Graphical representation of a typical counter-diffusion experiment set-up in a GCB-Domino (Triana S&T).

<p>The dimension of the GCB-Domino is approximately 70 mm high × 17.2 mm wide × 7.0 mm thick. The open end of the capillary allows the precipitant (in blue) to diffuse against the much slower diffusive protein solution, thereby inducing the precipitation of the latter. The capillaries are kept in place by an agarose plug sitting at the top of the precipitant solution. Each mark (*) shows a DLS measurement position, at 0.7, 2.2, 5.1, 9.9, 11.8, 18.7 and 24.5 mm from the open end.</p

Comparison of DLS measurements in thin capillaries and a quartz cuvette.

<p>A) It shows an overlay plot of the radius distribution of glucose isomerase in capillaries and a quartz cuvette; B) It shows an overlay of the auto correlation function from which the radius distribution were derived; C) Picture showing the focus of the laser inside a 0.1 mm capillary and the scattering associated to the capillary-walls, which does not affect the measurements.</p

Pictures of the size distribution (X-axis) as a function of time (Y-axis) obtained from DLS measurements in a single capillary.

<p>The number on the bottom right corner of each picture denotes the distance of the measurement in millimetres from the open end of the capillary. Time is displayed in arbitrary units (a.u.), where each unit corresponds to 1/10 of a day. The picture at the bottom shows an overview of the capillary and the position of the measurements (*) in the GCB-D.</p

Biological analysis of claudin-1 in proteoliposomes.

<p>(A) Proteoliposome preparations containing claudin-1 or a control protein (CD82) were diluted and evaluated for anti-His reactivity by ELISA; data are represented as optical density (OD) at 450 nm. Inset is an immunoblot of foscholine-10 extracted claudin-1 stained with an anti-hexahistine tag antibody. Monomers and oligomers are highlighted with arrows. Proteoliposome preparations were normalized for His OD units and evaluated for their effect on (B) HCV as well as (C) HCVpp and VSV-Gpp infectivity. Data are expressed relative to untreated control virus infection.</p

Antigenicity of human claudin-1 in yeast protoplasts.

<p>Conformation-dependent antibodies specific for claudin-1 (R&D Systems) and, as a control, CD81 (2s131) were used as tools to probe the antigenicity of yeast-expressed claudin-1. Secondary antibodies were Alexa Fluor 488 goat anti-mouse IgG (H+L) and Alexa Fluor 633 goat anti-rat IgG (H+L) (Invitrogen). The parental X33 strain with no heterologous protein expression was used as a negative control. (A) Fluorescence activated cell sorting shows specific antibody binding with anti-claudin-1 antibodies for X33 (0.93%) and claudin-1 (33.6%) protoplasts. For anti-CD81 antibodies, the corresponding values are X33 (1.9%) and claudin-1 (0.93%). (B) Confocal imaging shows specific antibody binding for protoplasts expressing human claudin-1. The protoplasts were immuno-flourescently labelled with anti-claudin-1 or a relevant isotype control. Settings were optimized for each fluorescent protein to obtain the highest signal to noise ratio, while controlling for cross talk. Relevant isotype control antibodies did not bind.</p

Claudin-1 forms monomers and higher order structures in yeast membranes.

<p>(A) A schematic representation of the claudin-1 protein produced in this study. The membrane is represented in grey (the extra- and intracellular sides are labeled), the extracellular loops, EC1 and EC2, are marked and the His₆ tag is indicated in the carboxy-terminal tail. The predicted molecular mass is 23.7 kDa. (B) Recombinant claudin-1 in <i>P. pastoris</i> membranes forms monomers, dimers and trimers as determined by non-reducing SDS-PAGE (1 µg protein loaded per well). Endogenous claudin-1 in Huh-7.5 hepatoma cells was analyzed for comparison (5 µg protein loaded per well) showing monomers and oligomers. Protein concentrations in the two cell types are different because the yeast cells overexpress recombinant claudin-1; this does not affect the antigenicity of the protein, as shown in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0064517#pone-0064517-g003" target="_blank">Fig. 3</a>. Molecular size markers are indicated in the intervening lane.</p

Proposed assembly of claudin-1/CD81 complexes (R_H = 30 nm).

