Browse
Submit Data
Databases
API
Help

Dataset Information

16 Views

0 Connections

0 Citations

0 Reanalyses

0 Downloads

Omics score: 0

The ribosomal exit tunnel as a target for optimizing protein expression in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: The folding of many cellular proteins occurs co-translationally immediately outside the ribosome exit tunnel, where ribosomal proteins and other associated factors coordinate the synthesis and folding of newly translated polypeptides. Here, we show that the large subunit protein L29, which forms part of the exit tunnel in Escherichia coli, is required for the productive synthesis of an array of structurally diverse recombinant proteins including the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and an intracellular single-chain Fv antibody. Surprisingly, the corresponding mRNA transcript level of these proteins was markedly less abundant in cells lacking L29, suggesting an unexpected regulatory mechanism that links defects in the exit tunnel to the expression of genetic information. To further highlight the importance of L29 in maintaining protein expression, we used mutagenesis and selection to obtain L29 variants that enhanced GFP expression. Overall, our results suggest that the ribosomal exit tunnel proteins may be key targets for optimizing the overproduction of active, structurally complex recombinant proteins in bacterial cells.

SUBMITTER: Contreras-Martinez LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3382190 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Json Xml

Similar Datasets

Tertiary interactions within the ribosomal exit tunnel.

Project description:Although tertiary folding of whole protein domains is prohibited by the cramped dimensions of the ribosomal tunnel, dynamic tertiary interactions may permit folding of small elementary units within the tunnel. To probe this possibility, we used a beta-hairpin and an alpha-helical hairpin from the cytosolic N terminus of a voltage-gated potassium channel and determined a probability of folding for each at defined locations inside and outside the tunnel. Minimalist tertiary structures can form near the exit port of the tunnel, a region that provides an entropic window for initial exploration of local peptide conformations. Tertiary subdomains of the nascent peptide fold sequentially, but not independently, during translation. These studies offer an approach for diagnosing the molecular basis for folding defects that lead to protein malfunction and provide insight into the role of the ribosome during early potassium channel biogenesis.

| S-EPMC2670549 | biostudies-literature

The ribosome modulates folding inside the ribosomal exit tunnel.

Project description:Proteins commonly fold co-translationally at the ribosome, while the nascent chain emerges from the ribosomal exit tunnel. Protein domains that are sufficiently small can even fold while still located inside the tunnel. However, the effect of the tunnel on the folding dynamics of these domains is not well understood. Here, we combine optical tweezers with single-molecule FRET and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate folding of the small zinc-finger domain ADR1a inside and at the vestibule of the ribosomal tunnel. The tunnel is found to accelerate folding and stabilize the folded state, reminiscent of the effects of chaperonins. However, a simple mechanism involving stabilization by confinement does not explain the results. Instead, it appears that electrostatic interactions between the protein and ribosome contribute to the observed folding acceleration and stabilization of ADR1a.

| S-EPMC8100117 | biostudies-literature

Cysteine oxidation and disulfide formation in the ribosomal exit tunnel.

Project description:Understanding the conformational sampling of translation-arrested ribosome nascent chain complexes is key to understand co-translational folding. Up to now, coupling of cysteine oxidation, disulfide bond formation and structure formation in nascent chains has remained elusive. Here, we investigate the eye-lens protein ?B-crystallin in the ribosomal exit tunnel. Using mass spectrometry, theoretical simulations, dynamic nuclear polarization-enhanced solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance and cryo-electron microscopy, we show that thiol groups of cysteine residues undergo S-glutathionylation and S-nitrosylation and form non-native disulfide bonds. Thus, covalent modification chemistry occurs already prior to nascent chain release as the ribosome exit tunnel provides sufficient space even for disulfide bond formation which can guide protein folding.

| S-EPMC7642426 | biostudies-literature

Structural insights into assembly of the ribosomal nascent polypeptide exit tunnel.

