SecA, the peripheral subunit of the Escherichia coli preprotein translocase, interacts with a number of ligands during export, including signal peptides, membrane phospholipids, and nucleotides. Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), we studied the interactions of wild-type (WT) and mutant SecAs with IAEDANS-labeled signal peptide, and how these interactions are modified in the presence of other transport ligands. We find that residues on the third α-helix in the preprotein cross-linking domain (PPXD) are important for the interaction of SecA and signal peptide. For SecA in aqueous solution, saturation binding data using FRET analysis fit a single-site binding model and yielded a K d of 2.4 μM. FRET is inhibited for SecA in lipid vesicles relative to that in aqueous solution at a low signal peptide concentration. The sigmoidal nature of the binding curve suggests that SecA in lipids has two conformational states; our results do not support different oligomeric states of SecA. Using native gel electrophoresis, we establish signal peptide-induced SecA monomerization in both aqueous solution and lipid vesicles. Whereas the affinity of SecA for signal peptide in an aqueous environment is unaffected by temperature or the presence of nucleotides, in lipids the affinity decreases in the presence of ADP or AMP-PCP but increases at higher temperature. The latter finding is consistent with SecA existing in an elongated form while inserting the signal peptide into membranes.More than one-third of the proteins synthesized inside the cell must be exported to extracytoplasmic locations to perform their functions. In Escherichia coli, many preproteins are recognized and transported by the Sec transport machinery. This secretory pathway has been extensively studied and several of the key proteins involved have been identified and characterized; however, the mechanisms by which the preprotein interacts with the secretion machinery are not clearly understood.In the cytoplasm, SecB, a chaperone, binds preproteins to keep them in an unfolded state and delivers them to the membrane-associated SecA for post-translational export (1, 2). SecA is a critical component of the Sec transport pathway; it recognizes and binds the preprotein and functions as an ATPase. Moreover, conformational changes resulting from the interaction of SecB with SecA are thought to result in the transfer of the preprotein from the chaperone to the ATPase (3, 4). The membrane proteins, SecG, SecD, and SecF, stabilize and stimulate SecA at the membrane, and as a consequence, SecA can deliver the preprotein through the SecYEG pore (5, 6). Some studies indicate binding of ATP causes the dissociation of SecB from the enzyme, and cycles of ATP hydrolysis (7,8) and conformational changes lead to membrane insertion of the SecA-preprotein complex followed by deinsertion of SecA (9, 10). Meyer et al. (11) One SecA dimerization site is located at its C-terminus (18), which also binds SecY, SecB, and phospholipids (23), and not surprisingly, these a...

SecA, an ATPase crucial to the Sec-dependent translocation machinery in Escherichia coli, recognizes and directly binds the N-terminal signal peptide of an exported preprotein. This interaction plays a central role in the targeting and transport of preproteins via the SecYEG channel. Here we identify the Signal Peptide Binding Groove (SPBG) on SecA addressing a key issue regarding the SecA-preprotein interaction. We employ a synthetic signal peptide containing the photoreactive benzoylphenylalanine to efficiently and specifically label SecA containing a unique Factor Xa site. Comparison of the photolabeled fragment from the subsequent proteolysis of several SecAs, which vary only in the location of the Factor Xa site, reveals one 53-residue segment in common with the entire series. The covalently modified SecA segment produced is the same in aqueous solution and in lipid vesicles. This spans amino acids 269 to 322 of the E. coli protein, which is distinct from a previously proposed signal peptide binding site, and contributes to a hydrophobic peptide binding groove evident in molecular models of SecA.

Understanding the transport of hydrophilic proteins across biological membranes continues to be an important undertaking. The general secretory (Sec) pathway in Escherichia coli transports the majority of E. coli proteins from their point of synthesis in the cytoplasm to their sites of final localization, associating sequentially with a number of protein components of the transport machinery. The targeting signals for these substrates must be discriminated from those of proteins transported via other pathways. While targeting signals for each route have common overall characteristics, individual signal peptides vary greatly in their amino acid sequences. How do these diverse signals interact specifically with the proteins that comprise the appropriate transport machinery and, at the same time, avoid targeting to an alternate route? The recent publication of the crystal structures of components of the Sec transport machinery now allows a more thorough consideration of the interactions of signal sequences with these components.The general secretory (Sec) pathway in Escherichia coli transports the majority of exported E. coli proteins from their point of synthesis in the cytoplasm to their sites of final localization, and it serves as a model system for the Sec pathway of the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum (ER 1 ). Preproteins that are secreted across the inner membrane through the Sec system contain a hydrophobic, cleavable signal peptide (Figure 1) that interacts posttranslationally with SecA in the cytoplasm (Figure 2a). The SecA -preprotein complex associates with SecYEG at the membrane where the preprotein travels through the SecYEG pore (Figure 2b).Following preprotein translocation, signal peptidase cleaves the signal peptide from the mature protein (Figure 2c). We know that a signal peptide is critical for entrance of a preprotein into this pathway yet how signal sequences are recognized and interact specifically with the transport machinery is the subject of intense study.The lack of primary sequence homology among signal peptides was for some time misleading and the possibility that these peptides were nonetheless endowed with specific recognition elements was not actively considered. Indeed, the "helical hairpin hypothesis" put forth in 1981 (1) emphasized the thermodynamic considerations of moving a hydrophilic protein through a hydrophobic membrane in the absence of specific membrane receptors or transport proteins. More recently, the identification of additional transport routes has required that we rethink the role of the signal peptide. Inner membrane proteins are delivered to SecYEG cotranslationally

We have constructed a series of signal sequence mutants that contain negatively charged amino termini and simplified core regions of varying hydrophobicity levels. This series provides a means of exploring the relative roles of the amino terminus and the hydrophobic core region during transport. The signal peptides with highly hydrophobic core regions support a rapid rate of transport in the presence of a negatively charged amino terminus. We have found that these negatively charged mutants are secreted in a manner similar to the wild-type signal sequence; sodium azide and carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone treatments indicate that the negatively charged mutants depend on SecA and the protonmotive force, respectively. These same mutants also demonstrate reduced competition with coexpressed beta-lactamase, reflecting the lower overall affinity for the transport pathway due to the net negative charge at the amino terminus. In addition, the pronounced effects of introducing three negative charges support the conclusion that the two regions function in a concerted manner.

In order to titrate the dependence of individual steps in protein transport on signal peptide hydrophobicity, we have examined a series of mutants which involve replacement of the hydrophobic core segment of the Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase signal peptide. The core regions vary in composition from 10:0 to 0:10 in the ratio of alanine to leucine residues. Thus, a nonfunctional polyalanine-containing signal peptide is titrated with the more hydrophobic residue, leucine. Analysis of this series identified a midpoint for rapid precursor processing between alanine to leucine ratios of 6:4 and 5:5 [Doud et al. (1993): Biochemistry 32:1251-1256]. Examination of precursors that are processed more slowly indicates a lower limit of signal peptide hydrophobicity that permits membrane association and translocation. Analysis of precursors that are processed rapidly defines an intermediate range of hydrophobicity that is optimum; above this level precursors become insensitive to transport inhibitors such as sodium azide and carbonyl cyanide 3-chlorophenylhydrazone (CCCP) in parallel with substantial inhibition of beta-lactamase processing. Our data indicate that there is a surprisingly narrow range of signal peptide hydrophobicity which both supports transport of the protein to which it is attached and which does not have such a high affinity for the transport pathway that it disrupts the appropriate balance of other secreted proteins.