Developing limited proteolysis and mass spectrometry for the characterization of ribosome topography

An approach that combines limited proteolysis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) has been developed to probe protease-accessible sites of ribosomal proteins from intact ribosomes. Escherichia coli and Thermus thermophilus 70S ribosomes were subjected to limited proteolysis using different proteases under strictly controlled conditions. Intact ribosomal proteins and large proteolytic peptides were recovered and directly analyzed by MALDI-MS, which allows for the determination of proteins that are resistant to proteolytic digestion by accurate measurement of molecular weights. Larger proteolytic peptides can be directly identified by the combination of measured mass, enzyme specificity, and protein database searching. Sucrose density gradient centrifugation revealed that the majority of the 70S ribosome dissociates into intact 30S and 50S subunits after 120 min of limited proteolysis. Thus, examination of ribosome populations within the first 30 to 60 min of incubation provides insight into 70S structural features. Results from E. coli and T. thermophilus revealed that a significantly larger fraction of 50S ribosomal proteins have similar limited proteolysis behavior than the 30S ribosomal proteins of these two organisms. The data obtained by this approach correlate with information available from the high-resolution crystal structures of both organisms. This new approach will be applicable to investigations of other large ribonucleoprotein complexes, is readily extendable to ribosomes from other organisms, and can facilitate additional structural studies on ribosome assembly intermediates.     

Investigation of methods suitable for the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometric analysis of proteins from ribonucleoprotein complexes

A variety of protein isolation and purification techniques for ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes were investigated for their compatibility with downstream analysis by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). Ribosomal proteins from Escherichia coli 70S ribosomes were obtained using methods such as phenol extraction and precipitation by organic solvents or acids. Under optimal conditions, more than 90% of the expected ribosomal proteins were detected in a single MALDI-MS experiment. The most effective approach combined ribosome denaturation by buffer exchange with acid precipitation of the ribosomal ribonucleic acids. An improved acid precipitation approach, involving the sequential additions of acetic and trifluoroacetic acid, yielded more complete protein coverage while minimizing loss of ion signal from lower molecular weight proteins. With phenol extraction, substantial gains in ion abundance of higher molecular weight proteins are noted, although some of the lower molecular weight proteins were not efficiently extracted. These results illustrate several effective approaches for protein isolation from protein complexes such as RNPs that are MALDI-MS compatible, and these approaches should extend the use of MALDI-MS for proteomics-based analyses of other protein-nucleic acid complexes.     

Three-dimensional electron cryomicroscopy of ribosomes

Single particle electron cryomicroscopy is nowadays routinely used to generate three-dimensional structural information of ribosomal complexes without the need of crystallization. A large number of structures of functional important ribosomal complexes have thus been determined using this technique. In E. coli 70S ribosomes all three tRNA binding sites could be localized. The ternary complex of EF-TutRNAGTP that delivers the tRNA to the ribosome was directly visualized in a ribosomal complex blocked by the antibiotic kirromycin. Three different functional states of translocation have been studied and the respective EF-G binding sites have been mapped. The level of resolution achievable with electron cryomicroscopy allows conformational changes in the domain structures of elongation factors to be modelled in terms of rigid body movements. Structural information on eukaryotic ribosomes is also available for yeast and mammalian 80S ribosomes. The structural differences between rabbit 80S and E. coli 70S ribosomes could be interpreted in terms of ribosomal RNA expansion segments in the 18S and 23S RNA. The EF-G homologue EF2 was mapped analysing the structure of an 80SEF2sodarin complex and most recently the binding of a hepatitis C virus IRES element to a yeast 40S subunit has been studied. The first electron cryomicroscopical 3D reconstructions have further been used to overcome the initial phasing problems in X-ray crystallographic studies of the ribosome facilitating structure determination of the recent atomic resolution structures of the 30S and 50S ribosomal subunits. In turn, the knowledge of the atomic structure of the ribosome makes detailed interpretations of cryo-EM maps possible at approximately 20 A resolution.     