Project description:The nascent polypeptide exit tunnel (NPET) is a major functional center of 60S ribosomal subunits. However, little is known about how the NPET is constructed during ribosome assembly. We utilized molecular genetics, biochemistry, and cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) to investigate the functions of two NPET-associated proteins, ribosomal protein uL4 and assembly factor Nog1, in NPET assembly. Structures of mutant pre-ribosomes lacking the tunnel domain of uL4 reveal a misassembled NPET, including an aberrantly flexible ribosomal RNA helix 74, resulting in at least three different blocks in 60S assembly. Structures of pre-ribosomes lacking the C-terminal extension of Nog1 demonstrate that this extension scaffolds the tunnel domain of uL4 in the NPET to help maintain stability in the core of pre-60S subunits. Our data reveal that uL4 and Nog1 work together in the maturation of ribosomal RNA helix 74, which is required to ensure proper construction of the NPET and 60S ribosomal subunits.

| S-EPMC7547690 | biostudies-literature

Optimizing Escherichia coli as a protein expression platform to produce Mycobacterium tuberculosis immunogenic proteins.

Project description:BACKGROUND: A number of valuable candidates as tuberculosis vaccine have been reported, some of which have already entered clinical trials. The new vaccines, especially subunit vaccines, need multiple administrations in order to maintain adequate life-long immune memory: this demands for high production levels and degree of purity. RESULTS: In this study, TB10.4, Ag85B and a TB10.4-Ag85B chimeric protein (here-after referred as full)--immunodominant antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis--were expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. The rational design of expression constructs and optimization of fermentation and purification conditions allowed a marked increase in solubility and yield of the recombinant antigens. Indeed, scaling up of the process guaranteed mass production of all these three antigens (2.5-25 mg of pure protein/L cultivation broth). Quality of produced soluble proteins was evaluated both by mass spectrometry to assess the purity of final preparations, and by circular dichroism spectroscopy to ascertain the protein conformation. Immunological tests of the different protein products demonstrated that when TB10.4 was fused to Ag85B, the chimeric protein was more immunoreactive than either of the immunogenic protein alone. CONCLUSIONS: We reached the goal of purifying large quantities of soluble antigens effective in generating immunological response against M. tuberculosis by a robust, controlled, scalable and economically feasible production process.

| S-EPMC4225511 | biostudies-literature

An intrinsically disordered nascent protein interacts with specific regions of the ribosomal surface near the exit tunnel

Project description:The influence of the ribosome on nascent chains is poorly understood, especially in the case of proteins devoid of signal or arrest sequences. Here, we provide explicit evidence for the interaction of specific ribosomal proteins with ribosome-bound nascent chains (RNCs). We target RNCs pertaining to the intrinsically disordered protein PIR and a number of mutants bearing a variable net charge. All the constructs analyzed in this work lack N-terminal signal sequences. By a combination chemical crosslinking and Western-blotting, we find that all RNCs interact with ribosomal protein L23 and that longer nascent chains also weakly interact with L29. The interacting proteins are spatially clustered on a specific region of the large ribosomal subunit, close to the exit tunnel. Based on chain-length-dependence and mutational studies, we find that the interactions with L23 persist despite drastic variations in RNC sequence. Importantly, we also find that the interactions are highly Mg+2-concentration-dependent. This work is significant because it unravels a novel role of the ribosome, which is shown to engage with the nascent protein chain even in the absence of signal or arrest sequences. Guzman-Luna et al. present a crosslinking analysis of the interaction of unstructured nascent chains with ribosomal proteins near the nascent polypeptide exit tunnel of the ribosome. They further analyze the dependence of these interactions on the peptide length, surface charge and ionic strength (including Mg+2 concentration), facilitating the understanding of co-translational protein folding and misfolding/aggregation.

| S-EPMC8556260 | biostudies-literature

Ribosomal protein eL39 is important for maturation of the nascent polypeptide exit tunnel and proper protein folding during translation.

