Conformational changes are thought to underlie the activation of heterotrimeric GTP-binding protein (G protein)-coupled receptors. Such changes in rhodopsin were explored by construction of double cysteine mutants, each containing one cysteine at the cytoplasmic end of helix C and one cysteine at various positions in the cytoplasmic end of helix F. Magnetic dipolar interactions between spin labels attached to these residues revealed their proximity, and changes in their interaction upon rhodopsin light activation suggested a rigid body movement of helices relative to one another. Disulfide cross-linking of the helices prevented activation of transducin, which suggests the importance of this movement for activation of rhodopsin.

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) difference spectra have been obtained for the bR----K, bR----L, and bR----M photoreactions in bacteriorhodopsin mutants in which Asp residues 85, 96, 115, and 212 have been replaced by Asn and by Glu. Difference peaks that had previously been attributed to Asp COOH groups on the basis of isotopic labeling were absent or shifted in these mutants. In general, each COOH peak was affected strongly by mutation at only one of the four residues. Thus, it was possible to assign each peak tentatively to a particular Asp. From these assignments, a model for the proton-pumping mechanism of bR is derived, which features proton transfers among Asp-85, -96, and -212, the chromophore Schiff base, and other ionizable groups within the protein. The model can explain the observed COOH peaks in the FTIR difference spectra of bR photointermediates and could also account for other recent results on site-directed mutants of bR.

Ten mutants of bacteriorhodopsin, each containing a single cysteine residue regularly spaced along helix D and facing the lipid bilayer, were derivatized with a nitroxide spin label. Collision rates of the nitroxide with apolar oxygen increased with distance from the membrane/solution interface. Collision rates with polar metal ion complexes decreased over the same distance. Although the collision rates depend on steric constraints imposed by the local protein structure and on the depth in the membrane, the ratio of the collision rate of oxygen to those of a polar metal ion complex is independent of structural features of the protein. The logarithm of the ratio is a linear function of depth within the membrane. Calibration of this ratio parameter with spin-labeled phospholipids allows localization of the individual nitroxides, and hence the bacteriorhodopsin molecule, relative to the plane of the phosphate groups of the bilayer. The spacing between residues is consistent with the pitch ofan a-helix. These results provide a general strategy for determining the immersion depth of nitroxides in bilayers.Site-directed spin labeling has become a powerful tool for determination of membrane protein structures and their disposition with respect to the bilayer (1-3). In previous studies, information on the region where transmembrane helices intersect with the membrane/solution interface has been obtained by analysis of a consecutive series of mutants that traverse the interface (1). If it were possible to determine the vertical distance of a spin-labeled side chain from the plane of the phosphates of the lipid headgroups, analysis of only one or two spin-labeled mutants would be sufficient to determine the position ofa transmembrane domain relative to the membrane.EPR methods for estimation of the depth of immersion of a nitroxide in the membrane have been reported (4-6). These methods are based upon the dipolar interactions of the nitroxide with paramagnetic reagents constrained to the aqueous phase and require knowledge of the spacial distribution of the paramagnetic reagents in solution. This distribution may be readily deduced for a pure bilayer with a nitroxide on a lipid chain, but not for a nitroxide attached to a protein in a bilayer. This is because the protein has an unknown excluded volume for the paramagnetic reagent in the aqueous phase.In this report, we make use of site-directed spin labeling to introduce nitroxides along the entire length of helix D of bacteriorhodopsin (bR). The collision frequencies of the nitroxides with paramagnetic reagents are dependent upon position, and this effect is shown to provide an approach for localization of nitroxides in the membrane interior. MATERIALS AND METHODSEgg yolk phosphatidylcholine (PC) and 1-palmitoyl-2-(ndoxylpalmitoyl) PC spin-labeled isomers with n = 5, 7, 10, 12, and 16 were obtained from Avanti Polar Lipids. Ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid (EDDA), nickel(II) acetylacetonate (NiAA), and Ni(OH)2 were obtained from Aldrich. bR mutants were prepare...

