Heterologous Expression of Membrane Proteins: Choosing the Appropriate Host

International audienceBACKGROUND: Membrane proteins are the targets of 50% of drugs, although they only represent 1% of total cellular proteins. The first major bottleneck on the route to their functional and structural characterisation is their overexpression; and simply choosing the right system can involve many months of trial and error. This work is intended as a guide to where to start when faced with heterologous expression of a membrane protein. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The expression of 20 membrane proteins, both peripheral and integral, in three prokaryotic (E. coli, L. lactis, R. sphaeroides) and three eukaryotic (A. thaliana, N. benthamiana, Sf9 insect cells) hosts was tested. The proteins tested were of various origins (bacteria, plants and mammals), functions (transporters, receptors, enzymes) and topologies (between 0 and 13 transmembrane segments). The Gateway system was used to clone all 20 genes into appropriate vectors for the hosts to be tested. Culture conditions were optimised for each host, and specific strategies were tested, such as the use of Mistic fusions in E. coli. 17 of the 20 proteins were produced at adequate yields for functional and, in some cases, structural studies. We have formulated general recommendations to assist with choosing an appropriate system based on our observations of protein behaviour in the different hosts. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Most of the methods presented here can be quite easily implemented in other laboratories. The results highlight certain factors that should be considered when selecting an expression host. The decision aide provided should help both newcomers and old-hands to select the best system for their favourite membrane protein

Metabolic profiling identifies trehalose as an abundant and diurnally fluctuating metabolite in the microalga Ostreococcus tauri

© 2017, The Author(s).Introduction: The picoeukaryotic alga Ostreococcus tauri (Chlorophyta) belongs to the widespread group of marine prasinophytes. Despite its ecological importance, little is known about the metabolism of this alga. Objectives: In this work, changes in the metabolome were quantified when O. tauri was grown under alternating cycles of 12 h light and 12 h darkness. Methods: Algal metabolism was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Using fluorescence-activated cell sorting, the bacteria associated with O. tauri were depleted to below 0.1% of total cells at the time of metabolic profiling. Results: Of 111 metabolites quantified over light–dark cycles, 20 (18%) showed clear diurnal variations. The strongest fluctuations were found for trehalose. With an intracellular concentration of 1.6 mM in the dark, this disaccharide was six times more abundant at night than during the day. This fluctuation pattern of trehalose may be a consequence of starch degradation or of the synchronized cell cycle. On the other hand, maltose (and also sucrose) was below the detection limit (~10 μM). Accumulation of glycine in the light is in agreement with the presence of a classical glycolate pathway of photorespiration. We also provide evidence for the presence of fatty acid methyl and ethyl esters in O. tauri. Conclusions: This study shows how the metabolism of O. tauri adapts to day and night and gives new insights into the configuration of the carbon metabolism. In addition, several less common metabolites were identified

La pourriture acide. I - Etiologie : recherche de causes de cette pourriture dans le vignoble bordelais

National audienc

Recherche de déterminants métaboliques associés à la résistance polygénique du colza à la hernie des crucifères

Recherche de déterminants métaboliques associés à la résistance polygénique du colza à la hernie des crucifère

New insight into the Brassica napus / Plasmodiophora brassicae interaction through genetical metabolomics

New insight into the Brassica napus / Plasmodiophora brassicae interaction through genetical metabolomic

In vivo quantitative visualization of hypochlorous acid in the liver using a novel selective two-photon fluorescent probe

Hypochlorous acid (HOCl) plays a vital role in physiological events and diseases. During hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury, HOCl is generated by neutrophils and diffuses into hepatocytes, causing oxidant stress-mediated injury. Although many probes have been developed to detect HOCl, most were difficult to be distinguished from endogenous fluorophores in intravital imaging and only can be employed under one-photon microscopy. A novel iridium(III) complex-based ferrocene dual-signaling chemosensor (Ir-Fc) was designed and synthesized. Ir-Fc exhibited a strong positive fluorescent response only in the presence of HOCl, whereas negligible fluorescent signals were observed upon the additions of other reactive oxygen/nitrogen species and metal ions. There was a good linear relationship between probe responsive fluorescent intensity and HOCl concentration. Ir-Fc was then intravenously injected into BALB/c mice at the final concentration of 50 μM and the mouse livers were imaged using multiphoton microscopy (MPM). In the I/R liver, reduced autofluorescence was detected by MPM, indicating the hepatocyte necrosis. Remarkable enhancement of red fluorescence was observed in hepatocytes with decreased autofluorescence, indicating the reaction of Ir-Fc with endogenous HOCl molecules. The cellular concentration of HOCl was first calculated based on the intensity of MPM images. No obvious toxic effects were observed in histological examination of major organs after Ir-Fc injection. In summary, Ir-Fc has low cytotoxicity, high specificity to HOCl, and rapid "off-on" fluorescence. It is suitable for dynamic quantitatively monitoring HOCl generation using MPM at the cellular level. This technique can be readily extended to examination of liver diseases and injury