Study of structure and orientation of mesentericin Y105, a bacteriocin from Gram-positive Leuconostoc mesenteroides, and its Trp-substituted analogues in phospholipid environments

AbstractMesentericin Y105 (Mes-Y105) is a bacteriocin secreted by Leuconostoc mesenteroides which is particularly active on Listeria. It is constituted by 37 residues and reticulated by one disulfide bridge. It has two W residues, W18 and W37, which can be studied by fluorescence. Two single substituted W/F analogues were synthesized (Mes-Y105/W18 and Mes-Y105/W37) to differentiate the local environment around each W and to study their changes in the presence of lipid vesicles.Fluorescence experiments show that, for the pure Trp-analogues, W18 and W37 are fully exposed to solvent whatever pH and buffer conditions. In the presence of lipid vesicles, both became buried. Lipid affinities were estimated: they are weak for zwitterionic phospholipids but an order of magnitude higher for negatively charged phosphatidylserine (PS) and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) lipids. On negatively charged PG lipids, Mes-Y105 and Mes-Y105/W37 display comparable lipid affinities. A decrease in lipid affinity is observed for Mes-Y105/W18 compared to Mes-Y105, which means that W37 would seem to be required for increased lipid selectivity. In the lipid-bound state W18 is strongly dehydrated, probably embedded into the acyl chains, while W37 stands more at the interface.Mes-Y105 was also studied by polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (PMIRRAS), alone and in various phospholipid environments, to obtain structural information and to assess lipid perturbations. At nanomolar concentrations close to those required for anti-Listeria activity, Mes-Y105 forms films at the air/water interface and inserts into negatively charged lipid monolayers. In situ infrared data show that Mes-Y105 binding only affects the polar head group vibrations while the lipid order of the acyl chains remains unaffected. The PMIRRAS show that Mes-Y105 folds into an N-terminal antiparallel β-sheet followed by an α-helix, both structures being tilted (40°) compared to the normal at the interface, which is in agreement with the thickness estimated by Brewster angle microscopy (BAM). All these data support the proposal of a new model for Mes-Y105 at the membrane interface

Exploring the Membrane Mechanism of the Bioactive Peptaibol Ampullosporin A Using Lipid Monolayers and Supported Biomimetic Membranes

Ampullosporin A is an antimicrobial, neuroleptic peptaibol, the behavior of which was investigated in different membrane mimetic environments made of egg yolk L-α-phosphatidylcholine. In monolayers, the peptaibol adopted a mixed α/310-helical structure with an in-plane orientation. The binding step was followed by the peptide insertion into the lipid monolayer core. The relevance of the inner lipid leaflet nature was studied by comparing ampullosporin binding on a hybrid bilayer, in which this leaflet was a rigid alkane layer, and on supported fluid lipid bilayers. The membrane binding was examined by surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and the effect on lipid dynamics was explored using fluorescence recovery after photobleaching. In the absence of voltage and at low concentration, ampullosporin A substantially adsorbed onto lipid surfaces and its interaction with biomimetic models was strongly modified depending on the inner leaflet structure. At high concentration, ampullosporin A addition led to the lipid bilayers disruption

SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues

Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene), including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types

Structure and orientation study of Ebola fusion peptide inserted in lipid membrane models

AbstractThe fusion peptide of Ebola virus comprises a highly hydrophobic sequence located downstream from the N-terminus of the glycoprotein GP2 responsible for virus–host membrane fusion. The internal fusion peptide of GP2 inserts into membranes of infected cell to mediate the viral and the host cell membrane fusion. Since the sequence length of Ebola fusion peptide is still not clear, we study in the present work the behavior of two fusion peptides of different lengths which were named EBO17 and EBO24 referring to their amino acid length. The secondary structure and orientation of both peptides in lipid model systems made of DMPC:DMPG:cholesterol:DMPE (6:2:5:3) were investigated using PMIRRAS and polarized ATR spectroscopy coupled with Brewster angle microscopy. The infrared results showed a structural flexibility of both fusion peptides which are able to transit reversibly from an α-helix to antiparallel β-sheets. Ellipsometry results corroborate together with isotherm measurements that EBO peptides interacting with lipid monolayer highly affected the lipid organization. When interacting with a single lipid bilayer, at low peptide content, EBO peptides insert as mostly α-helices mainly perpendicular into the lipid membrane thus tend to organize the lipid acyl chains. Inserted in multilamellar vesicles at higher peptide content, EBO peptides are mostly in β-sheet structures and induce a disorganization of the lipid chain order. In this paper, we show that the secondary structure of the Ebola fusion peptide is reversibly flexible between α-helical and β-sheet conformations, this feature being dependent on its concentration in lipids, eventually inducing membrane fusion

