Inhibition of membrane fusion by suppression of lateral movement of membrane proteins

Chicken erythrocytes were fused either by Sendai virus or by the combination of Ca²⁺ and ionophore A23187.Intramembrane particles and external anionic sites of cells undergoing fusion were found to acquire the ability to undergo a process of cold-induced clustering (thermotropic separation).Cationized ferritin (200 μg/ml 5% (v/v) cell suspension) inhibited both the fusion process and the thermotropic separation of intramembrane particles and external anionic sites. The correlation between the mobility of membrane proteins and the fusion process is discussed. It is suggested that an increase in the lateral mobility of membrane proteins is a prerequisite for initiation of membrane fusion.     

Thermotropic lateral translational motion of intramembrane particles in the inner mitochondrial membrane and its inhibition by artificial peripheral proteins

Freeze fracturing and deep etching have been used to study thermotropic lateral translational motion of intramembrane particles and membrane surface anionic groups in the inner mitochondrial membrane. When the inner membrane is equilibrated at low temperature, the fracture faces of both halves of the membrane reveal a lateral separation between intramembrane particles and particle free, large smooth patches. Such separation is completely reversed through free lateral translational diffusion by reversing the temperature. The low temperature induced, particle-free, smooth membrane patches appear to represent regions of protein-excluding, ordered bilayer lipid which form during thermotropic liquid crystalline to gel state phase transitions. When polycationic ferritin is electrostatically bound to anionic groups exposed at the membrane surface at concentrations which inhibit the activities of cytochrome c oxidase and succinate permease, the bound ferritin migrates with intramembrane particles during the thermotropic lateral separation between the membrane particles and smooth patches. When bound polycationic ferritin is cross-bridged with native ferritin, an artificial peripheral protein lattice forms in association with the surface anionic groups and diminishes the thermotropic lateral translational motion of intramembrane particles in the membrane. These results reveal that the anionic groups of metabolically active integral proteins which are known to be exposed at the surface of the inner mitochondrial membrane migrate with intramembrane particles in the plane of the membrane under conditions which induce lipid-protein lateral separations. In addition, cross-bridging of the anionic groups through an artificial peripheral protein lattice appears to diminish such induced lipid protein lateral separations.     

The lateral mobility of cell membrane components is not altered following cell fusion induced by Sendai virus

The interaction of Sendai virus glycoproteins with cell membranes was proposed to increase the lateral mobility of membrane proteins, enabling membrane fusion and the aggregation of intramembrane particles by thermotropic separation (Volsky, DJ & Loyter, A, Biochim biophys acta 514 (1978) 213 [13]; Maeda, T et al. Exp cell res 123 (1979) 333 [15]; and Kim, J & Okada, Y, Exp cell res 132 (1981) 125 [44]). In order to test this hypothesis, we employed fluorescence photobleaching recovery to investigate the effects of Sendai virus-induced fusion on the lateral mobility of membrane proteins and lipids in a variety of cell types (human erythrocytes, BHK21, HeLa, 3T3 NIH, and mouse spleen lymphocytes). The results of the lateral diffusion measurements demonstrate that no significant alterations occur in the lateral motion of membrane proteins or a fluorescent phospholipid on all the cell types examined, including cells which revealed high susceptibility to the virally mediated fusion (human erythrocytes and BHK21 cells). These findings suggest that a permanent increase in the lateral mobility of cell surface components does not generally occur during Sendai virus-induced cell fusion, and thus cannot play a role in the fusion mechanism. The possible involvement of transient alterations in the lateral mobility of membrane components in the fusion mechanism is discussed.     

Molecular events during membrane fusion. A study of exocytosis in rat peritoneal mast cells

We have used thin section and freeze-fracture electron microscopy to study membrane changes occurring during exocytosis in rat peritoneal mast cells. By labeling degranulating mast cells with ferritin-conjugated lectins and anti-immunoglobulin antibodies, we demonstrate that these ligands do not bind to areas of plasma membrane or granule membrane which have fused with, or are interacting with, granule membrane. Moreover, intramembrane particles are also largely absent from both protoplasmic and external fracture faces of plasma and granule membranes in regions where these membranes appear to be interacting. Both the externally applied ligands and intramembrane particles are sometimes concentrated at the edges of fusion sites. The results indicate that membrane proteins are displaced laterally into adjacent membrane regions before the fusion process and that fusion occurs between protein-depleted lipid bilayers. The finding of protein-depleted blebs in regions of plasma and granule membrane interaction raises the interesting possibility that blebbing may be a process for exposing the granule contents to the extracellular space and for the elimination of excess lipid while conserving membrane proteins.     