We report here the high-level expression of a synthetic gene for bovine rhodopsin in transfected monkey kidney COS-1 cells. Rhodopsin is produced in these cells to a level of0.3% of the cell protein, and it binds exogenously added 11-cis-retinal to generate the characteristic rhodopsin absorption spectrum. We describe a one-step immunoaftmity procedure for purification of the rhodopsin essentially to homogeneity. The COS-1 cell rhodopsin activates the GTPase activity of bovine transducin in a light-dependent manner with the same specific activity as that of purified bovine rhodopsin. Electron microscopy of immunogold-stained cells indicates that rhodopsin is located in the plasma membrane of the transfected cells and is oriented with the amino terminus on the extracellular side of the membrane. This orientation is analogous to that of rhodopsin in the disk membranes of photoreceptor cells in the bovine retina.Rhodopsin is the photoreceptor protein of vertebrate retinal rod cells (1, 2). Upon absorption of light, rhodopsin undergoes a structural change that allows it to activate the GTP-binding protein, transducin, and thus initiate a sequence of events that results in the hyperpolarization of the rod cell. Light transduction and its regulation is evidently mediated by a number of proteins in the rod outer segment (ROS).Bovine rhodopsin consists of a polypeptide chain of 348 amino acids whose sequence is known by both protein and DNA sequencing (3-5). 11-cis-Retinal linked as a Schiff base to the e-amino group of Lys-296 serves as the chromophore. The primary event following the capture of a photon by rhodopsin is the isomerization of 11-cis-retinal to all-transretinal. However, little is known about the nature of the structural changes induced in rhodopsin by this isomerization, the consequent interaction with transducin, or the mechanism of light/dark adaptation. We wish to study these questions by carrying out specific amino acid substitutions in the rhodopsin molecule by using recombinant DNA techniques. For site-specific mutagenesis, we have previously synthesized a gene for bovine rhodopsin that contains a suitable number of conveniently placed unique restriction sites (6, 7). These allow the replacement of specific restriction fragments by synthetic counterparts that contain the desired altered codons. The next requirement is the satisfactory expression of rhodopsin in its fully functional form. In this paper, we report on the high-level expression of the synthetic rhodopsin gene in mammalian cells using the expression vector p91023(B) (8, 9). The apoprotein (opsin) produced in these cells can be reconstituted by the addition of exogenous ll-cis-retinal. It has been purified essentially to homogeneity by a one-step immunoaffinity procedure and has been characterized. MATERIALS AND METHODSMaterials. COS-1 monkey kidney cells (10) Buffers and Media. Medium A was Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing D-glucose (4.5 g/liter), streptomycin (100 mg/ml), penicillin (100 mg/ml), a supplement of 2 ...

Above pH 8 the decay of the photocycle intermediate M of bacteriorhodopsin splits into two components: the usual millisecond pH-independent component and an additional slower component with a rate constant proportional to the molar concentration of HI, 1H+]. In parallel, the charge translocation signal associated with the reprotonation of the Schiff base develops a similar slow component. These observations are explained by a two-step reprotonation mechanism. An internal donor ru-st reprotonates the Schiffbase in the decay of M to N and is then reprotonated from the cytoplasm in the N -O 0 transition. The decay rate of N is proportional to [HI].By postulating a back reaction from N to M, the M decay splits up into two components, with the slower one having the same pH dependence as the decay of N. Photocycle, photovoltage, and pH-indicator experiments with mutants in which aspartic acid-96 is replaced by asparagine or alanine, which we call D96N and D96A, suggest that Asp-96 is the internal proton donor involved in the re-uptake pathway. In both mutants the stoichiometry of proton pumping is the same as in wild type. However, the M decay is monophasic, with the logarithm of the decay time [log (7)] linearly dependent on pH, suggesting that the internal donor is absent and that the Schiff base is directly reprotonated from the cytoplasm. Like HI, azide increases the M decay rate in D96N. The rate constant is proportional to the azide concentration and can become >100 times greater than in wild type. Thus, azide functions as a mobile proton donor directly reprotonating the Schiffbase in a bimolecular reaction. Both the proton and azide effects, which are absent in wild type, indicate that the internal donor is removed and that the reprotonation pathway is different from wild type in these mutants.Bacteriorhodopsin (bR) is a light-driven proton pump from Halobacterium halobium that transports H+ ions from the cytoplasm to the extracellular space with a stoichiometry of one proton per cycle (1). The transmembrane H+ translocation involves distinct electrogenic steps associated with H+ ejection from the protein interior into the periplasm and the subsequent H+ rebinding from the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. The proton uptake occurs on the millisecond time scale and is apparently coupled to the reprotonation of the Schiff base (SB) and the decay of the M intermediate of the photochemical cycle. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy first indicated that several aspartate carboxyl groups undergo protonation changes during the photocycle (2, 3). Site-directed mutagenesis of bR showed that substitution of aspartate residues at positions 85, 96, and 212 by asparagine reduced the proton pumping activity to a few percent (4) and revealed, in combination with FTIR measurements, the protonation states of specific aspartate residues in various photocycle intermediates (5, 6). In the mutant D96N, the kinetics of proton uptake is affected (7-9). We recently showed that the low steady-state proton pumping act...