@article{BarcenaUribarriTheinMaieretal.2013, author = {B{\´a}rcena-Uribarri, Iv{\´a}n and Thein, Marcus and Maier, Elke and Bonde, Mari and Bergstr{\"o}m, Sven and Benz, Roland}, title = {Use of Nonelectrolytes Reveals the Channel Size and Oligomeric Constitution of the Borrelia burgdorferi P66 Porin}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {8}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {11}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0078272}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-129965}, pages = {e78272}, year = {2013}, abstract = {In the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the outer membrane protein P66 is capable of pore formation with an atypical high single-channel conductance of 11 nS in 1 M KCl, which suggested that it could have a larger diameter than 'normal' Gram-negative bacterial porins. We studied the diameter of the P66 channel by analyzing its single-channel conductance in black lipid bilayers in the presence of different nonelectrolytes with known hydrodynamic radii. We calculated the filling of the channel with these nonelectrolytes and the results suggested that nonelectrolytes (NEs) with hydrodynamic radii of 0.34 nm or smaller pass through the pore, whereas neutral molecules with greater radii only partially filled the channel or were not able to enter it at all. The diameter of the entrance of the P66 channel was determined to be \(\leq\)1.9 nm and the channel has a central constriction of about 0.8 nm. The size of the channel appeared to be symmetrical as judged from one-sidedness of addition of NEs. Furthermore, the P66-induced membrane conductance could be blocked by 80-90\% by the addition of the nonelectrolytes PEG 400, PEG 600 and maltohexaose to the aqueous phase in the low millimolar range. The analysis of the power density spectra of ion current through P66 after blockage with these NEs revealed no chemical reaction responsible for channel block. Interestingly, the blockage of the single-channel conductance of P66 by these NEs occurred in about eight subconductance states, indicating that the P66 channel could be an oligomer of about eight individual channels. The organization of P66 as a possible octamer was confirmed by Blue Native PAGE and immunoblot analysis, which both demonstrated that P66 forms a complex with a mass of approximately 460 kDa. Two dimension SDS PAGE revealed that P66 is the only polypeptide in the complex.}, language = {en} } @article{TheinBondeBunikisetal.2012, author = {Thein, Marcus and Bonde, Mari and Bunikis, Ignas and Denker, Katrin and Sickmann, Albert and Bergstr{\"o}m, Sven and Benz, Roland}, title = {DipA, a Pore-Forming Protein in the Outer Membrane of Lyme Disease Spirochetes Exhibits Specificity for the Permeation of Dicarboxylates}, url = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-75809}, year = {2012}, abstract = {Lyme disease Borreliae are highly dependent on the uptake of nutrients provided by their hosts. Our study describes the identification of a 36 kDa protein that functions as putative dicarboxylate-specific porin in the outer membrane of Lyme disease Borrelia. The protein was purified by hydroxyapatite chromatography from Borrelia burgdorferi B31 and designated as DipA, for dicarboxylate-specific porin A. DipA was partially sequenced, and corresponding genes were identified in the genomes of B. burgdorferi B31, Borrelia garinii PBi and Borrelia afzelii PKo. DipA exhibits high homology to the Oms38 porins of relapsing fever Borreliae. B. burgdorferi DipA was characterized using the black lipid bilayer assay. The protein has a singlechannel conductance of 50 pS in 1 M KCl, is slightly selective for anions with a permeability ratio for cations over anions of 0.57 in KCl and is not voltage-dependent. The channel could be partly blocked by different di- and tricarboxylic anions. Particular high stability constants up to about 28,000 l/mol (in 0.1 M KCl) were obtained among the 11 tested anions for oxaloacetate, 2-oxoglutarate and citrate. The results imply that DipA forms a porin specific for dicarboxylates which may play an important role for the uptake of specific nutrients in different Borrelia species.}, subject = {Medizin}, language = {en} }