<p>A cartoon assembled in ChemDraw illustrating seven uroplakin-like CD81 complexes (black), each containing six homodimers, arranged with 24 claudin-1 homodimers (red). The resulting molar ratio of 24∶42 claudin-1∶CD81 is close that observed experimentally (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0064517#pone-0064517-t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>), and generates a R_H = 30 nm particle. The model displayed is the most symmetric of those generated.</p

Biophysical analysis of purified claudin-1.

<p>(A) Coomassie-stained SDS-PAGE gel showing CD81 (lane 1 containing 2.4 µg protein), a control 4TM protein (CD82; lane 2; 1.5 µg protein) and claudin-1 (lane 3; 1.2 µg protein) solubilised in βOG and eluted from a nickel affinity column. Claudin-1 (highlighted with an arrow) runs as an apparent dimer. Molecular size markers are indicated. (B) Analytical ultracentrifugation trace for claudin-1 in βOG micelles collected on a Proteome Lab XL-I instrument. (C) ELISA data based on OD₄₅₀ readings showing antibody reactivity (n = 2; error bars are the standard deviation) for βOG-extracted and purified claudin-1, CD81 and CD82. (D) Analytical ultracentrifugation trace for claudin-1 in profoldin-8 micelles collected on a Proteome Lab XL-I instrument. Data were analyzed using the continuous distribution, c(s), model, which calculates the distribution of sedimenting species taking into account their diffusion. Shown are the mass distributions of particles within the samples, c(s), as a function of the sedimentation co-efficient (S; measured in units of Svedberg, with 1 S = 10⁻¹³ s). Inset is a silver-stained SDS-PAGE gel showing claudin-1 solubilized in profoldin-8 and eluted from a nickel affinity column. Monomers and oligomers are highlighted with arrows.</p

Distribution of particle hydrodynamic radii (R_H) derived from DLS measurements of purified recombinant claudin-1 and CD81.

<p>Values are reported after 12 h for particles with hydrodynamic radii <10 nm or >10 nm, as defined by DLS peaks. Peak width at half height (nm) and relative peak amplitude are reported in parentheses, respectively. Amplitude is relative to that of the corresponding CD81 peak in the absence of CHEMS. The radius of a foscholine-10 micelle in solution, calculated from DLS measurements, is 2.5±0.6 nm <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0064517#pone.0064517-Ma1" target="_blank">[32]</a>. For βOG-micelles, the value is 2.3–3.1 nm <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0064517#pone.0064517-Lorber1" target="_blank">[54]</a>.</p

Oligomeric claudin-1 associates with CD81 at a specific molar ratio of 1∶2.

<p>A plot of relative intensity of differently-sized particles (R_H reported in nm, derived from DLS measurements at room temperature) of claudin-1, CD81 or a control protein (CD82), alone or as mixtures, solubilized in detergent micelles and in the presence of CHEMS. The data are the average of the first 10 measurements of the DLS experiment. Inset are DLS heat maps, where the colour spectrum indicates the amplitude of the signal for a given hydrodynamic radius (R_H) value as a function of time; red is high- and blue is low amplitude. (A) CD81 in βOG. (B) CD82 in CD. (C) claudin-1 in foscholine-10; claudin-1 particles have a broad radial distribution consistent with a dynamic pool of oligomers. (D) claudin-1 mixed with CD81 in a 1∶2 molar ratio; a distinct 30 nm particle is highlighted with a red asterisk. (E) CD82 mixed with CD81 in a 1∶2 molar ratio; in addition to a dominant peak at 6 nm, some higher oligomers are present, which do not form a distinct peak. (F) claudin-1 mixed with CD82 in a 1∶2 molar ratio; in addition to a dominant peak at 6 nm, higher oligomers are present at >40 nm.</p