It is challenging to find membrane mimics that stabilize the native structure, dynamics, and functions of membrane proteins. In a recent advance, nanodiscs have been shown to provide a bilayer environment compatible with solution NMR. Increasing the lipid to “belt” peptide ratio expands their diameter, slows their reorientation rate, and enables the protein-containing discs to be aligned in a magnetic field for Oriented Sample solid-state NMR. Here, we compare the spectroscopic properties of membrane proteins with between one and seven trans-membrane helices in q=0.1 isotropic bi-celles, ∼10 nm diameter isotropic nanodiscs, ∼30 nm diameter magnetically aligned macrodiscs, and q=5 bicelles.

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) protein p7 plays an important role in the assembly and release of mature virus particles. This small 63-residue membrane protein has been shown to induce channel activity, which may contribute to its functions. p7 is highly conserved throughout the entire range of HCV genotypes, which contributes to making p7 a potential target for anti-viral drugs. The secondary structure of p7 from the J4 genotype and the tilt angles of the helices within bilayers have been previously characterized by NMR. Here we describe the three-dimensional structure of p7 in short chain phospholipid (DHPC) micelles, which provide a reasonably effective membrane-mimicking environment that is compatible with solution NMR experiments. Using a combination of chemical shifts and residual dipolar couplings we determined the structure of p7 using an implicit membrane potential combining both CS-Rosetta decoys and Xplor-NIH refinement. The final set of structures has a backbone RMSD of 2.18 Å. Molecular dynamic simulations in NAMD indicate that several side chain interactions might be taking place, and that these could affect the dynamics of the protein. In addition to probing the dynamics of p7, several drug-protein and protein-protein interactions were evaluated. Established channel-blocking compounds such as amantadine, hexamethylene amiloride (HMA), and long alkyl-chain iminosugar derivatives inhibit the ion channel activity of p7. It has also been shown that the protein interacts with the HCV non-structural protein 2 (NS2) at the endoplasmic reticulum, and that this interaction may be important for the infectivity of the virus. Changes in the chemical shift frequencies of solution NMR spectra identify the residues taking part in these interactions.

The p7 protein of hepatitis C virus (HCV) plays an important role in the viral lifecycle. Like other members of the viroporin family of small membrane proteins, the amino acid sequence of p7 is largely conserved over the entire range of genotypes, and it forms ion channels that can be blocked by a number of established channel-blocking compounds. Its characteristics as a membrane protein make it difficult to study by most structural techniques, since it requires the presence of lipids to fold and function properly. Purified p7 can be incorporated into phospholipid bilayers and micelles. Initial solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) studies of p7 in 14-O-PC/6-O-PC bicelles indicate that the protein contains helical segments that are tilted approximately 10° and 25° relative to the bilayer normal. A truncated construct corresponding to the second transmembrane domain of p7 is shown to have properties similar to those of the full-length protein, and was used to determine that the helix segment tilted at 10° is in the C-terminal portion of the protein. The addition of the channel blocker amantadine to the full-length protein resulted in selective chemical shift changes, demonstrating that NMR has a potential role in the development of drugs targeted to p7.

P7 is a small membrane protein that is essential for the infectivity of hepatitis C virus. Solution-state NMR experiments on p7 in DHPC micelles, including hydrogen/deuterium exchange, paramagnetic relaxation enhancement and bicelle ‘q-titration’; demonstrate that the protein has a range of dynamic properties and distinct structural segments. These data along with residual dipolar couplings yield a secondary structure model of p7. We were able to confirm previous proposals that the protein has two transmembrane segments with a short interhelical loop containing the two basic residues K33 and R35. The 63-amino acid protein has a remarkably complex structure made up of 7 identifiable sections, four of which are helical segments with different tilt angles and dynamics. A solid-state NMR two-dimensional separated local field spectrum of p7 aligned in phospholipid bilayers provided the tilt angles of two of these segments. A preliminary structural model of p7 derived from these NMR data is presented.

A number of channel-forming peptides derived from the second transmembrane (TM) segment (M2) of the glycine receptor alpha(1) subunit (M2GlyR), including the 22-residue sequence NK(4)-M2GlyR p22 wild type (WT) (KKKKPARVGLGITTVLTMTTQS), induce anion permeation across epithelial cell monolayers. In vitro assays suggest that this peptide or related sequences might function as a candidate for ion channel replacement therapy in treating channelopathies such as cystic fibrosis (CF). The wild-type sequence forms soluble associations in water that diminish its efficacy. Introduction of a single substitution S22W at the C-terminus, NK(4)-M2GlyR p22 S22W, eliminates the formation of higher molecular weight associations in solution. The S22W peptide also reduces the concentration of peptide required for half-maximal anion transport induced across Madin-Darby canine kidney cells (MDCK) monolayers. A combination of 2D double quantum filtered correlation spectroscopy (DQF-COSY), total correlation spectroscopy (TOCSY), nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (NOESY), and rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY) data were recorded for both the associating WT and nonassociating S22W peptides and used to compare the primary structures and to assign the secondary structures. High-resolution structural studies were recorded in the solvent system (40% 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE)/water), which gave the largest structural difference between the two peptides. Nuclear Overhauser effect crosspeak intensity provided interproton distances and the torsion angles were measured by spin-spin coupling constants. These constraints were put into the DYANA modeling program to generate a group of structures. These studies yielded energy-minimized structures for this mixed solvent environment. Structure for both peptides is confined to the 15-residue transmembrane segments. The energy-minimized structure for the WT peptide shows a partially helical extended structure. The S22W peptide adopts a bent conformation forming a hydrophobic pocket by hydrophobic interactions.