Vesicle fusion studied by surface plasmon resonance and surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy

Substrate-supported planar lipid bilayers are generated most commonly by the adsorption and transformation of phospholipid vesicles (vesicle fusion). We have recently demonstrated that simultaneous measurements of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS) are highly informative for monitoring lipid membranes on solid substrates. SPR and SPFS provide information on the amount and topography of adsorbed lipid membranes, respectively. In this study, the vesicle fusion process was studied in detail by measuring SPR-SPFS at a higher rate and plotting the obtained fluorescence intensity versus film thickness. We could track the initial adsorption of vesicles, the onset of vesicle rupture occurring at certain vesicle coverage of the surface, and the autocatalytic transformation into planar bilayers. We also monitored vesicle fusion of the same vesicle suspensions by quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D). We compared the results obtained from SPR-SPFS and QCM-D to highlight the unique information provided by SPR-SPFS.     

The interaction of trichosanthin with supported phospholipid membranes studied by surface plasmon resonance

Trichosanthin (TCS) is a toxic protein isolated from a Chinese herbal medicine, the root tuber of Trichosanthes kirilowii Maximowicz of the Curcurbitaceae family. It is now used in China to terminate early and mid-trimester pregnancies. The ribosome inactivating property is thought to be account for its toxicity; it can inactivate the eukaryotic ribosome through its RNA N-glycosidase activity. The interactions of TCS with biological membrane is thought to be essential for its physiological effect, for it must get across the membrane before it can enter the cytoplasm and exert its RIP function. In the present work, the interaction of TCS with supported phospholipid monolayers is studied by surface plasmon resonance. The results show that electrostatic forces dominate the interaction between TCS and negatively charged phospholipid containing membranes under acid condition and that both the pH value and the ionic strength can influence its binding. It is proposed that, besides electrostatic forces, hydrophobic interaction may also be involved in the binding process.     

Molecular interactions of peptides with phospholipid vesicle membranes as studied by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

Interactions of the peptides melittin and magainin with phospholipid vesicle membranes have been studied using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy. Molecular interactions of melittin and magainin with phospholipid membranes are performed in rhodamine-entrapped vesicles (REV) and in rhodamine-labelled phospholipid vesicles (RLV), which did not entrap free rhodamine inside. The results demonstrate that melittin makes channels into vesicle membranes since exposure of melittin to vesicles causes rhodamine release only from REV but not from RLV. It is obvious that rhodamine can not be released from RLV because the inside of RLV is free of dye molecules. In contrast, magainin breaks vesicles since addition of magainin to vesicles results in rhodamine release from both REV and RLV. As the inside of RLV is free of rhodamine, the appearance of rhodamine in solution confirms that these vesicles are broken into rhodamine-labelled phospholipid fragments after addition of magainin. This study is of pharmaceutical significance since it will provide insights that fluorescence correlation spectroscopy can be used as a rapid protocol to test incorporation and release of drugs by vesicles.     

Sensing of pathogenic bacteria based on their interaction with supported bilayer membranes studied by impedance spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance

Pathogenic bacteria secrete various virulence factors, including toxins, lipases and proteases that allow them to infect, breakdown and colonize host tissue. Among various modes of action that the pathogenic bacteria use to damage the host, pore formation (by pore forming toxins (PFTs)) and lipid hydrolysis (by phospholipases) modes are common in damaging the eukaryotic cell membrane. PFTs in their monomeric form are extracellular diffusible and able to form hydrophilic pores in cell membrane while phospholipases cleaves and hydrolyzes the ester bonds of most phospholipids in cell membrane. Both modes of action cause uncontrolled permeation of ions and molecules across cell membrane, leading to cell death by apoptosis or necrosis. In this work, the toxins secreted by two clinically important human pathogens, methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA476) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) were studied via their interaction with a planar tethered bilayer lipid membrane (pTBLM) using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Detection and discrimination is based on lipid-loss (lipid hydrolysis by phospholipases) or non lipid-loss (pore formation by PFTs) from pTBLM upon interaction with supernatant of pathogenic bacteria. Using EIS and SPR, it is demonstrated that major toxins of S. auerus are PFTs while most of toxin associated with P. aeruginosa are more lipid damaging lipolytic enzymes. Such a format might have future utility as a simple assay for measuring the presence membrane lytic virulence factors in clinical samples.     

