Coordination of outer membrane constriction with septation is critical to faithful division in Gram-negative bacteria and vital to the barrier function of the membrane. This coordination requires the ...recruitment of the peptidoglycan-binding outer-membrane lipoprotein Pal at division sites by the Tol system. Here, we show that Pal accumulation at Escherichia coli division sites is a consequence of three key functions of the Tol system. First, Tol mobilises Pal molecules in dividing cells, which otherwise diffuse very slowly due to their binding of the cell wall. Second, Tol actively captures mobilised Pal molecules and deposits them at the division septum. Third, the active capture mechanism is analogous to that used by the inner membrane protein TonB to dislodge the plug domains of outer membrane TonB-dependent nutrient transporters. We conclude that outer membrane constriction is coordinated with cell division by active mobilisation-and-capture of Pal at division septa by the Tol system.
Single particle tracking (SPT) is nowadays one of the most popular technique to probe spatio-temporal dynamics of proteins diffusing within the plasma membrane. Indeed membrane components of ...eukaryotic cells are very dynamic molecules and can diffuse according to different motion modes. Trajectories are often reconstructed frame-by-frame and dynamic properties often evaluated using mean square displacement (MSD) analysis. However, to get statistically significant results in tracking experiments, analysis of a large number of trajectories is required and new methods facilitating this analysis are still needed.
In this study we developed a new algorithm based on back-propagation neural network (BPNN) and MSD analysis using a sliding window. The neural network was trained and cross validated with short synthetic trajectories. For simulated and experimental data, the algorithm was shown to accurately discriminate between Brownian, confined and directed diffusion modes within one trajectory, the 3 main of diffusion encountered for proteins diffusing within biological membranes. It does not require a minimum number of observed particle displacements within the trajectory to infer the presence of multiple motion states. The size of the sliding window was small enough to measure local behavior and to detect switches between different diffusion modes for segments as short as 20 frames. It also provides quantitative information from each segment of these trajectories. Besides its ability to detect switches between 3 modes of diffusion, this algorithm is able to analyze simultaneously hundreds of trajectories with a short computational time.
This new algorithm, implemented in powerful and handy software, provides a new conceptual and versatile tool, to accurately analyze the dynamic behavior of membrane components.
The spatiotemporal organisation of membranes is often characterised by the formation of large protein clusters. In Escherichia coli, outer membrane protein (OMP) clustering leads to OMP islands, the ...formation of which underpins OMP turnover and drives organisation across the cell envelope. Modelling how OMP islands form in order to understand their origin and outer membrane behaviour has been confounded by the inherent difficulties of simulating large numbers of OMPs over meaningful timescales. Here, we overcome these problems by training a mesoscale model incorporating thousands of OMPs on coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations. We achieve simulations over timescales that allow direct comparison to experimental data of OMP behaviour. We show that specific interaction surfaces between OMPs are key to the formation of OMP clusters, that OMP clusters present a mesh of moving barriers that confine newly inserted proteins within islands, and that mesoscale simulations recapitulate the restricted diffusion characteristics of OMPs.
Gram-negative bacteria depend on energised protein complexes that connect the two membranes of the cell envelope. However, β-barrel outer-membrane proteins (OMPs) and α-helical inner-membrane ...proteins (IMPs) display quite different organisation. OMPs cluster into islands that restrict their lateral mobility, while IMPs generally diffuse throughout the cell. Here, using live cell imaging of Escherichia coli, we demonstrate that when transient, energy-dependent transmembrane connections are formed, IMPs become subjugated by the inherent organisation of OMPs and that such connections impact IMP function. We show that while establishing a translocon for import, the colicin ColE9 sequesters the IMPs of the proton motive force (PMF)-linked Tol-Pal complex into islands mirroring those of colicin-bound OMPs. Through this imposed organisation, the bacteriocin subverts the outer-membrane stabilising role of Tol-Pal, blocking its recruitment to cell division sites and slowing membrane constriction. The ordering of IMPs by OMPs via an energised inter-membrane bridge represents an emerging functional paradigm in cell envelope biology.
Partitioning of membrane proteins into various types of microdomains is crucial for many cellular functions. Tetraspanin-enriched microdomains (TEMs) are a unique type of protein-based microdomain, ...clearly distinct from membrane rafts, and important for several cellular processes such as fusion, migration and signaling. Paradoxically, HIV-1 assembly/egress occurs at TEMs, yet the viral particles also incorporate raft lipids. Using different quantitative microscopy approaches, we investigated the dynamic relationship between TEMs, membrane rafts and HIV-1 exit sites, focusing mainly on the tetraspanin CD9. Our results show that clustering of CD9 correlates with multimerization of the major viral structural component, Gag, at the plasma membrane. CD9 exhibited confined behavior and reduced lateral mobility at viral assembly sites, suggesting that Gag locally traps tetraspanins. In contrast, the raft lipid GM1 and the raft-associated protein CD55, while also recruited to assembly/budding sites, were only transiently trapped in these membrane areas. CD9 recruitment and confinement were found to be partially dependent on cholesterol, while those of CD55 were completely dependent on cholesterol. Importantly, our findings support the emerging concept that cellular and viral components, instead of clustering at preexisting microdomain platforms, direct the formation of distinct domains for the execution of specific functions.
Mitochondrial dysfunction due to nuclear or mitochondrial DNA alterations contributes to multiple diseases such as metabolic myopathies, neurodegenerative disorders, diabetes and cancer. ...Nevertheless, to date, only half of the estimated 1,500 mitochondrial proteins has been identified, and the function of most of these proteins remains to be determined. Here, we characterize the function of M19, a novel mitochondrial nucleoid protein, in muscle and pancreatic β-cells. We have identified a 13-long amino acid sequence located at the N-terminus of M19 that targets the protein to mitochondria. Furthermore, using RNA interference and over-expression strategies, we demonstrate that M19 modulates mitochondrial oxygen consumption and ATP production, and could therefore regulate the respiratory chain activity. In an effort to determine whether M19 could play a role in the regulation of various cell activities, we show that this nucleoid protein, probably through its modulation of mitochondrial ATP production, acts on late muscle differentiation in myogenic C2C12 cells, and plays a permissive role on insulin secretion under basal glucose conditions in INS-1 pancreatic β-cells. Our results are therefore establishing a functional link between a mitochondrial nucleoid protein and the modulation of respiratory chain activities leading to the regulation of major cellular processes such as myogenesis and insulin secretion.
•We discuss spatiotemporal patterning in the bacterial outer membrane.•Promiscuous interactions between outer membrane proteins govern their behaviour.•Turnover and biogenesis of outer membrane ...proteins linked to formation of clusters.•Implications of spatiotemporal patterning for bacterial physiology discussed.
It has until recently been unclear whether outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of Gram-negative bacteria are organized or distributed randomly. Studies now suggest promiscuous protein–protein interactions (PPIs) between β-barrel OMPs in Escherichia coli govern their local and global dynamics, engender spatiotemporal patterning of the outer membrane into micro-domains and are the basis of β-barrel protein turnover. We contextualize these latest advances, speculate on areas of bacterial cell biology that might be influenced by the organization of OMPs into supramolecular assemblies, and highlight the new questions and controversies this revised view of the bacterial outer membrane raises.
PDF
