PubMed · 786070
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F Iborra, J M Buhler. 1976. Protein subunit mapping. A sensitive high resolution method.. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-2697(76)90232-3
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The most effective protein purification method of low picomole amounts for sequence analysis involves polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis followed by electroblotting to polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) membranes. Since a critical factor in this procedure is the protein recovery at the blotting step, different types of PVDF membranes were systematically evaluated for their ability to bind proteins during electrotransfer. Differences in electroblotting recoveries occurred between types of PVDF membranes for some proteins. Some variability persisted even when optimized electroblotting procedures were used which reduce the sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration in the gel and improve protein-PVDF binding. The membranes which were evaluated could be grouped as either "high retention" membranes (ProBlott, Trans-Blot, and Immobilon-PSQ) or "low retention" membranes (Immobilon-P and Westran). The high retention membranes showed higher protein recoveries under most conditions tested, especially for small proteins or peptides. These high retention membranes were also less sensitive to the exact electroblotting conditions, especially those factors which affect the amount of SDS present during either electrotransfer or direct adsorption from protein solutions. High retention PVDF membranes are therefore preferred in most cases for optimal protein or peptide recovery prior to direct sequence analysis. In contrast, low retention membranes are preferred for procedures where subsequent extraction of the proteins from the membranes is required. Even under identical conditions, substantial protein-to-protein variation for both adsorption and subsequent extraction is routinely observed for both groups of membranes, indicating that the nature of protein-PVDF interactions is more complex than simple hydrophobic interactions.
A novel approach for locating sites of interest in a protein complex has been developed using monomaleimidonanogold (MMN). The Escherichia coli F1 ATPase, when prepared without the delta subunit, contains only a single reactive cysteine on one of the three copies of the alpha subunit. This site was reacted with MMN and the gold cluster visualized on the protein complex by cryoelectron microscopy. Additional sites for modification with MMN were added by introducing cysteine residues through site-directed mutagenesis. Labeling of two mutants, gamma S8-C and gamma T106-C, in which Ser8 and Thr106, respectively, had been replaced by a cysteine, placed the gold cluster on the central mass that is seen in the hexagonal projection of the ECF1 complex. The results establish that the central mass contains the N-terminal part of the gamma subunit.
The complex comprising 5S ribosomal RNA and the ribosomal protein YL3 (5S rRNP) was isolated from yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), and positively contrasted preparations were imaged by transmission electron microscopy. The overall dimensions of the 5S rRNP complex in the micrographs were 10 nm by 6 nm. Three predominant projections were selected from several hundred putative particles for digitisation and computer averaging to yield two-dimensional constructions with reproducible spatial resolutions exceeding 2 nm. The enhanced projection images were compatible with structural models of this complex based on biochemical studies.