Mismatching base-pair dependence of the kinetics of DNA-DNA hybridization studied by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy

Two single-stranded DNAs consisting of complementary base pairs except for one mismatching base pair (MM1) can form double-stranded DNA by molecular recognition. This type of duplex is not as stable as that formed by MM0. In order to add to a better understanding of the physical mechanism of the hybridization and dissociation processes at sensor (chip) surfaces, we studied the kinetics of the MM1 hybridization by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy. Target DNA strands labelled with a fluorescent molecule Cy5 at the 5′ end and hybridizing with the surface-attached probe DNA can be excited by the strong optical field of a surface plasmon resonance mode. The emitted fluorescence can be detected with high sensitivity. The affinity of a duplex was found to depend on the chemical nature, i.e. G–G, G–T etc., and on the position of the mismatching base pair along the 15mer duplex.     

Matching base-pair number dependence of the kinetics of DNA-DNA hybridization studied by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy

Two single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides consisting of complementary base-pairs can form double strands. This phenomenon is well studied in solutions, however, in order to clarify the physical mechanism of the hybridization occurring at a solid/solution interface, we studied the kinetics by surface plasmon fluorescence spectroscopy (SPFS): one single-stranded oligo-DNA (probe-DNA) was immobilized on the substrate, the other one (target-DNA) labelled with a fluorescent probe was added to the flow cell. After hybridization, the chromophores could be excited by the surface plasmon mode and their fluorescence detected with high sensitivity. The dependence of the k(on) and k(off) rate constants on the length of the hybridizing oligonucleotides was investigated by using a MM0 series (no mismatch) and the kinetics was found to be well described by a Langmuir adsorption model. From these measurements we found that also in the case of surface hybridization the affinity of the duplexes decreases as the number of matching base-pairs decreases from 15 to 10. In order to show that SPFS is the powerful technique with high sensitivity, the hybridization process for mixed target-oligos was measured by SPFS and analyzed by an expanded Langmuir model in which two components of target-oligo can bind to probe-DNA at the sensor surface competitively. Two sets of the k(on) and k(off) obtained from the experiment are successfully consistent with the k(on) and k(off) obtained from experiments for single (pure) target-DNA.     

Plant succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase: dissection of nucleotide binding by surface plasmon resonance and fluorescence spectroscopy

Recent kinetic studies revealed distinct modes of inhibition of mitochondrial Arabidopsis thaliana succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (At-SSADH1) by AMP and ATP. Inhibition of SSADH by ATP may represent an important mechanism of feedback regulation of the GABA shunt by the respiratory chain. Here we used two approaches to investigate the interaction of ATP with At-SSADH1. Cofactor displacement studies based on the reduced fluorescence intensity of free NADH versus that of enzyme-bound NADH revealed that both AMP and ATP decreased NADH-At-SSADH1 complex formation. The competitive inhibitor AMP displaced all bound NADH, while ATP, a noncompetitive inhibitor, could not, even in great excess, release all NADH from its binding site. To assess the effect of ATP on NAD-At-SSADH, we employed surface plasmon resonance to monitor nucleotide binding to immobilized At-SSADH1. For this, we used a Strep-tag II modified derivative of At-SSADH1 (designated ST-At-SSADH1). The tagged enzyme was tightly and reversibly captured by StrepTactin, which was covalently immobilized on a CM5 chip. The binding constants for NAD(+) and ATP were determined from titration curves and were in good agreement with the constants obtained from enzyme kinetics. Surface plasmon resonance measurements confirmed that ATP binds to a site different from the binding site for NAD(+). GTP competed with ATP. However, only ATP increased the dissociation constant of NAD(+) from SSADH. This explains the reduced affinity of NAD(+)/NADH to At-SSADH1 in the presence of ATP, as revealed by enzymatic kinetics, and supports our model of feedback regulation of SSADH and the GABA shunt by ATP.     

Comparative thermodynamic analysis of DNA--protein interactions using surface plasmon resonance and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy

We report a kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of interactions between ssDNA and replication protein A (RPA) using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) at variable temperature. The two methods yield different values for the Gibbs free energy but nearly the same value for the reaction enthalpy of ssDNA-RPA complex formation. The Gibbs free energy was determined by SPR and FCS to be -62.6 and -54.7 kJ/mol, respectively. The values for the reaction enthalpy are -64.4 and -66.5 kJ/mol. It is concluded that the difference in Gibbs free energy measured by the two methods is due to different reaction entropies. The entropic contribution to the free energy at 25 degrees C is -1.8 kJ/mol for SPR and -11.8 kJ/mol for FCS. In SPR, the reaction is restricted to two dimensions because of immobilization of the DNA molecules to the sensor surface. In contrast, FCS is able to follow complex formation without spatial restrictions. In consequence, the reaction entropy determined from SPR experiments is lower than for FCS experiments.     

Apocytochrome c interaction with phospholipid membranes studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy.

Apocytochrome c, the heme-free precursor of cytochrome c, has been used extensively as a model to study molecular aspects of posttranslational translocation of proteins across membranes. In this report, we have used Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy to gain further insight into the mechanism of apocytochrome c interaction with membrane phospholipids. Association of apocytochrome c with model membranes containing the acidic lipid dimyristoylphosphatidylglycerol (DMPG) as a single component results in a drastic perturbation of phospholipid structure, at the level of both the acyl chains and the interfacial carbonyl groups. However, in a binary mixture of DMPG with acyl chain perdeuterated dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC-d54), the perturbing effect of the protein on the acidic phospholipid is greatly attenuated. In such a membrane with mixed lipids, the physical properties of the DMPG and DMPC components are affected in a similar fashion, indicating that apocytochrome c does not induce any significant segregation or lateral-phase separation of acidic and zwitterionic lipids. Analysis of the apocytochrome c spectrum in the amide I region reveals that binding to phospholipids causes considerable changes in the secondary structure of the protein, the final conformation of which depends on the lipid to protein ratio. In the presence of a large excess of DMPG, apocytochrome c undergoes a transition from an essentially unordered conformation in solution to an alpha-helical structure. However, in complexes of lower lipid to protein ratios (less than or equal to approximately 40:1), infrared spectra are indicative of an extended, intermolecularly hydrogen-bonded beta-sheet structure. The latter is suggestive of an extensive aggregation of the membrane-associated protein.     

Metal ion selectivity for formation of the calmodulin-metal-target peptide ternary complex studied by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

Ion selectivities for Ca(2+) signaling pathways of 33 metal ions were examined based on the Ca(2+)-dependent on/off switching mechanism of calmodulin (CaM): Ca(2+) ion-induced selective binding of CaM-Ca(2+) ion complex to the target peptide was observed as an increase in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) signals. As the target peptide, M13 of 26-amino-acid residues derived from skeletal muscle myosin light-chain kinase was immobilized in the dextran matrix, over which sample solutions containing CaM and each metal ion were injected in a flow system. Large changes in SPR signals were also observed for Sr(2+), Ba(2+), Cd(2+), Pb(2+), Y(3+) and trivalent lanthanide ions, thereby indicating that not only Ca(2+) but also these metal ions induce the formation of CaM-M13-metal ion ternary complex. No SPR signal was, however, induced by Mg(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Cu(2+), Zn(2+) and all monovalent metal ions examined. The latter silent SPR signal indicates that these ions, even if they bind to CaM, are incapable of forming the CaM-M13-metal ion ternary complex. Comparing the obtained SPR results with ionic radii of those metal ions, it was found that all cations examined with ionic radii close to or greater than that of Ca(2+) induced the formation of the CaM-metal-M13 ternary complex, whereas those with smaller ionic radii were not effective, or much less so. Since these results are so consistent with earlier systematic data for the effects of various metal ions on the conformational changes of CaM, it is concluded that the present SPR analysis may be used for a simple screening and evaluating method for physiologically relevant metal ion selectivity for the Ca(2+) signaling via CaM based on CaM/peptide interactions.     

The interaction between plasminogen and antiplasmin variants as studied by surface plasmon resonance

The interaction between immobilized plasminogen or an elastase-degradation product from plasminogen, constituting "kringles" 1-3 and different purified variants of antiplasmin has been studied by surface plasmon resonance utilising a BIAcore. The antiplasmin variants studied are wild-type, K429E, K436E, E443G, D444G, K452E and K452T. It is shown that the two mutants K452T and K452E react in quite a similar way as wt-antiplasmin, suggesting that Lys452 is not involved in the lysine-binding site interaction between plasminogen and antiplasmin. On the other hand, the mutant K436E displays a much lower k(a). The affinity between plasminogen or the fragment constituting "kringles" 1-3 and K436E were also much lower than with wt-antiplasmin. Thus, also the data obtained with surface plasmon resonance show that Lys436 indeed is very important in the lysine-binding site mediated interaction between plasminogen and antiplasmin.     

