Protein interactions with peptides generally have low thermodynamic and mechanical stability. Streptococcus pyogenes fibronectin-binding protein FbaB contains a domain with a spontaneous isopeptide bond between Lys and Asp. By splitting this domain and rational engineering of the fragments, we obtained a peptide (SpyTag) which formed an amide bond to its protein partner (SpyCatcher) in minutes. Reaction occurred in high yield simply upon mixing and amidst diverse conditions of pH, temperature, and buffer. SpyTag could be fused at either terminus or internally and reacted specifically at the mammalian cell surface. Peptide binding was not reversed by boiling or competing peptide. Single-molecule dynamic force spectroscopy showed that SpyTag did not separate from SpyCatcher until the force exceeded 1 nN, where covalent bonds snap. The robust reaction conditions and irreversible linkage of SpyTag shed light on spontaneous isopeptide bond formation and should provide a targetable lock in cells and a stable module for new protein architectures. agging with peptides (e.g., HA, myc, FLAG, His 6 ) is one of the most common ways to detect, purify, or immobilize proteins (1-4). Peptides are very useful minimally disruptive probes (5) but they are also "slippery"-antibodies or other proteins typically bind peptides with low affinity and poor mechanical strength (6-9). We sought to form a rapid covalent bond to a peptide tag without the use of chemical modification, artificial amino acids, or cysteines (disulfide bond formation is reversible and restricted to particular cellular locations).It has recently been found that Streptococcus pyogenes, like many other Gram-positive bacteria, contains extracellular proteins stabilized by spontaneous intramolecular isopeptide bonds (10). Here we explored the second immunoglobulin-like collagen adhesin domain (CnaB2) from the fibronectin binding protein FbaB, found in invasive strains of S. pyogenes (11,12) and essential for phagocytosis-like uptake of the bacteria by endothelial cells (13). CnaB2 contains a single isopeptide bond conferring exceptional stability: CnaB2 remains folded even at pH 2 or up to 100°C (12). By splitting CnaB2 into peptide and protein fragments, followed by rational modification of the parts, we developed a peptide tag of 13 amino acids that rapidly formed a covalent bond with its protein partner (138 amino acids, 15 kDa) and characterized the conditions for reaction, cellular specificity of bond formation, and resilience of the reacted product.

The adhesion force between the tip of an atomic force microscope cantilever derivatized with avidin and agarose beads functionalized with biotin, desthiobiotin, or iminobiotin was measured. Under conditions that allowed only a limited number of molecular pairs to interact, the force required to separate tip and bead was found to be quantized in integer multiples of 160 +/- 20 piconewtons for biotin and 85 +/- 15 piconewtons for iminobiotin. The measured force quanta are interpreted as the unbinding forces of individual molecular pairs.

The recognition mechanisms and dissociation pathways of the avidin-biotin complex and of actin monomers in actin filaments were investigated. The unbinding forces of discrete complexes of avidin or streptavidin with biotin analogs are proportional to the enthalpy change of the complex formation but independent of changes in the free energy. This result indicates that the unbinding process is adiabatic and that entropic changes occur after unbinding. On the basis of the measured forces and binding energies, an effective rupture length of 9.5 +/- 1 angstroms was calculated for all biotin-avidin pairs and approximately 1 to 3 angstroms for the actin monomer-monomer interaction. A model for the correlation among binding forces, intermolecular potential, and molecular function is proposed.