Key intermolecular interactions in the E. coli 70S ribosome revealed by coarse-grained analysis

The ribosome is a very large complex that consists of many RNA and protein molecules and plays a central role in protein biosynthesis in all organisms. Extensive interactions between different molecules are critical to ribosomal functional dynamics. In this work, intermolecular interactions in the Escherichia coli 70S ribosome are investigated by coarse-grained (CG) analysis. CG models are defined to preserve dynamic domains in RNAs and proteins and to capture functional motions in the ribosome, and then the CG sites are connected by harmonic springs, and spring constants are obtained by matching the computed fluctuations to those of an all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. Those spring constants indicate how strong the interactions are between the ribosomal components, and they are in good agreement with various experimental data. Nearly all the bridges between the small and large ribosomal subunits are indicated by CG interactions with large spring constants. The head of the small subunit is very mobile because it has minimal CG interactions with the rest of the subunit; however, a large number of small subunit proteins bind to maintain the internal structure of the head. The results show a clear connection between the intermolecular interactions and the structural and functional properties of the ribosome because of the reduced complexity in domain-based CG models. The present approach also provides a useful strategy to map interactions between molecules within large biomolecular complexes since it is not straightforward to investigate these by either atomistic MD simulations or residue-based elastic network models.     

The 3′-End of tRNA and Its Role in Protein Biosynthesis

In the course of protein biosynthesis, the 3′-ends of aminoacyl-tRNA (aa-tRNA) and peptidyl-tRNA specifically interact with macromolecules of the protein biosynthesis machinery. The 3′-end of tRNA consists of an invariant C-C-A single strand. Interaction of the aminoacyl-tRNA 3′-end with elongation factor Tu (EF-Tu) containing bound GTP is necessary for the formation of the aa-tRNA·EF-Tu·GTP complex and, after the complex binds to the ribosome, for the GTP hydrolysis. This process is followed by the specific binding of the aminoacyl-tRNA 3′-end to the aminoacyl (A) site of the ribosome. In this review, a model is proposed that involves Watson-Crick base pairing of the C? C sequence of the aminoacyl-tRNA 3′-end with a specific G? G sequence of the ribosomal 23S RNA. Similarly, peptidyl-tRNA binds with its 3′-end to the peptidyl (P) site of the ribosome. This binding may also involve Watson-Crick base pairing of the C-C-A sequence with a complementary sequence of 23S RNA. It is proposed that peptide bond formation is catalyzed by a functional site of the 23S RNA located near the 3′-ends of aminoacyl-tRNA and peptidyl-tRNA. A model is suggested in which two loops of the 23S RNA, brought into close proximity via folding, are involved both in binding the 3′-ends of the tRNAs and in catalyzing peptide bond formation. This model presumes a dynamic structure for ribosomal RNA, which is modulated by interaction with elongation factors and ribosomal proteins.     

Structural studies of E. coli ribosomes by spectroscopic techniques: a specialized review

We present a review on our interdisciplinary line of research based on strategies of molecular biology and biophysics. These have been applied to the study of the prokaryotic ribosome of the bacterium Escherichia coli. Our investigations on this organelle have continued for more than a decade and we have adopted different spectroscopic biophysical techniques such as: dielectric and fluorescence spectroscopy as well as light scattering (photon correlation spectroscopy). Here we report studies on the whole 70S ribosomes and on the separated subunits 30S and 50S. Our results evidence intrinsic structural features of the subunits: the small shows a more "floppy" structure, while the large one appears to be more rigid. Also, an inner "kernel" formed by the RNA/protein association is found within the ribosome. This kernel is surrounded by a ribonucleoprotein complex more exposed to the solvent. Initial analyses were done on the so called Kaldtschmit-Wittmann ribosome: more recently we have extended the studies to the "tight couple" ribosome known for its better functional performance in vitro. Data evidence a phenomenological correlation between the differential biological activity and the intrinsic structural properties of the two-ribosome species. Finally, investigations were also conducted on particles treated at sub-denaturing temperatures and on ribosomes partially deproteinized by salt treatment (ribosomal cores). Results suggest that the thermal treatment and the selective removal of proteins cause analogous structural alterations.     