Rings of membrane sterols surround the openings of vesicles and fenestrae, in capillary endothelium

We investigated the distribution of sterols in the cell membrane of microvascular endothelium (mouse pancreas, diaphragm, brain, heart, lung, kidney, thyroid, adrenal, and liver) with the polyene antibiotic filipin, which reportedly has binding specificity for free 3-beta- hydroxysterols. In some experiments, concomitantly, cell-surface anionic sites were detected with cationized ferritin. Vessels were perfused in situ with PBS, followed by light fixation and filipin administration for 10 to 60 min. Tissues were further processed for thin-section and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. Short exposure (10 min) to filipin-glutaraldehyde solution resulted in the initial appearance, on many areas, of rings of characteristic filipin-sterol complexes within the rim surrounding stomata of most plasmalemmal vesicles, transendothelial channels, and fenestrae. Such rings were absent from the rims of the large openings of the sinusoid endothelium (liver, adrenal), coated pits and phagocytic vacuoles. After longer exposure (30-60 min), filipin-sterol complexes labeled randomly the rest of plasma membrane (except for coated pits, and partially the interstrand areas of junctions), and also marked most plasmalemmal vesicles. These peristomal rings of sterols were displayed mostly on the P face, and, at their full development, consisted of 6-8 units around a vesicle stoma, and 10-12 units around a fenestra. At their level, the intramembranous particles and the cell surface anionic sites were virtually excluded. Peristomal rings of sterols were also detected on the plasma membrane of pericytes and smooth muscle cells of the microvascular wall, which otherwise were poorly labeled with filipin- sterol complexes as compared to endothelial plasmalemma. It is presumed that the peristomal rings of cholesterol may represent important contributors to the local transient stabilization of plasma membrane and to the phase separation between cell membrane and vesicle membrane at a certain stage of their fusion/fission process.     

Characterization of the rat liver membrane proteome using peptide immobilized pH gradient isoelectric focusing

Membrane proteins are of particular interest in proteomics because of their potential therapeutic utility. Past proteomic approaches used to investigate membrane proteins have only been partially successful at providing a comprehensive analysis due to the inherently hydrophobic nature and low abundance for some of these proteins. Recently, these difficulties have been improved by analyzing membrane protein enriched samples using shotgun proteomics. In addition, the recent application of methanol-assisted trypsin digestion of membrane proteins has been shown to be a method to improve membrane protein identifications. In this study, a comparison of different concentrations of methanol was assessed for assisting membrane protein digestion with trypsin prior to analysis using a gel-based shotgun proteomics approach called peptide immobilized pH gradient isoelectric focusing (IPG-IEF). We demonstrate the use of peptide IEF on pH 3-10 IPG strips as the first dimension of two-dimensional shotgun proteomics for protein identifications from the membrane fraction of rat liver. Tryptic digestion of proteins was carried out in varying concentrations of methanol in 10 mM ammonium bicarbonate: 0% (v/v), 40% (v/v), and 60% (v/v). A total of 800 proteins were identified from 60% (v/v) methanol, which increased the protein identifications by 17% and 14% compared to 0% (v/v) methanol and 40% (v/v) methanol assisted digestion, respectively. In total, 1549 nonredundant proteins were identified from all three concentrations of methanol including 690 (42%) integral membrane proteins of which 626 of these proteins contained at least one transmembrane domain. Peptide IPG-IEF separation of peptides was successful as the peptides were separated into discrete pI regions with high resolution. The results from this study prove utility of 60% (v/v) methanol assisted digestion in conjunction with peptide IPG-IEF as an optimal shotgun proteomics technique for the separation and identification of previously unreported membrane proteins.     

