Skip to main content
PMC home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1988 Oct;85(20):7685–7689. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.20.7685

Alteration of the amino terminus of the mature sequence of a periplasmic protein can severely affect protein export in Escherichia coli.

P Li 1, J Beckwith 1, H Inouye 1
PMCID: PMC282257  PMID: 3051001

Abstract

Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase, coded for by the phoA gene, is normally translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane into the periplasm with high efficiency. We have constructed a series of derivatives of the phoA gene that code for a wild-type signal sequence but result in altered amino acid sequences at the amino terminus of the mature alkaline phosphatase. Our results suggest that the presence of two positively charged amino acids very early in the mature sequence interferes significantly with protein export. In one case, phoA2AB, the presence of the sequence Arg-Ile-Arg at the amino terminus of alkaline phosphatase results in a 50-times reduction in the export of the protein. By using oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis, we have constructed mutant derivatives of phoA2AB that are greatly enhanced for export. In all cases, these derivatives reduce the net positive charge in the region. Our results may explain the failure of E. coli to export a number of proteins coded for by artificial constructs and suggest a way to improve export in these cases.

Full text

PDF
7685

Images in this article

7687Image
on p.7687
7689Image
on p.7689

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bassford P. J., Jr, Silhavy T. J., Beckwith J. R. Use of gene fusion to study secretion of maltose-binding protein into Escherichia coli periplasm. J Bacteriol. 1979 Jul;139(1):19–31. doi: 10.1128/jb.139.1.19-31.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bassford P., Beckwith J. Escherichia coli mutants accumulating the precursor of a secreted protein in the cytoplasm. Nature. 1979 Feb 15;277(5697):538–541. doi: 10.1038/277538a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Collier D. N., Bankaitis V. A., Weiss J. B., Bassford P. J., Jr The antifolding activity of SecB promotes the export of the E. coli maltose-binding protein. Cell. 1988 Apr 22;53(2):273–283. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(88)90389-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Emr S. D., Hanley-Way S., Silhavy T. J. Suppressor mutations that restore export of a protein with a defective signal sequence. Cell. 1981 Jan;23(1):79–88. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90272-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Emr S. D., Silhavy T. J. Mutations affecting localization of an Escherichia coli outer membrane protein, the bacteriophage lambda receptor. J Mol Biol. 1980 Jul 25;141(1):63–90. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(80)80029-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hall M. N., Gabay J., Schwartz M. Evidence for a coupling of synthesis and export of an outer membrane protein in Escherichia coli. EMBO J. 1983;2(1):15–19. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1983.tb01373.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Heijne G. The distribution of positively charged residues in bacterial inner membrane proteins correlates with the trans-membrane topology. EMBO J. 1986 Nov;5(11):3021–3027. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1986.tb04601.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Hoffman C. S., Wright A. Fusions of secreted proteins to alkaline phosphatase: an approach for studying protein secretion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Aug;82(15):5107–5111. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.15.5107. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Inouye S., Soberon X., Franceschini T., Nakamura K., Itakura K., Inouye M. Role of positive charge on the amino-terminal region of the signal peptide in protein secretion across the membrane. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jun;79(11):3438–3441. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.11.3438. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Ito K., Bassford P. J., Jr, Beckwith J. Protein localization in E. coli: is there a common step in the secretion of periplasmic and outer-membrane proteins? Cell. 1981 Jun;24(3):707–717. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90097-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kadonaga J. T., Gautier A. E., Straus D. R., Charles A. D., Edge M. D., Knowles J. R. The role of the beta-lactamase signal sequence in the secretion of proteins by Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 1984 Feb 25;259(4):2149–2154. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Koshland D., Sauer R. T., Botstein D. Diverse effects of mutations in the signal sequence on the secretion of beta-lactamase in Salmonella typhimurium. Cell. 1982 Oct;30(3):903–914. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90295-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kuhn A., Wickner W. Conserved residues of the leader peptide are essential for cleavage by leader peptidase. J Biol Chem. 1985 Dec 15;260(29):15914–15918. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Lin J. J., Kanazawa H., Ozols J., Wu H. C. An Escherichia coli mutant with an amino acid alteration within the signal sequence of outer membrane prolipoprotein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Oct;75(10):4891–4895. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.10.4891. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Liss L. R., Johnson B. L., Oliver D. B. Export defect adjacent to the processing site of staphylococcal nuclease is suppressed by a prlA mutation. J Bacteriol. 1985 Nov;164(2):925–928. doi: 10.1128/jb.164.2.925-928.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Mandecki W. Oligonucleotide-directed double-strand break repair in plasmids of Escherichia coli: a method for site-specific mutagenesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Oct;83(19):7177–7181. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.19.7177. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Manoil C., Beckwith J. A genetic approach to analyzing membrane protein topology. Science. 1986 Sep 26;233(4771):1403–1408. doi: 10.1126/science.3529391. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Manoil C., Beckwith J. TnphoA: a transposon probe for protein export signals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(23):8129–8133. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.23.8129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Michaelis S., Guarente L., Beckwith J. In vitro construction and characterization of phoA-lacZ gene fusions in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):356–365. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.356-365.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Michaelis S., Inouye H., Oliver D., Beckwith J. Mutations that alter the signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):366–374. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.366-374.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Müller M., Blobel G. Protein export in Escherichia coli requires a soluble activity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Dec;81(24):7737–7741. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.24.7737. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Plückthun A., Knowles J. R. The consequences of stepwise deletions from the signal-processing site of beta-lactamase. J Biol Chem. 1987 Mar 25;262(9):3951–3957. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Randall L. L., Hardy S. J. Correlation of competence for export with lack of tertiary structure of the mature species: a study in vivo of maltose-binding protein in E. coli. Cell. 1986 Sep 12;46(6):921–928. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90074-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Rasmussen B. A., Silhavy T. J. The first 28 amino acids of mature LamB are required for rapid and efficient export from the cytoplasm. Genes Dev. 1987 Apr;1(2):185–196. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.2.185. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Russel M., Model P. A mutation downstream from the signal peptidase cleavage site affects cleavage but not membrane insertion of phage coat protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Mar;78(3):1717–1721. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.3.1717. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Sanger F., Nicklen S., Coulson A. R. DNA sequencing with chain-terminating inhibitors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Dec;74(12):5463–5467. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.12.5463. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Tommassen J., Leunissen J., van Damme-Jongsten M., Overduin P. Failure of E. coli K-12 to transport PhoE-LacZ hybrid proteins out of the cytoplasm. EMBO J. 1985 Apr;4(4):1041–1047. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1985.tb03736.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Vlasuk G. P., Inouye S., Ito H., Itakura K., Inouye M. Effects of the complete removal of basic amino acid residues from the signal peptide on secretion of lipoprotein in Escherichia coli. J Biol Chem. 1983 Jun 10;258(11):7141–7148. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Weng Q. P., Chen L. L., Tai P. C. Requirement of heat-labile cytoplasmic protein factors for posttranslational translocation of OmpA protein precursors into Escherichia coli membrane vesicles. J Bacteriol. 1988 Jan;170(1):126–131. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.1.126-131.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. von Heijne G. Net N-C charge imbalance may be important for signal sequence function in bacteria. J Mol Biol. 1986 Nov 20;192(2):287–290. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(86)90365-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. von Heijne G. Towards a comparative anatomy of N-terminal topogenic protein sequences. J Mol Biol. 1986 May 5;189(1):239–242. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(86)90394-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES