Abstract
Specific side-by-side interactions between transmembrane α-helices may be important in the assembly and function of integral membrane proteins. We describe a system for the genetic and biophysical analysis of these interactions. The transmembrane α-helical domain of interest is fused to the C-terminus of staphylococcal nuclease. The resulting chimera can be expressed at high levels in Escherichia coli and is readily purified. In our initial application we study the single transmembrane α-helix of human glycophorin A (GpA), thought to mediate the SDS-stable dimerization of this protein. The resulting chimera forms a dimer in SDS, which is disrupted upon addition of a peptide corresponding to the transmembrane domain of GpA. Deletion mutagenesis has been used to delineate the minimum transmembrane domain sufficient for this behavior. Site-specific mutagenesis shows that a methionine residue, previously implicated as a potential interfacial residue, can be replaced with other hydrophobic residues without disrupting dimerization. By contrast, rather conservative substitutions at a valine on a different face of the α-helix disrupt dimerization, suggesting a high degree of specificity in the helix-helix interactions. This approach allows the interface between interacting helices to be defined.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 7683-7689 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Journal of Biological Chemistry |
Volume | 267 |
Issue number | 11 |
State | Published - 1992 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology