title: Multistep protein unfolding during nanopore translocation.
abstract: Cells are divided into compartments and separated from the environment by lipid bilayer membranes. Essential molecules are transported back and forth across the membranes. We have investigated how folded proteins use narrow transmembrane pores to move between compartments. During this process, the proteins must unfold. To examine co-translocational unfolding of individual molecules, we tagged protein substrates with oligonucleotides to enable potential-driven unidirectional movement through a model protein nanopore, a process that differs fundamentally from extension during force spectroscopy measurements. Our findings support a four-step translocation mechanism for model thioredoxin substrates. First, the DNA tag is captured by the pore. Second, the oligonucleotide is pulled through the pore, causing local unfolding of the C terminus of the thioredoxin adjacent to the pore entrance. Third, the remainder of the protein unfolds spontaneously. Finally, the unfolded polypeptide diffuses through the pore into the recipient compartment. The unfolding pathway elucidated here differs from those revealed by denaturation experiments in solution, for which two-state mechanisms have been proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3TA, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Larrea
authors.forename: Hagan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bayley
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000737:chemistry; D004560:Electricity; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D007700:Kinetics; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D058608:Nanopores; D009841:Oligonucleotides / Q000737:chemistry; D058767:Protein Unfolding / Q000187:drug effects; D011817:Rabbits; D013879:Thioredoxins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D014508:Urea / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D006460:Hemolysin Proteins; D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D009841:Oligonucleotides; C021091:staphylococcal alpha-toxin; D013879:Thioredoxins; D014508:Urea