A freeze-fracture study of early membrane events during mast cell secretion

The early membrane events taking place during mast cell secretion were followed in transmission and freeze-fracture electron microscopy. In order to slow down exocytosis and capture intermediate stages of membrane fusion, special conditions of incubation and stimulation were used. These were as follows: (a) the use of incubation media with altered ionic composition, and (b) stimulation with a low dosage of polymyxin B sulfate (4 microgram/ml) at low temperature (18 degrees C) for very short incubation times (30-60 s), with or without the presence of formaldehyde (0.8%). Under these conditions, unetchable circular impressions are found on the E face of the plasma membrane, 80-100 nm in diameter, with particles associated with their perimeters. In granule-to-granule fusion, the zone involved is demarcated by one or two rows of particles on the E face. In addition, raised circular areas of varying diameters (43-87 nm) surrounded by similar particles, also found on the E face, may represent potential sites before completion of fusion. Neither the circular impressions on the plasma membrane nor the sites on the granule membrane are permanent, but their appearance coincides with initiation of membrane fusion.     

Mechanism of fusion of Sendai virus: role of hydrophobic interactions and mobility constraints of viral membrane proteins. Effects of polyethylene glycol

The mechanism of Sendai virus fusion was investigated by studying the effect of the dehydrating agent polyethylene glycol (PEG) on the interaction of the virus with erythrocyte membranes. The initial rate of virus fusion, monitored continuously by a fluorescence membrane fusion assay, increases approximately 5-fold in the presence of small amounts (4%, w/v) of PEG. The polymer did not trigger a massive nonspecific fusion event, as the limited number of virus particles that fuse per erythrocyte ghost remains unaltered. A mass action kinetic analysis reveals that the binding rate constant increases approximately 1.5-fold; however, the fusion rate constant is enhanced by about an order of magnitude. The results demonstrate that hydrophobic interaction forces dominate the actual fusion step of the virus. Below about 22 degrees C, the viral membrane proteins appear to be clustered, as revealed by temperature-dependent fluorescence measurements of fluorescently tagged viral proteins. Clustering is not modulated by the presence of PEG, and fusion at those conditions is not observed. It is concluded that in addition to hydrophobic interactions, constraints in the mobility of the viral membrane proteins codetermine the fusogenic capacity of the virus. Such constraints have to be relieved in order to allow the occurrence of the hydrophobic interactions. PEG primarily affects the surface properties of the viral membrane, including the properties of the membrane glycoproteins. We hypothesize that during virus-target membrane interaction but prior to the actual fusion reaction, the fusion protein may undergo a conformational change, triggered by an enhancement in hydrophobic environment, which accounts for the need to establish close, i.e. fusion-susceptible intermembrane contact between virus and target membrane.     

Anionic sites on the membrane intercalated particles of human erythrocyte ghost membranes. Freeze-etch localization

Freeze-fracture and freeze-etching techniques disclose exclusive association of a ferritin derivative (with high isoelectric point, used as a marker for anionic sites) with the regions at the outer and inner surface of the membrane of human erythrocyte ghosts which correspond to the membraneintercalated particles. At the outer surface the sites include sialoglycoprotein. Exclusive association of anionic sites and membrane particles, and comparison of the number of sialic acid residues and intercalated particles implies clustering of acidic groups over discrete sites at the surface. Association of the label with the outer and inner surface regions which correspond to the membrane intercalated particles, provides further support for the concept of protein-containing structures which are intercalated and traverse the hydrophobic matrix of membrane regions with bilayer organization.     

Three-dimensional ultrastructure of anionic sites of the glomerular basement membrane by a quick-freezing and deep-etching method using a cationic tracer

Summary The ultrastructure of anionic sites in the lamina rara externa (LRE) of rat glomerular basement membrane (GBM) was studied in three dimensions by a quick-freezing and deep-etching method using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a cationic tracer. Results were compared with those obtained with conventional ultrathin sections examined by transmission electron microscopy. Examination with the quick-freezing and deep-etching method was done without (group 1) or with (group 2) contrasting/fixation with a phosphotungstic acid and glutaraldehyde mixture and post-fixation with osmium tetroxide, which were necessary for visualization of PEI particles by conventional ultrathin sections. Using the quick-freezing and deep-etching method without following contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 1), many PEI particles were observed to decorate around fibrils, which radiated perpendicularly from the lamina densa to connect with the podocyte cell membrane. The arrangement of PEI particles was not as regular as that previously reported using conventional ultrathin sections. In contrast, the tissue that was studied with quick-freezing and deep-etching followed by contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 2) showed a shrunken appearance. The arrangement of PEI particles was regular (about 20 particles/1000 nm of LRE) as that previously observed using conventional ultrathin sections. However, the number of PEI particles on the LRE was markedly decreased and interruption of decorated fibrils was prominent, as compared with group 1. Ultrastructural examination using conventional ultrathin sections with contrasting/fixation and post-fixation (group 3) demonstrated PEI particles on the LRE in reasonable amounts (18–21 particles/1000 nm of LRE) with fairly regular interspacing (45–65 nm) as reported previously.This is the first report to identify the three-dimensional ultrastructure of anionic sites of GBM, and provides new information on the location and distribution of anionic sites in the glomerular capillary wall. In addition, these studies suggest that several chemical procedures used in conventional transmission electron microscopy to visualize PEI tracers, may produce structural changes and disarrangement of PEI particles that can be avoided with the quick-freezing and deep-etching method.     

Reaction of monoclonal antibodies with plasma membrane proteins after binding on nitrocellulose: renaturation of antigenic sites and reduction of nonspecific antibody binding

The immunochemical reaction of monoclonal antibodies directed against native membrane proteins was investigated after their separation in sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gels and electrotransfer to nitrocellulose. Nonspecific binding of antibodies to membrane proteins, which was increased by beta-mercaptoethanol treatment or heat denaturation of the antibodies, could be significantly reduced if 1 M D-glucose plus 10% (v/v) glycerol was added during the incubation with the antibodies. It was found that specific antibody binding was drastically reduced by SDS treatment of the membrane proteins. During the electrotransfer to nitrocellulose and the simultaneous removal of SDS, some increase in antibody binding was observed. Considerable renaturation of antigenic sites in the blotted proteins could be induced if the nitrocellulose blots were incubated for 16 h at 37 degrees C in phosphate-buffered saline. With the introduction of both modifications, the renaturation step, and the addition of D-glucose and glycerol to reduce nonspecific antibody binding, the immunoblot technique may be successfully applied to detect conformational antibodies against membrane proteins.     

Cholesterol is not crucial for the existence of microdomains in kidney brush-border membrane models.

The external membrane leaflet plays a key role in the organization of the cell plasma membrane as a mosaic of ordered microdomains enriched in sphingolipids and cholesterol and of fluid domains. In this study, the thermotropic behavior and the topology of bilayers made of a phosphatidylcholine/sphingomyelin mixture, which mimicks the lipid composition of the external leaflet of renal brush-border membranes, were examined by differential scanning calorimetry and atomic force microscopy. In the absence of cholesterol, a broad phase separation process occurred where ordered gel phase domains of size varying from the mesoscopic to the microscopic scale, enriched in sphingomyelin, occupied half of the bilayer surface at room temperature. Increasing amounts of cholesterol progressively decreased the enthalpy of the transition and modified the topology of membranes domains up to a concentration of 33 mol % for which no membrane domains were detected. These results strongly suggest that, in membranes highly enriched in sphingolipids like renal and intestinal brush borders, there is a threshold close to the physiological concentration above which cholesterol acts as a suppressor rather than as a promoter of membrane domains. They also suggest that cholesterol depletion does not abolish the lateral heterogenity in brush-border membranes.     

Characterization of a structural intermediate of flavivirus membrane fusion

Viral membrane fusion proceeds through a sequence of steps that are driven by triggered conformational changes of viral envelope glycoproteins, so-called fusion proteins. Although high-resolution structural snapshots of viral fusion proteins in their prefusion and postfusion conformations are available, it has been difficult to define intermediate structures of the fusion pathway because of their transient nature. Flaviviruses possess a class II viral fusion protein (E) mediating fusion at acidic pH that is converted from a dimer to a trimer with a hairpin-like structure during the fusion process. Here we show for tick-borne encephalitis virus that exposure of virions to alkaline instead of acidic pH traps the particles in an intermediate conformation in which the E dimers dissociate and interact with target membranes via the fusion peptide without proceeding to the merger of the membranes. Further treatment to low pH, however, leads to fusion, suggesting that these monomers correspond to an as-yet-elusive intermediate required to convert the prefusion dimer into the postfusion trimer. Thus, the use of nonphysiological conditions allows a dissection of the flavivirus fusion process and the identification of two separate steps, in which membrane insertion of multiple copies of E monomers precedes the formation of hairpin-like trimers. This sequence of events provides important new insights for understanding the dynamic process of viral membrane fusion.     