Oxygen diffusion in phospholipid artificial membranes studied by Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance

Spin-lattice (T_i) relaxation mesurements can provide information about the presence of oxygen in the environment of a nucleus, since oxygen, by virtue of its paramagnetic properties, increases T_i relaxation rates. Spin-lattice relaxation times were measured for the choline, fatty acid methylene, and fatty acid methyl protons of sonicated dimyristoyl phosphatidyl choline vesicles in D₂O at several oxygen pressures. The increase in relaxation rate due to oxygen was found to be greater for the fatty acid resonances than for the choline resonance. This was interpreted to indicate the presence of oxygen in the hydrocarbon core of the bilayer. In addition, the T_i relaxation data permitted calculation of the oxygen diffusion coefficient in the water and lipid phases.     

Quantitative conformational analysis of cytochromec bound to phospholipid vesicles studied by resonance Raman spectroscopy

Resonance Raman spectra have been recorded from ferri-cytochromec bound to phospholipid vesicles composed of dimyristoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DMPG), dioleoyl phosphatidylglycerol (DOPG) or dioleoyl phosphatidylglycerol-dioleoyl phasphatidylcholine (DOPG-OPC) (70 : 30 mole/mole). Lipid binding induces very significant conformational changes in the protein molecule. The resonance Raman spectra differ in their content of bands originating from two different conformational species, I and II, of the protein, and from two different spin and coordination states of the heme in conformation II. Data of sufficiently high precision were obtained that the spectra of the individual species could be quantitated by a constraint interative fitting routine using single Lorentzian profiles. In the high frequency, or marker band region (1200 to 1700 cm⁻¹), the frequencies, half widths and relative intensities of the individual bands could be estimated from previous surface enhanced resonance Raman measurements on cytochromec adsorbed on a silver electrode. These were then further optimized to yield both the spectral parameters and relative contents of the different species. In the low frequency, or finger-print, region (200 to 800 cm⁻¹), the spectral parameters of the individual species were obtained from difference spectra derived by sequential subtraction between the spectra of ferri-cytochromec in the three different lipid systems, using the relative proportions of the species derived from the marker band region. These parameters were then subsequently refined by iterative optimization. The optimized spectral parameters in both frequency regions for the six-coordinated low spin states I and II, and for the five-coordinated high spin state II are presented. The proportion of state II, in which hence the heme crevice assumes an open structure, and of the five-coordinated high spin configuration, is found to increase on binding ferri cytochromec to negatively charged lipid vesicles. The extent of this conformational change increases in the order: DOPG-DOPC<DOPG<DMPG, with a parallel decrease of the proportion of the conformational state I, whose structure is similar to that of the uncomplexed ferri-cytochrome c in solution. Similar conformational changes are found for ferro-cytochromec compared to those obtained with the oxidized species on binding to lipids. The present work is essential for studies which seek to analyze, in any detailed fashion, the conformational transitions in the heme protein which take place in response to changes in the lipid environment.     

Interaction of low-molecular-weight chitosan with mimic membrane studied by electrochemical methods and surface plasmon resonance

Chitosan has shown its potential as a non-viral gene carrier and an adsorption enhancer for subsequent drug delivery to cells. These results showed that chitosan acted as a membrane perturbant. However, there is currently a lack of direct experimental evidence of this membrane perturbance effect, especially for chitosans with low molecular weight (LMW). In this report, the interaction between a lipid (didodecyl dimethylammonium bromide; DDAB) bilayer and chitosan with molecular weight (MW) of 4200 Da was studied with cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR). A lipid bilayer was formed by fusion of oppositely charged lipid vesicles on a mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-modified gold surface to mimic a cell membrane. The results showed that the LMW chitosan could disrupt the lipid bilayer, and the effect seemed to be in a concentration-dependent manner.     

Kinetics of cholesterol extraction from lipid membranes by methyl-beta-cyclodextrin--a surface plasmon resonance approach

The kinetics of cholesterol extraction from cellular membranes is complex and not yet completely understood. In this paper we have developed an experimental approach to directly monitor the extraction of cholesterol from lipid membranes by using surface plasmon resonance and model lipid systems. Methyl-beta-cyclodextrin was used to selectively remove cholesterol from large unilamellar vesicles of various compositions. The amount of extracted cholesterol is highly dependent on the composition of lipid membrane, i.e. the presence of sphingomyelin drastically reduced and slowed down cholesterol extraction by methyl-beta-cyclodextrin. This was confirmed also in the erythrocyte ghosts system, where more cholesterol was extracted after erythrocytes were treated with sphingomyelinase. We further show that the kinetics of the extraction is mono-exponential for mixtures of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and cholesterol. The kinetics is complex for ternary lipid mixtures composed of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine, bovine brain sphingomyelin and cholesterol. Our results indicate that the complex kinetics observed in experiments with cells may be the consequence of lateral segregation of lipids in cell plasma membrane.     

