Issue 82, 2017, Issue in Progress

Transmembrane oligomeric intermediates of pore forming toxin Cytolysin A determine leakage kinetics

Abstract

Calcein leakage experiments for the α pore forming toxin Cytolysin A (ClyA) are carried out using a suspension of small unilamellar vesicles made up of 1,2-dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) and cholesterol. Combining the oligomerization kinetics with a Poisson process to describe the inherent stochasticity underlying pore formation, we screen possible oligomerization pathways by comparing model predictions with calcein leakage data for ClyA. Excellent agreement with the leakage data was obtained for a reversible sequential oligomerization mechanism upon inclusion of leakage from membrane inserted partially oligomerized intermediates or ‘arcs’. In contrast, the non-sequential mechanisms were unable to predict the calcein leakage data. Reversibility in the oligomerization mechanism maintains a constant supply of protomers resulting in a broad distribution of oligomers at steady state. Additionally, the time scale for the conformational change from the water soluble monomer to the membrane bound protomer was found to be similar or larger than the time scale for oligomerization. The dominant contribution to leakage was found to occur from the smaller arcs, consistent with the low protein to lipid ratios used in the experiment. Our kinetic model is able to capture both the fast and slow time constants typically observed in calcein leakage experiments. A key inference is that arcs play a critical role in the leakage kinetics of ClyA, with the fast leakage time scale arising from the smaller oligomerized intermediates and the longer time scale arising from the slowly forming higher order oligomers.

Graphical abstract: Transmembrane oligomeric intermediates of pore forming toxin Cytolysin A determine leakage kinetics

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
02 Jul 2017
Accepted
27 Sep 2017
First published
07 Nov 2017
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2017,7, 51750-51762

Transmembrane oligomeric intermediates of pore forming toxin Cytolysin A determine leakage kinetics

A. Agrawal, K. Apoorva and K. G. Ayappa, RSC Adv., 2017, 7, 51750 DOI: 10.1039/C7RA07304F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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