Structure and function of the acidic ribosomal stalk proteins

The acidic L7/L12 (prokaryotes) and P1/P2 (eukaryotes) proteins are the only ribosomal components that occur in more than one, specifically four, copies in the translational machinery. These ribosomal proteins are the only ones that do not directly interact with ribosomal RNA but bind to the particles via a protein, L10 and P0, respectively. They constitute a morphologically distinct feature on the large subunit, the stalk protuberance. Since a long time proteins L7/L12 have been implicated in translation factor binding and in the stimulation of the factor-dependent GTP-hydrolysis. Recent studies reproduced such activities with the isolated components and L7/L12 can therefore in retrospect be regarded as the first GTPase activating proteins identified. GTP-hydrolysis induces a drastic conformational change in elongation factor (EF) Tu, which enables it to dissociate from the ribosome after having successfully delivered aminoacylated tRNA into the A-site. It is also used as a driving force for translocation, mediated by EF-G. The in vitro stimulation of translation-uncoupled EF-G-dependent GTP-hydrolysis seems to be an intrinsic property of the ribosome that is dependent on L7/L12, reaches a maximum with four copies of the proteins per particle, and reflects the in vivo hydrolysis rate during translation. It is much larger than the analogous activity observed for EF-Tu, which is correlated with the in vitro polypeptide synthesis rate. Therefore, at least certain stimulatory activities of L7/L12 are controlled by the ribosomal environment, which in the case of EF-Tu senses the successful codon-anticodon pairing. Present knowledge is consistent with a picture in which proteins L7/L12 constitute a "landing platform" for the factors and after rearrangements induce GTP-hydrolysis. The molecular mechanism of the GTPase activation is unknown. While sequence comparisons show a large diversity in the stalk proteins across the kingdoms, a conserved functional domain organization and conserved designs of their genetic units are discernible. Consistently, stalk transplantation experiments suggest that coevolution took place to maintain functional L7/L12 EF-G and P-protein EF-2 couples. The acidic proteins are organized into three distinct functional parts: An N-terminal domain is responsible for oligomerization and ribosome association, a C-terminal domain is implicated in translation factor interactions, and a hinge region allows a flexible relative orientation of the latter two portions. The bacterial L7/L12 proteins have long been portrayed as highly elongated dimers displaying globular C-terminal domains, helical N-termini, and unstructured hinges. Conversely, recent crystal structures depict a compact hetero-tetrameric assembly with the hinge region adopting either an alpha-helical or an open conformation. Two different dimerization modes can be discerned in these structures. Models suggest that dimerization via one association mode can lead to elongated dimeric complexes with one helical and one unstructured hinge. The physiological role of the other dimerization mode is unclear and is in apparent contradiction to distances measured by fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The discrepancies between the crystal structures and results from other physico-chemical methods may partly be a consequence of the dynamic functions of the proteins, necessitating a high flexibility.     

Affinity chromatography of Drosophila melanogaster ribosomal proteins to 5S rRNA

The binding of Drosophila melanogaster ribosomal proteins to D. melanogaster 5S rRNA was studied using affinity chromatography of total ribosomal proteins (TP80) on 5S rRNA linked via adipic acid dihydrazide to Sepharose 4B. Ribosomal proteins which bound 5S rRNA at 0.3 M potassium chloride and were eluted at 1 M potassium chloride were identified as proteins 1, L4, 2/3, L14/L16, and S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Using poly A-Sepharose 4B columns as a model of non-specific binding, we found that a subset of TP80 proteins is also bound. This subset, while containing some of the proteins bound by 5S rRNA columns, was distinctly different from the latter subset, indicating that the binding to 5S rRNA was specific for that RNA species.     