Chiral recognition of dextran sulfate with D- and L-cystine studied by multiwavelength surface plasmon resonance

A multiwavelength surface plasmon resonance (mwSPR) approach has been developed to study the chiral discrimination between D- and L-cystine (Cys). A monolayer of the two enantiomers was separately assembled on a pair of gold films of about 50 nm in thickness and their resonance wavelength shifts, Deltalambda, were measured under a continuous flow of an identical chiral probe solution. Dextran sulfate (DS) was found to be an excellent chiral probe because it has rich chiral centers and is large enough to produce sensitive mwSPR response. The chiral discrimination was investigated either by Deltalambda(max), the maximum resonance wavelength shift in recognition equilibrium, or by recognition kinetics (Deltalambda vs time). The equilibrium data showed that D-Cys yielded always the smaller Deltalambda(max) as compared to L-Cys at pH 5.0 or above. This differentiation was enlarged by raising the probe content and became naught at pH <4.5. The kinetic results showed that, as pH increased from 5.0 to 7.5, the non-equilibrium Deltalambda for D-Cys rose above the level for L-Cys at the first 30s of recognition but came back gradually to its equilibrium position after about 150 s, with crossing at 50--150 s depending on DS concentration. This phenomenon was thought to be the result of molecular orientation adjustment after DS binding to D-Cys. Both kinetic and thermodynamic mechanisms were thus considered to be deeply involved in the investigated chiral recognition system.     

Interaction of bovine coagulation factor X and its glutamic-acid-containing fragments with phospholipid membranes. A surface plasmon resonance study.

The interaction of blood coagulation factor X and its Gla-containing fragments with negatively charged phospholipid membranes composed of 25 mol% phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) and 75 mol% phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) was studied by surface plasmon resonance. The binding to 100 mol% PtdCho membranes was negligible. The calcium dependence in the membrane binding was evaluated for intact bovine factor X (factor X) and the fragment containing the Gla-domain and the N-terminal EGF (epidermal growth factor)-like domain, Gla-EGFN, from factor X. Both proteins show the same calcium dependence in the membrane binding. Calcium binding is cooperative and half-maximum binding was observed at 1.5 mm and 1.4 mm, with the best fit to the experimental data with three cooperatively bound calcium ions for both the intact protein and the fragment. The dissociation constant (Kd) for binding to membranes containing 25 mol% PtdSer decreased from 4.6 microm for the isolated Gla-domain to 1 microm for the fragments Gla-EGFN and Gla-EGFNC (the Gla-domain and both EGF-like domains) fragments and to 40 nm for the entire protein as zymogen, activated enzyme or in the active-site inhibited form. Analysis of the kinetics of adsorption and desorption confirmed the equilibrium binding data.     

Investigation of the interaction between DnaK and DnaJ by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

Hsp70 chaperones assist protein folding through ATP-regulated transient association with substrates. Substrate binding by Hsp70 is controlled by DnaJ co-chaperones which stimulate Hsp70 to hydrolyze ATP and, consequently, to close its substrate binding cavity allowing trapping of substrates. We analyzed the interaction of the Escherichia coli Hsp70 homologue, DnaK, with DnaJ using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy. Resonance signals of complex kinetic characteristics were detected when DnaK was passed over a sensor chip with coupled DnaJ. This interaction was specific as it was not detected with a functionally defective DnaJ mutant protein, DnaJ259, that carries a mutation in the HPD signature motif of the conserved J-domain. Detectable DnaK-DnaJ interaction required ATP hydrolysis by DnaK and was competitively inhibited by chaperone substrates of DnaK. For DnaK mutant proteins with amino acid substitutions in the substrate binding cavity that affect substrate binding, the strength of detected interaction with DnaJ decreased proportionally with increased strength of the substrate binding defects. These findings indicate that the detected response signals resulted from DnaJ and ATP hydrolysis-dependent association of DnaJ as substrate for DnaK. Although not considered as physiologically relevant, this association allowed us to experimentally unravel the mechanism of DnaJ action. Accordingly, DnaJ stimulates ATP hydrolysis only after association of a substrate with the substrate binding cavity of DnaK. Further analysis revealed that this coupling mechanism required the J-domain of DnaJ and was also functional for natural DnaK substrates, and thus is central to the mechanism of action of the DnaK chaperone system.