Ideally amphipathic β-sheeted peptides at interfaces: structure, orientation, affinities for lipids and hemolytic activity of (KL)mK peptides

AbstractDesigned to model ideally amphipathic β-sheets, the minimalist linear (KL)mK peptides (m=4–7) were synthesized and proved to form stable films at the air/water interface, they insert into compressed dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine monolayers and interact with egg phosphatidylcholine vesicles. Whatever the interface or the lateral pressure applied to the films, FT-IR and polarization-modulated IRRAS spectroscopy developed in situ on the films indicated that all the peptides totally fold into intermolecular antiparallel β-sheets. Calculated spectra of the amide region allowed us to define the orientation of the β-strands compared to the interface. It is concluded that such β-sheets remain flat-oriented without deep perturbation of zwitterionic phospholipids. Dansyl labelling at the N-terminus indicates that all the peptides are monomeric at a low concentration in aqueous buffer and bind to lipids with similar Dns burying. The affinities for zwitterionic lecithin mono- and bilayers, quantitatively estimated from buffer to lipid partition constants, monotonically increased with peptide length, indicating that hydrophobicity is a limiting parameter for lipid and membrane affinities. Peptides induced permeability increases on zwitterionic liposomes, they are strongly hemolytic towards human erythrocytes and their activity increases concurrently with length. Taking into account the lipid affinity, a hemolytic efficiency can be defined: at the same amount of peptide bound, this efficiency strongly increases with the peptide length. It is proposed that the first determinant step of membrane disturbance is the invasion of the outer membrane leaflet by these ideally amphipathic β-sheeted structures lying flat at the interface, like large rafts depending on the number of β-strands

Restriction of lipid motion in membranes triggered by β-sheet aggregation of the anti-apoptotic BH4 domain

International audienc

Reversible functionalization of germanium by thiol monolayers to probe protein / surface interactions by ATR-FTIR

International audienceThe functionalization of germanium by SAMs is commonly used to passivate the surface and thus prevent its oxidation. This functionalization can also be very useful to study specific interactions for instance in biosensors using protein or enzyme recognition. Several functionalization methods exist but no method has up to now been described to regenerate the Ge surface. A procedure for regenerating the surface of Ge after functionalization by SAMs is proposed in this article. The characterization of the functionalized and regenerated Ge surface by contact angle, XPS and ATR-FTIR, allows to establish that the protocol is robust. Hydrophilic SAMs (HS-(CH2)n-COOH, HS-(CH2)n-OH) and hydrophobic SAMs (HS-(CH2)n-CH3) of different chain lengths (n = 5 or 10) were tested. After ten cycles of functionalization and regeneration, the surface of germanium presents the same wettability, with a small decrease in its oxidation state. As an example of interest, this method allows to study the structure of a protein adsorbed on biomimetic surfaces (SAM type) by ATR-FTIR with a reusable commercial Ge crystal following the elimination of SAMs with a process retaining the native properties of the G

The antibiotic activity of cationic linear amphipathic peptides: lessons from the action of leucine/lysine copolymers on bacteria of the class Mollicutes

Peptides composed of leucyl and lysyl residues ('LK peptides') with different compositions and sequences were compared for their antibacterial activities using cell wall-less bacteria of the class Mollicutes (acholeplasmas, mycoplasmas and spiroplasmas) as targets. The antibacterial activity of the amphipathic ?-helical peptides varied with their size, 15 residues being the optimal length, independent of the membrane hydrophobic core thickness and the amount of cholesterol. The 15-residue ideally amphipathic a helix with a + 5 positive net charge (KLLKLLLKLLLKLLK) had the strongest antibacterial activity, similar to that of melittin. In contrast, scrambled peptides devoid of amphipathy and the less hydrophobic ?-sheeted peptides [(LK)[n]K], even those 15-residue long, were far less potent than the helical ones. Furthermore, the growth inhibitory activity of the peptides was correlated with their ability to abolish membrane potential. These data are fully consistent with a predominantly flat orientation of LK peptides at the lipid/ water interface and strongly supports that these peptides and probably the linear polycationic amphipathic defence peptides act on bacterial membranes in four main steps according to the 'carpet' model: (a) interfacial partitioning with accumulation of monomers on the target membrane (limiting step); (b) peptide structural changes (conformation, aggregation, and orientation) induced by interactions with the lipid bilayer (as already shown with liposomes and erythrocytes); (c) plasma membrane permeabilization/ depolarization via a detergent-like effect; and (d) rapid bacterial cell death if the extent of depolarization is maintained above a critical threshold