A novel view of gel-shifts: analysis of RNA-protein complexes using a two-color fluorescence dye procedure

The electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) is a common technique to identify and analyze RNA-protein interactions, using the altered electrophoretic mobility of RNA and/or protein upon forming an RNA-protein complex. Traditional techniques of visualization of the EMSA results include either prelabeling of RNA before complex formation or specific RNA- or protein-staining after electrophoresis. Recently, two-color fluorescent staining (TCFS) methods were developed, in which the nucleic acid is stained first and scanned; subsequently, the protein is stained and scanned. In the current study, we developed a TCFS system, in which RNA and protein are stained with SYBR Green I and with SYPRO Red, respectively. The gel is subsequently scanned in two channels in a laser scanner to detect both simultaneously. Furthermore, we show that tetramethylrhodamine (TAMRA)-labeled proteins can subsequently be monitored in multicomponent RNA-protein complexes. This novel two-color fluorescence staining is simple, sensitive, and significantly faster than other comparable procedures and allows the independent quantitative determination of both free or complexed nucleic acids and proteins. The interactions between 23S rRNA and ribosomal protein L11 and the ribosomal protein complex L10/L12(4) were used to demonstrate the advantages of this method.     

Specificity of aminoglycoside antibiotics for the A-site of the decoding region of ribosomal RNA

Background: Aminoglycoside antibiotics bind to the A-site of the decoding region of 16S RNA in the bacterial ribosome, an interaction that is probably responsible for their activity. A detailed study of the specificity of aminoglycoside binding to A-site RNA would improve our understanding of their mechanism of antibiotic activity.Results: We have studied the binding specificity of several aminoglycosides with model RNA sequences derived from the 16S ribosomal A-site using surface plasmon resonance. The 4,5-linked (neomycin) class of aminoglycosides showed specificity for wild-type A-site sequences, but the 4,6-linked class (kanamycins and gentamicins), generally showed poor specificity for the same sequences. Methylation of a cytidine in the target RNA, as found in the Escherichia coli ribosome, had negligible effects on aminoglycoside binding.Conclusions: Although both 4,5- and 4,6-linked aminoglycosides target the same ribosomal site, they appear to bind and effect antibiotic activity in different manners. The aminoglycosides might recognize different RNA conformations or the interaction might involve different RNA tertiary structures that are not equally sampled in our ribosome-free model. These results imply that models of ribosomal RNA must be carefully designed if the data are expected to accurately reflect biological activity.     

Unifying the Aminohexopyranose‐ and Peptidyl‐Nucleoside Antibiotics: Implications for Antibiotic Design

In search of new anti‐tuberculars compatible with anti‐retroviral therapy we re‐identified amicetin as a lead compound. Amicetin's binding to the 70S ribosomal subunit of Thermus thermophilus (Tth) has been unambiguously determined by crystallography and reveals it to occupy the peptidyl transferase center P‐site of the ribosome. The amicetin binding site overlaps significantly with that of the well‐known protein synthesis inhibitor balsticidin S. Amicetin, however, is the first compound structurally characterized to bind to the P‐site with demonstrated selectivity for the inhibition of prokaryotic translation. The natural product‐ribosome structure enabled the synthesis of simplified analogues that retained both potency and selectivity for the inhibition of prokaryotic translation.     

Crowding promotes the switch from hairpin to pseudoknot conformation in human telomerase RNA

Formation of a pseudoknot (PK) in the conserved RNA core domain in the ribonucleoprotein human telomerase is required for function. In vitro experiments show that the PK is in equilibrium with an extended hairpin (HP) structure. We use molecular simulations of a coarse-grained model, which reproduces most of the salient features of the experimental melting profiles of PK and HP, to show that crowding enhances the stability of PK relative to HP in the wild type and in a mutant associated with dyskeratosis congenita. In monodisperse suspensions, small crowding particles increase the stability of compact structures to a greater extent than larger crowders. If the sizes of crowders in a binary mixture are smaller than that of the unfolded RNA, the increase in melting temperature due to the two components is additive. In a ternary mixture of crowders that are larger than the unfolded RNA, which mimics the composition of ribosome, large enzyme complexes and proteins in Escherichia coli , the marginal increase in stability is entirely determined by the smallest component. We predict that crowding can partially restore telomerase activity in mutants with decreased PK stability.     