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The interaction of the alpha(5)beta(1) integrin and its ligand, fibronectin (FN), plays a crucial role in the adhesion of cells to the extracellular matrix. An important intrinsic property of the alpha(5)beta(1)/FN interaction is the dynamic response of the complex to a pulling force. We have carried out atomic force microscopy measurements of the interaction between alpha(5)beta(1) and a fibronectin fragment derived from the seventh through tenth type III repeats of FN (i.e., FN7-10) containing both the arg-gly-asp (RGD) sequence and the synergy site. Direct force measurements obtained from an experimental system consisting of an alpha(5)beta(1) expressing K562 cell attached to the atomic force microscopy cantilever and FN7-10 adsorbed on a substrate were used to determine the dynamic response of the alpha(5)beta(1)/FN7-10 complex to a pulling force. The experiments were carried out over a three-orders-of-magnitude change in loading rate and under conditions that allowed for detection of individual alpha(5)beta(1)/FN7-10 interactions. The dynamic rupture force of the alpha(5)beta(1)/FN7-10 complex revealed two regimes of loading: a fast loading regime (>10,000 pN/s) and a slow loading regime (<10,000 pN/s) that characterize the inner and outer activation barriers of the complex, respectively. Activation by TS2/16 antibody increased both the frequency of adhesion and elevated the rupture force of the alpha(5)beta(1)/wild type FN7-10 complex to higher values in the slow loading regime. In experiments carried out with a FN7-10 RGD deleted mutant, the force measurements revealed that both inner and outer activation barriers were suppressed by the mutation. Mutations to the synergy site of FN, however, suppressed only the outer barrier activation of the complex. For both the RGD and synergy deletions, the frequency of adhesion was less than that of the wild type FN7-10, but was increased by integrin activation. The rupture force of these mutants was only slightly less than that of the wild type, and was not increased by activation. These results suggest that integrin activation involved a cooperative interaction with both the RGD and synergy sites.

Interactions between leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) with its cognate ligand, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) play a crucial role in leukocyte adhesion. Because the cell and its adhesive components are subject to external perturbation from the surrounding flow of blood, it is important to understand the binding properties of the LFA-1/ICAM-1 interaction in both steady state and in the presence of an external pulling force. Here we report on atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements of the unbinding of LFA-1 from ICAM-1. The single molecule measurements revealed the energy landscape corresponding to the dissociation of the LFA-1/ICAM-1 complex and provided the basis for defining the energetic determinants of the complex at equilibrium and under the influence of an external force. The AFM force measurements were performed in an experimental system consisting of an LFA-1-expressing T cell hybridoma, 3A9, attached to the end of the AFM cantilever and an apposing surface expressing ICAM-1. In measurements covering three orders of magnitude change in force loading rate, the LFA-1/ICAM-1 force spectrum (i.e., unbinding force versus loading rate) revealed a fast and a slow loading regime that characterized a steep inner activation barrier and a wide outer activation barrier, respectively. The addition of Mg(2+), a cofactor that stabilizes the LFA-1/ICAM-1 interaction, elevated the unbinding force of the complex in the slow loading regime. In contrast, the presence of EDTA suppressed the inner barrier of the LFA-1/ICAM-1 complex. These results suggest that the equilibrium dissociation constant of the LFA-1/ICAM-1 interaction is regulated by the energetics of the outer activation barrier of the complex, while the ability of the complex to resist a pulling force is determined by the divalent cation-dependent inner activation barrier.

The dissociation of ligand and receptor involves multiple transitions between intermediate states formed during the unbinding process. In this paper, we explored the energy landscape of the streptavidin-biotin interaction by using the atomic force microscope (AFM) to measure the unbinding dynamics of individual ligand-receptor complexes. The rupture force of the streptavidin-biotin bond increased more than 2-fold over a range of loading rates between 100 and 5000 pN/s. Moreover, the force measurements showed two regimes of loading in the streptavidin-biotin force spectrum, revealing the presence of two activation barriers in the unbinding process. Parallel experiments carried out with a streptavidin mutant (W120F) were used to investigate the molecular determinants of the activation barriers. From these experiments, we attributed the outer activation barrier in the energy landscape to the molecular interaction of the '3-4' loop of streptavidin that closes behind biotin.

Distinct lipid domains with different two-dimensional density can be visualized in monomolecular films at the air-water interface by using fluorescence microscopy, when the monolayers are doped with a low concentration of fluorescent lipid probe. The shapes of these domains are determined to a large extent by a competition between line tension and long-range electrostatic dipolar repulsions. The line tension favors compact, often circular shapes, whereas the long-range electrostatic dipolar repulsions favor other shapes, such as thin stripes. A line integral technique is described for calculating the dipolar energies of these two-dimensional domains. Calculations are given for various domain shapes and shape transitions. It is shown that as domains grow in area they tend to thin in one dimension because of long-range dipolar forces. It is also shown how these long-range dipolar forces contribute to the formation of chiral domain shapes.