Gram-negative bacteria inhabit a broad range of ecological niches. For Escherichia coli, this includes river water as well as humans and animals where it can be both a commensal and a pathogen1–3. Intricate regulatory mechanisms ensure bacteria have the right complement of β-barrel outer membrane proteins (OMPs) to enable adaptation to a particular habitat4,5. Yet no mechanism is known for replacing OMPs in the outer membrane (OM), a biological enigma further confounded by the lack of an energy source and the high stability6 and abundance of OMPs5. Here, we uncover the process underpinning OMP turnover in E. coli and show it to be passive and binary in nature wherein old OMPs are displaced to the poles of growing cells as new OMPs take their place. Using fluorescent colicins as OMP-specific probes, in combination with ensemble and single-molecule fluorescence microscopy in vivo and in vitro, as well as molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we established the mechanism for binary OMP partitioning. OMPs clustered to form islands of ~0.5 μm diameter where their diffusion was restricted by promiscuous interactions with other OMPs. OMP islands were distributed throughout the cell and contained the Bam complex, which catalyses the insertion of OMPs in the OM7,8. However, OMP biogenesis occurred as a gradient that was highest at mid-cell but largely absent at cell poles. The cumulative effect is to push old OMP islands towards the poles of growing cells, leading to a binary distribution when cells divide. Hence the OM of a Gram-negative bacterium is a spatially and temporally organised structure and this organisation lies at the heart of how OMPs are turned over in the membrane.

The anionic lipid cardiolipin is an essential component of active ATP synthases. In metazoans, their rotors contain a ring of eight c-subunits consisting of inner and outer circles of N-and C-terminal α-helices, respectively. The beginning of the C-terminal α-helix contains a strictly conserved and fully trimethylated lysine residue in the lipid headgroup region of the membrane. Larger rings of known structure, from c 9 -c 15 in eubacteria and chloroplasts, conserve either a lysine or an arginine residue in the equivalent position. In computer simulations of hydrated membranes containing trimethylated or unmethylated bovine c 8 -rings and bacterial c 10 -or c 11 -rings, the head-groups of cardiolipin molecules became associated selectively with these modified and unmodified lysine residues and with adjacent polar amino acids and with a second conserved lysine on the opposite side of the membrane, whereas phosphatidyl lipids were attracted little to these sites. However, the residence times of cardiolipin molecules with the ring were brief and sufficient for the rotor to turn only a fraction of a degree in the active enzyme. With the demethylated c 8 -ring and with c 10 -and c 11 -rings, the density of bound cardiolipin molecules at this site increased, but residence times were not changed greatly. These highly specific but brief interactions with the rotating c-ring are consistent with functional roles for cardiolipin in stabilizing and lubricating the rotor, and, by interacting with the enzyme at the inlet and exit of the transmembrane proton channel, in participation in proton translocation through the membrane domain of the enzyme.ardiolipin is associated uniquely with energy-transducing membranes in mitochondria and eubacteria. In mitochondria, it is found in the inner membrane and is synthesized close to, or in, the inner leaflet (1) where most of it remains (2, 3). Cardiolipin consists of two 3-phosphatidyl groups linked by a glycerol bridge, and in bovine mitochondria, the four acyl chains have 18 carbon atoms with one or two unsaturated linkages (4). It has been proposed that under physiological conditions, the central hydroxyl and the two phosphates trap a proton in a resonance structure and that cardiolipin carries one net negative charge (5). However, re-evaluations of the pK a values of the phosphates indicate that under physiological conditions, the head-group of cardiolipin bears two negative charges (6, 7).Cardiolipin and other phospholipids are essential components of active ATP synthases isolated from mitochondria (8-12). It has been suggested that cardiolipin acts to stabilize and lubricate the rotating c-ring (13) or to aid in proton transfer (5), but it is not known where or how cardiolipin binds to the enzyme. Excluding the regulatory protein IF 1, the bovine ATP synthase complex is built from 28 polypeptide chains of 16 varieties (14). About 85% of a mosaic overall structure has been determined to atomic resolution by structural analysis of constituent domains (15-18), and an intact enzyme ...