Unifying the Aminohexopyranose- and Peptidyl-Nucleoside Antibiotics: Implications for Antibiotic Design

In search of new anti-tuberculars compatible with anti-retroviral therapy we re-identified amicetin as a lead compound. Amicetin's binding to the 70S ribosomal subunit of Thermus thermophilus (Tth) has been unambiguously determined by crystallography and reveals it to occupy the peptidyl transferase center P-site of the ribosome. The amicetin binding site overlaps significantly with that of the well-known protein synthesis inhibitor balsticidin S. Amicetin, however, is the first compound structurally characterized to bind to the P-site with demonstrated selectivity for the inhibition of prokaryotic translation. The natural product-ribosome structure enabled the synthesis of simplified analogues that retained both potency and selectivity for the inhibition of prokaryotic translation.     

Sequence of the amino-terminal region of rat liver ribosomal proteins S4, S6, S8, L6, L7a, L18, L27, L30, L37, L37a, and L39.

The sequence of the amino-terminal region of eleven rat liver ribosomal proteins--S4, S6, S8, L6, L7a, L18, L27, L30, L37a, and L39--was determined. The analysis confirmed the homogeneity of the proteins and suggests that they are unique, since no extensive common sequences were found. The N-terminal regions of the rat liver proteins were compared with amino acid sequences in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins. It seems likely that the proteins L37 from rat liver and Y55 from yeast ribosomes are homologous. It is possible that rat liver L7a or L37a or both are related to S cerevisiae Y44, although the similar sequences are at the amino-terminus of the rat liver proteins and in an internal region of Y44. A number of similarities in the sequences of rat liver and E coli ribosomal proteins have been found; however, it is not yet possible to say whether they connote a common ancestry.     

Peptidyl-transferase ribozymes: trans reactions,structural characterization and ribosomal RNA-like features

Background: One of the most significant questions in understanding the origin of life concerns the order of appearance of DNA, RNA and protein during early biological evolution. If an ‘RNA world’ was a precursor to extant life, RNA must be able not only to catalyze RNA replication but also to direct peptide synthesis. Iterative Iterative RNA selection previously identified catalytic RNAs (ribozymes) that form amide bonds between RNA and an amino acid or between two amino acids.Results: We characterized peptidyl-transferase reactions catalyzed by two different families of ribozymes that use substrates that mimic A site and P site tRNAs. The family II ribozyme secondary structure was modeled using chemical modification, enzymatic digestion and mutational analysis. Two regions resemble the peptidyl-transferase region of 23S ribosomal RNA in sequence and structural context; these regions are important for peptide-bond formation. A shortened form of this ribozyme was engineered to catalyze intermolecular (‘trans’) peptide-bond formation, with the two amino-acid substrates binding through an attached AMP or oligonucleotide moiety.Conclusions: An in vitro-selected ribozyme can catalyze the same type of peptide-bond formation as a ribosome; the ribozyme resembles the ribosome because a very specific RNA structure is required for substrate binding and catalysis, and both amino acids are attached to nucleotides. It is intriguing that, although there are many different possible peptidyl-transferase ribozymes, the sequence and secondary structure of one is strikingly similar to the ‘helical wheel’ portion of 23S rRNA implicated in ribosomal peptidyl-transferase activity.     

Characterization of ribosomal proteins as biomarkers for matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectral identification of Lactobacillus plantarum

For rapid identification of bacteria by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), a bioinformatics approach using ribosomal subunit proteins as biomarkers has been proposed. This method compares the observed masses for biomarkers with calculated masses as predicted from the amino acid sequences registered on protein databases. To evaluate this approach, the expressed ribosomal proteins of a genome-sequenced bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum NCIMB 8826, were characterized as a model sample. The protein expression of 42 ribosomal subunit proteins, together with 10 ribosome-associated proteins in the isolated ribosome fraction, was confirmed through two-dimensional gel electrophoresis combined with peptide mass fingerprinting. The observed masses of the proteins in the isolated ribosome fraction were then determined by MALDI-MS. We preliminarily selected 44 biomarkers whose observed masses were matched with the calculated masses predicted from the amino acid sequence registered in the protein databases by considering N-terminal methionine loss only. Of these, the finally selected reliable biomarkers were 34 proteins including 31 ribosomal subunit proteins and 3 ribosome-associated proteins that could be observed in the MALDI mass spectra of the cell lysate sample. These biomarkers were usable in MALDI-MS characterization of two industrial L. plantarum cultures.