrane vesicles

[3H]Pteroylglutamic acid (PteGlu) uptake was studied using brush-border membrane vesicles isolated from rat kidney. Results on the uptake of [3H]PteGlu by brush-border membrane vesicles incubated in media of increasing osmolarities demonstrated that uptake was contributed by two components, intravesicular transport and membrane binding. Both the components of the uptake exhibited similar pH dependence, with maxima at pH 5.6, and were found to be saturable mechanisms with Km values of 6.7.10(-7) and 11.2.10(-7) M, respectively. These studies show that PteGlu is transported by isolated rat kidney brush-border membrane vesicles in a manner consistent with a saturable system and that a binding component may be functionally associated with this.     

Purification of synaptic vesicles from elasmobranch electric organ and the use of biophysical criteria to demonstrate purity.

We have purified cholinergic synaptic vesicles from the electric organs of two related marine elasmobranchs, Torpedo californica and Narcine brasiliensis, to a specific activity higher than had previously been obtained. We have demonstrated the homogeneity of the vesicles by biophysical criteria. The purification scheme consisted of differential centrifugation, flotation equilibrium in sucrose density gradients, and permeation chromatography on glass bead columns of average pore size 3000 A. Our criteria for purity were that bound acetylcholine, bound nucleotide triphosphate, protein, and lipid--phosphorus behave identically when vesicles were analyzed by procedures which depend on vesicle size, density, and charge. Contaminants were not detected when vesicles were fractionated by preparative and analytical sedimentation, by preparative equilibrium sedimentation using glycerol density gradients, or by electrophoresis in Ficoll density gradients. Pure synaptic vesicles, which have been purified 290-fold from the initial homogenate, contain per mg of protein: 8 mumol of acetylcholine, 3 mumol of ATP, and 7 mumol of lipid phosphorus. These procedures may be of general value in the purification of membrane vesicles.     

Incorporation of bovine enterokinase in reconstituted soybean phospholipid vesicles

Bovine enterokinase was incorporated into vesicles reconstituted from a soybean phospholipid mixture. A thin film hydration procedure (MacDonald, R. I., and MacDonald, R. C. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 9206-9214) produced vesicles with 40% of the enterokinase activity bound in the membrane. The highest incorporation was observed when cholesterol or dimyristoylphosphatidylethanolamine was added to the soybean phospholipids. Crude and highly purified enterokinase preparations were incorporated to the same extent suggesting that other membrane components were not required for a successful reconstitution. The properties of enterokinase in phospholipid vesicles were compared with those of alkaline phosphatase, which was also added to the reconstitution system, and with the enzyme activities present in vesicles prepared from brush-border membranes. The enzyme activities were not released by solutions of high ionic strength and remained associated with the phospholipid vesicles on gel filtration, ultracentrifugation, and sucrose density centrifugation. Enterokinase and alkaline phosphatase had their active sites exposed to substrate in the brush-border membrane vesicles. In soybean phospholipid vesicles half of the active sites of both enzymes were on the outside, since release of the enzyme with Triton X-100 almost doubled the units of enzyme present. Incubation of the soybean phospholipid and brush-border membrane vesicles with papain released the exposed molecules of enterokinase. The released enzyme molecules were fully active but could not be reincorporated into phospholipid vesicles. This suggests that the structure imbedded in the lipid bilayer was essential for a successful reconstitution. We conclude that the reconstituted soybean phospholipid vesicles are a suitable membrane system for the further study of membrane-bound enterokinase.     

Release of putative exocytic transport vesicles from perforated MDCK cells.

Mechanically perforated MDCK cells were used to study membrane transport between the trans-Golgi network and the apical and basolateral plasma membrane domains in vitro. Three membrane transport markers--an apical protein (fowl plague virus haemagglutinin), a basolateral protein (vesicular stomatitis virus G protein), and a lipid marker destined for both domains (C6-NBD-sphingomyelin)--were each accumulated in the trans-Golgi by a 20 degrees C block of transport and their behaviour monitored following cell perforation and incubation at 37 degrees C. In the presence of ATP and in the absence of calcium ions a considerable fraction of the transport markers were released from the perforated cells in sealed membrane vesicles. Control experiments showed that the vesicles were not generated by non-specific vesiculation of the Golgi complex or the plasma membrane. The vesicles had well defined sedimentation properties and the orientation expected of transport vesicles derived from the trans-Golgi network.     

Cellular COPII proteins are involved in production of the vesicles that form the poliovirus replication complex

Poliovirus (PV) replicates its genome in association with membranous vesicles in the cytoplasm of infected cells. To elucidate the origin and mode of formation of PV vesicles, immunofluorescence labeling with antibodies against the viral vesicle marker proteins 2B and 2BC, as well as cellular markers of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), anterograde transport vesicles, and the Golgi complex, was performed in BT7-H cells. Optical sections obtained by confocal laser scanning microscopy were subjected to a deconvolution process to enhance resolution and signal-to-noise ratio and to allow for a three-dimensional representation of labeled membrane structures. The mode of formation of the PV vesicles was, on morphological grounds, similar to the formation of anterograde membrane traffic vesicles in uninfected cells. ER-resident membrane markers were excluded from both types of vesicles, and the COPII components Sec13 and Sec31 were both found to be colocalized on the vesicular surface, indicating the presence of a functional COPII coat. PV vesicle formation during early time points of infection did not involve the Golgi complex. The expression of PV protein 2BC or the entire P2 and P3 genomic region led to the production of vesicles carrying a COPII coat and showing the same mode of formation as vesicles produced after PV infection. These results indicate that PV vesicles are formed at the ER by the cellular COPII budding mechanism and thus are homologous to the vesicles of the anterograde membrane transport pathway.     

Investigation of mechanisms of synaptic vesicles fusion with acceptor membranes in the model of exocytosis

Fusion of synaptic vesicles with various target membranes was investigated on the cell-free model system that reflects the final step of exocytosis. Plasma membranes, synaptic vesicles and liposomes were used as acceptor membranes. The process of membrane fusion was triggered by Ca2+. We have demonstrated that synaptic vesicles are prone to fuse with liposomes in buffer solution. This process was strongly dependent on ionic force of medium and phospholipid composition of liposomes. Cytosolic proteins of synaptosomes inhibited the fusion of synaptic vesicles with liposomes, while these were required for the fusion of synaptic vesicles with native membrane structures. Trypsinolysis of acceptor membranes markedly inhibited the fusion response. It means protein components of target membrane are necessary for realization of the final step of exocytosis.     

A mechanism for the formation of inside-out membrane vesicles. Preparation of inside-out vesicles from membrane-paired randomized chloroplast lamellae

Inside-out thylakoid membrane vesicles can be isolated by aqueous polymer two-phase partition of Yeda press-fragmented spinach chloroplasts (Andersson, B. and Åkerlund, H.-E. (1978) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 503, 462–472). The mechanism for their formation has been investigated by studying the yield of inside-out vesicles after various treatments of the chloroplasts prior to fragmentation. No inside-out vesicles were isolated during phase partitioning if the chloroplasts had been destacked in a low-salt medium prior to the fragmentation. Only in those cases where the chloroplast lamellae had been stacked by cations or membrane-paired by acidic treatment did we get any yield of inside-out vesicles. Thus, the intrinsic properties of chloroplast thylakoids seem to be such that they seal into right-side out vesicles after disruption unless they are in an appressed state. This favours the following mechanism for the formation of inside-out thylakoids. After press treatment, a ruptured membrane still remains appressed with an adjacent membrane. Resealing of such an appressed membrane pair would result in an inside-out vesicle.If the compartmentation of chloroplast lamellae into appressed grana and unappressed stroma lamellae is preserved by cations before fragmentation, the inside-out vesicles are highly enriched in photosystem II. This indicates a granal origin which is consistent with the proposed model outlined. Inside-out vesicles possessing photosystem I and II properties in approximately equal proportions could be obtained by acid-induced membrane-pairing of chloroplasts which had been destacked and randomized prior to fragmentation. Since this new preparation of inside-out thylakoid vesicles also exposes components derived from the stroma lamellae it complements the previous preparation.It is suggested that fragmentation of paired membranes followed by phase partitioning should be a general method of obtaining inside-out vesicles from membranes of various biological sources.