Difference in capacities for virion-to-virion fusion of young and aged HVJ (Sendai virus): A model of membrane fusion

Summary Young and aged HVJ virions differ structurally and morphologically due to changes that occur during aging in vitro or in ovo. Young virions soon after their budding off are rodshaped, rigid and relatively uniform in size, whereas virions that have aged in vitro after their formation are round, nonrigid and variable in size. These changes during aging seem to be due to the variation of M protein, a skeletal protein that is associated with both the envelope membrane proteins and nucleocapsid strands in the virions. The capacities for virion-to-virion fusion of young and aged virions were compared to clarify the relation between the membrane fusion and membrane-associating skeletal proteins. On treatment with polyethylene glycol (PEG), aged virions readily fused, forming large virion vesicles, but young virions were resistant to fusion. Further, aged virions fused even on incubation at 37°C without the fusogen. Thus the capacity for virion-to-virion fusion evidently increases during aging of virions. This result suggests that skeletal proteins associating with the biological membrane are important for preventing membrane fusion, and that virion-to-virion fusion is a good model system for use in studies on the mechanism of membrane fusion.     

Surfactant-free purification of membrane proteins with intact native membrane environment

In order to study the structure and function of a protein, it is generally required that the protein in question is purified away from all others. For soluble proteins, this process is greatly aided by the lack of any restriction on the free and independent diffusion of individual protein particles in three dimensions. This is not the case for membrane proteins, as the membrane itself forms a continuum that joins the proteins within the membrane with one another. It is therefore essential that the membrane is disrupted in order to allow separation and hence purification of membrane proteins. In the present review, we examine recent advances in the methods employed to separate membrane proteins before purification. These approaches move away from solubilization methods based on the use of small surfactants, which have been shown to suffer from significant practical problems. Instead, the present review focuses on methods that stem from the field of nanotechnology and use a range of reagents that fragment the membrane into nanometre-scale particles containing the protein complete with the local membrane environment. In particular, we examine a method employing the amphipathic polymer poly(styrene-co-maleic acid), which is able to reversibly encapsulate the membrane protein in a 10?nm disc-like structure ideally suited to purification and further biochemical study.     

Two-dimensional benzyldimethyl-n-hexadecylammonium chloride/SDS-PAGE for membrane proteomics

Despite the importance of membranes in any living system, the global analysis of membrane subproteomes is still a common obstacle. In particular, the widely used 2-DE technique consisting of IEF in the first dimension and SDS-PAGE in the second dimension has some major drawbacks regarding the separation of hydrophobic proteins. Therefore, we applied an alternative electrophoretic technique for separating membrane proteins: two-dimensional BAC/SDS electrophoresis (2-DB) using the cationic detergent benzyldimethyl-n-hexadecylammonium chloride in the first and the anionic detergent SDS in the second dimension. The use of 2-DB resulted in an improved separation of hydrophobic proteins. Thus, extremely hydrophobic proteins such as cytochrome-c oxidase subunit I with a grand average hydrophobicity (GRAVY) index of 0.74 and a total of 12 known transmembrane domains (TMD) or Sec61alpha with a GRAVY index of 0.56 and a total of ten known TMD could be identified by MS/MS analyses of protein spots derived from 2-DB gels.     