Project description:During translation, nascent polypeptide chains travel from the peptidyl transferase center through the nascent polypeptide exit tunnel (NPET) to emerge from 60S subunits. The NPET includes portions of five of the six 25S/5.8S rRNA domains and ribosomal proteins uL4, uL22, and eL39. Internal loops of uL4 and uL22 form the constriction sites of the NPET and are important for both assembly and function of ribosomes. Here, we investigated the roles of eL39 in tunnel construction, 60S biogenesis, and protein synthesis. We show that eL39 is important for proper protein folding during translation. Consistent with a delay in processing of 27S and 7S pre-rRNAs, eL39 functions in pre-60S assembly during middle nucleolar stages. Our biochemical assays suggest the presence of eL39 in particles at these stages, although it is not visualized in them by cryo-electron microscopy. This indicates that eL39 takes part in assembly even when it is not fully accommodated into the body of pre-60S particles. eL39 is also important for later steps of assembly, rotation of the 5S ribonucleoprotein complex, likely through long range rRNA interactions. Finally, our data strongly suggest the presence of alternative pathways of ribosome assembly, previously observed in the biogenesis of bacterial ribosomal subunits.

| S-EPMC9226512 | biostudies-literature

A multiscale approach to sampling nascent peptide chains in the ribosomal exit tunnel.

Project description:We present a new multiscale method that combines all-atom molecular dynamics with coarse-grained sampling, towards the aim of bridging two levels of physiology: the atomic scale of protein side chains and small molecules, and the huge scale of macromolecular complexes like the ribosome. Our approach uses all-atom simulations of peptide (or other ligand) fragments to calculate local 3D spatial potentials of mean force (PMF). The individual fragment PMFs are then used as a potential for a coarse-grained chain representation of the entire molecule. Conformational space and sequence space are sampled efficiently using generalized ensemble Monte Carlo. Here, we apply this method to the study of nascent polypeptides inside the cavity of the ribosome exit tunnel. We show how the method can be used to explore the accessible conformational and sequence space of nascent polypeptide chains near the ribosome peptidyl transfer center (PTC), with the eventual aim of understanding the basis of specificity for co-translational regulation. The method has many potential applications to predicting binding specificity and design, and is sufficiently general to allow even greater separation of scales in future work.

| S-EPMC4423764 | biostudies-literature

Optimizing the Expression of Human Dopamine Receptors in Escherichia coli.

Project description:The human dopamine receptors D2S and D3 belong to the group of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and are important drug targets. Structural analyses and development of new receptor subtype specific drugs have been impeded by low expression yields or receptor instability. Fusing the T4 lysozyme into the intracellular loop 3 improves crystallization but complicates conformational studies. To circumvent these problems, we expressed the human D2S and D3 receptors in Escherichia coli using different N- and C-terminal fusion proteins and thermostabilizing mutations. We optimized expression times and used radioligand binding assays with whole cells and membrane homogenates to evaluate KD-values and the number of receptors in the cell membrane. We show that the presence but not the type of a C-terminal fusion protein is important. Bacteria expressing receptors capable of ligand binding can be selected using FACS analysis and a fluorescently labeled ligand. Improved receptor variants can thus be generated using error-prone PCR. Subsequent analysis of clones showed the distribution of mutations over the whole gene. Repeated cycles of PCR and FACS can be applied for selecting highly expressing receptor variants with high affinity ligand binding, which in the future can be used for analytical studies.

| S-EPMC8395450 | biostudies-literature

Cotranslational Protein Folding inside the Ribosome Exit Tunnel.

Project description:At what point during translation do proteins fold? It is well established that proteins can fold cotranslationally outside the ribosome exit tunnel, whereas studies of folding inside the exit tunnel have so far detected only the formation of helical secondary structure and collapsed or partially structured folding intermediates. Here, using a combination of cotranslational nascent chain force measurements, inter-subunit fluorescence resonance energy transfer studies on single translating ribosomes, molecular dynamics simulations, and cryoelectron microscopy, we show that a small zinc-finger domain protein can fold deep inside the vestibule of the ribosome exit tunnel. Thus, for small protein domains, the ribosome itself can provide the kind of sheltered folding environment that chaperones provide for larger proteins.

| S-EPMC4571824 | biostudies-literature

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

OmicsDI is an Elixir interoperability service. Learn more ›

OmicsDI Databases

PRIDE
PeptideAtlas
MassIVE
JPOST Repository
Physiome Model Repository

EGA
EVA
ENA
LINCS
PAXDB
Cell Collective

MetaboLights
Metabolomics Workbench
MetabolomeExpress
GNPS
BioModels
FAIRDOMHub

ArrayExpress
dbGaP
ExpressionAtlas
GEO
NODE

Information

Databases
Help
API
Contact us
Code on GitHub
Terms of use
Submit Data