Protein–lipid interactions are a key element of the function of many integral membrane proteins. These potential interactions should be considered alongside the complexity and diversity of membrane lipid composition. Inward rectifier potassium channel (Kir) Kir2.2 has multiple interactions with plasma membrane lipids: Phosphatidylinositol (4, 5)-bisphosphate (PIP2) activates the channel; a secondary anionic lipid site has been identified, which augments the activation by PIP2; and cholesterol inhibits the channel. Molecular dynamics simulations are used to characterize in molecular detail the protein–lipid interactions of Kir2.2 in a model of the complex plasma membrane. Kir2.2 has been simulated with multiple, functionally important lipid species. From our simulations we show that PIP2interacts most tightly at the crystallographic interaction sites, outcompeting other lipid species at this site. Phosphatidylserine (PS) interacts at the previously identified secondary anionic lipid interaction site, in a PIP2concentration-dependent manner. There is interplay between these anionic lipids: PS interactions are diminished when PIP2is not present in the membrane, underlining the need to consider multiple lipid species when investigating protein–lipid interactions.

Graphical abstract

Lipids play important modulatory and structural roles for membrane proteins. Molecular dynamics simulations are frequently used to provide insights into the nature of these protein−lipid interactions. Systematic comparative analysis requires tools that provide algorithms for objective assessment of such interactions. We introduce PyLipID, a Python package for the identification and characterization of specific lipid interactions and binding sites on membrane proteins from molecular dynamics simulations. PyLipID uses a community analysis approach for binding site detection, calculating lipid residence times for both the individual protein residues and the detected binding sites. To assist structural analysis, PyLipID produces representative bound lipid poses from simulation data, using a density-based scoring function. To estimate residue contacts robustly, PyLipID uses a dual-cutoff scheme to differentiate between lipid conformational rearrangements while bound from full dissociation events. In addition to the characterization of protein−lipid interactions, PyLipID is applicable to analysis of the interactions of membrane proteins with other ligands. By combining automated analysis, efficient algorithms, and open-source distribution, PyLipID facilitates the systematic analysis of lipid interactions from large simulation data sets of multiple species of membrane proteins.

Large coarse-grained simulations show that integral membrane proteins alter the bending rigidity of lipid bilayers.

Ion channels and G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are regulated by lipids in their membrane environment. Structural studies combined with biophysical and molecular simulation investigations reveal interaction sites for specific lipids on membrane protein structures. For K channels, PIP2 plays a key role in regulating Kv and Kir channels. Likewise, several recent cryo-EM structures of TRP channels have revealed bound lipids, including PIP2 and cholesterol. Among the pentameric ligand-gated ion channel family, structural and biophysical studies suggest the M4 TM helix may act as a lipid sensor, e.g., forming part of the binding sites for neurosteroids on the GABAA receptor. Structures of GPCRs have revealed multiple cholesterol sites, which may modulate both receptor dynamics and receptor oligomerization. PIP2 also interacts with GPCRs and may modulate their interactions with G proteins. Overall, it is evident that multiple lipid binding sites exist on channels and receptors that modulate their function allosterically and are potential druggable sites.

Cell membranes are crowded and complex environments. To investigate the effect of protein-lipid interactions on dynamic organization in mammalian cell membranes, we have performed coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations containing >100 copies of an inwardly rectifying potassium (Kir) channel which forms specific interactions with the regulatory lipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2). The tendency of protein molecules to cluster has the effect of organizing the membrane into dynamic compartments. At the same time, the diversity of lipids present has a marked effect on the clustering behavior of ion channels. Sub-diffusion of proteins and lipids is observed. Protein crowding alters the sub-diffusive behavior of proteins and lipids such as PIP2 which interact tightly with Kir channels. Protein crowding also affects bilayer properties, such as membrane undulations and bending rigidity, in a PIP2-dependent manner. This interplay between the diffusion and the dynamic organization of Kir channels may have important implications for channel function.