Real Time Measurements of Membrane Protein:Receptor Interactions Using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)

Summary

Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is a label-free method for detecting bio-molecular interactions in real time. Herein, a protocol for a membrane protein:receptor interaction experiment is described, while discussing the pros and cons of the technique.

Abstract

Protein-protein interactions are pivotal to most, if not all, physiological processes, and understanding the nature of such interactions is a central step in biological research. Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) is a sensitive detection technique for label-free study of bio-molecular interactions in real time. In a typical SPR experiment, one component (usually a protein, termed 'ligand') is immobilized onto a sensor chip surface, while the other (the 'analyte') is free in solution and is injected over the surface. Association and dissociation of the analyte from the ligand are measured and plotted in real time on a graph called a sensogram, from which pre-equilibrium and equilibrium data is derived. Being label-free, consuming low amounts of material, and providing pre-equilibrium kinetic data, often makes SPR the method of choice when studying dynamics of protein interactions. However, one has to keep in mind that due to the method's high sensitivity, the data obtained needs to be carefully analyzed, and supported by other biochemical methods.

SPR is particularly suitable for studying membrane proteins since it consumes small amounts of purified material, and is compatible with lipids and detergents. This protocol describes an SPR experiment characterizing the kinetic properties of the interaction between a membrane protein (an ABC transporter) and a soluble protein (the transporter's cognate substrate binding protein).

Introduction

Protein-protein interactions (PPI); the formation and dissociation of protein complexes, are key events in many biological processes (e.g., replication, transcription, translation, signaling, cell-cell communication). Semi-quantitative studies of PPI are often performed using pull-down or immuno-precipitation experiments. However, these (and similar) techniques are limited in the range of affinities that can be measured (low micromolar and higher affinity) due to the washing steps that are inherent to such techniques. Such “end-point” techniques cannot identify transient or low affinity interactions that are often of great biological consequences.....

Protocol

1. Protein Sample and Buffer Preparation

1. Sample preparation: purify the proteins of interest and make sure all aggregates are removed, by injecting the protein prior to the experiment onto a gel-filtration column or by ultracentrifugation (usually 10 min at 100,000 x g is sufficient).
   NOTE: Although desirable, highly pure protein preparations are not a must. SPR has been successfully used with less-than-perfect purifications and even with total extract^8,9.
2. Buffer preparation:
   1. Prepare the buffer of the experiment (termed “running buffer”, or RB). For the protocol described here, use 50 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.5, ....

Results

In the system described herein, a NiNTA chip is used to immobilize the His-tagged membrane transporter ^6,7. Being a homo-dimer, each transporter is doubly tagged, improving its binding to the NiNTA chip. Following nickel loading, ligand A (the transporter of interest) is immobilized onto Fc=2, up to ~3,500 RU (protocol cycle 2, Figure 2A black label). Then, using the same flow and injection duration, ligand B (the control ligand) is injected onto Fc=1, initially reaching only up to a ~3,000 RU.......

Discussion

SPR is a highly sensitive method to study molecular interactions, and is often the only approach that provides real-time monitoring of transient (yet important) interactions. An example is the transient interaction presented herein, that could not be detected by any other method (pull-down assays, liposomes sedimentation assays⁶). Moreover, while other methods are limited to equilibrium measurements (whether quantitative or qualitative), SPR is one of the only techniques that measure also the pre-equilibrium k.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Biacore T200	GE Healthcare	28-9750-01
Sensor Chip NTA	GE Healthcare	14100532
BIAevaluation	GE Healthcare
Biacore T200 Software	GE Healthcare
Nickel chloride	Sigma	N6136
Sodium tungstate dihydrate	Sigma	T2629
Sodium Chloride	Bio-Lab LTD.	19030591
Trizma base	Sigma	T1503
Ethyldiamine-tetraacetic acid disodium salt dihydrate (EDTA)	Sigma	E5134
n-Dodecyl-β-D-Maltopyranoside (DDM)	Affymetrix	D310
Sodium dodecyl sulfate solution	Sigma	05030
Kimwipes KIMTECH	Kimberly-Clark	34120
Hydrochloric acid	GADOT	7647-01-0
Nylon (NY) Membrane Filter	Sartorius	25007--47------N
ModBC ABC transporter	Lewinson lab
RbsBC ABC transporter	Lewinson lab
ModA Substrate Binding Protein	Lewinson lab