Insulin stimulates membrane fusion and GLUT4 accumulation in clathrin coats on adipocyte plasma membranes

Total internal reflection fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy reveals highly mobile structures containing enhanced green fluorescent protein-tagged glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4) within a zone about 100 nm beneath the plasma membrane of 3T3-L1 adipocytes. We developed a computer program (Fusion Assistant) that enables direct analysis of the docking/fusion kinetics of hundreds of exocytic fusion events. Insulin stimulation increases the fusion frequency of exocytic GLUT4 vesicles by approximately 4-fold, increasing GLUT4 content in the plasma membrane. Remarkably, insulin signaling modulates the kinetics of the fusion process, decreasing the vesicle tethering/docking duration prior to membrane fusion. In contrast, the kinetics of GLUT4 molecules spreading out in the plasma membrane from exocytic fusion sites is unchanged by insulin. As GLUT4 accumulates in the plasma membrane, it is also immobilized in punctate structures on the cell surface. A previous report suggested these structures are exocytic fusion sites (Lizunov et al., J. Cell Biol. 169:481-489, 2005). However, two-color TIRF microscopy using fluorescent proteins fused to clathrin light chain or GLUT4 reveals these structures are clathrin-coated patches. Taken together, these data show that insulin signaling accelerates the transition from docking of GLUT4-containing vesicles to their fusion with the plasma membrane and promotes GLUT4 accumulation in clathrin-based endocytic structures on the plasma membrane.     

Reduced content and abnormal distribution of anionic sites (acid proteoglycans) in the diabetic glomerular basement membrane

Sulfated proteoglycans (fixed anionic sites) on the glomerular basement membrane (GBM) of kidneys from diabetic and nondiabetic patients have been demonstrated by electron microscopy using polycationic dyes (ruthenium red, polyethyleneimine). These substances were used for immersion fixation of renal biopsy specimens. The thickened GBM of diabetics revealed a reduced proteoglycan content within both the narrowed laminae rarae, where normally particles were seen at 60 nm intervals. Proteinuria was observed in all such cases, but no immunopathological alterations of the basement membranes were seen. With both tracer substances anionic sites were also demonstrated in different segments of the thickened lamina densa in diabetics. In polyethyleneimine-treated biopsies some segments of the membrane showed increased anionic moieties at the junction of the basement membrane and the epithelial and endothelial cell membranes. These are probably acid glycoproteins linked to the cell membrane and the synthesis of these basement membrane components may represent a compensatory mechanism seeking to restore normal permeability.     

Membrane fusion in prokaryotes: bacteriophage phi 6 membrane fuses with the Pseudomonas syringae outer membrane.

Protein-triggered membrane fusion in the prokaryotic system is described using the lipid-containing enveloped bacterial virus phi 6 and its host, the Gram-negative bacterium Pseudomonas syringae. Bacteriophage particles can be fused to form multiple particles where two or more nucleocapsids are surrounded by a single membrane vesicle with a volume proportional to the number of fused particles. For fusion to occur, a fusogenic protein is required in the membrane of the participating phage particles. Upon infection of the host cell, fusion of the viral membrane with the bacterial membrane takes place without leakage of the periplasmic enzyme alkaline phosphatase to the extracellular supernatant. There is a time-dependent mixing of fluorescent phage phospholipids with the bacterial membrane lipids between 5 and 20 min post-infection. The phage membrane proteins and phospholipids co-purify with the bacterial outer membrane of infected cells. The fusion is independent of divalent cations and pH, resembling Sendai virus fusion with the plasma membrane. This is the first targeted, protein-dependent fusion event described in prokaryotes.     

A comparison of receptive and non-receptive plasma membrane areas of photoreceptor cells in the leech,Hirudo medicinalis

Summary Microvillar (receptive) and external (non-receptive) portions of the plasmalemma of photoreceptor cells of Hirudo were compared electron microscopically in thin sections and freeze-fracture replicas. A morphometric approximation showed that the surface area of the microvillar membrane is about 19 times larger than that of the external membrane. The microvillar membrane most probably undergoes extensive membrane turnover. In both segments of the membrane the particles associated with the P- and the E-fracture faces are randomly distributed except at some specific sites. The particles adhere predominantly to the P-faces. The particle densities on the fracture faces of the microvillar membrane differ from those of the external membrane. The P-face particles of the external membrane appear to be larger than those of the microvillar membrane. It is suggested that the P-face particles of the microvillar membrane represent sites where the photopigment is incorporated into the membrane. The distinguishing structural features correspond to the functional differences postulated for both portions of the plasma membrane.