Abstract
Lead and mercury being common environmental pollutants are often associated with erythrocytes, where phosphatidylserine (PS) exposure-mediated procoagulant activation is induced. Human phospholipid scramblase 1 (hPLSCR1) identified in the erythrocyte membrane is a type II transmembrane protein involved in Ca2+-dependent bidirectional scrambling of phospholipids (PL) during blood coagulation, cell activation, and apoptosis. The prominent role of hPLSCR1 in Pb2+ and Hg2+ poisoning was demonstrated by a biochemical assay, where recombinant hPLSCR1 induced PL scrambling across bilayer with a higher binding affinity (Kd) towards Hg2+ (4.1 µM) and Pb2+ (5.8 µM) than Ca2+ (25.6 mM). The increased affinity could be the outcome of heavy metals interacting at auxiliary sites other than the calcium-binding motif of hPLSCR1. Similar to other metal-binding proteins, cysteine-based metal-binding motifs could be the potential additional binding sites in hPLSCR1. To explore the hypothesis, the cysteines were chemically modified, which significantly reduced only the Hg2+- and Pb2+-induced scrambling activity leaving Ca2+-induced activity unaltered. Recombinant constructs with deletion of prominent cysteine residues and point mutation in the calcium-binding motif including Δ100-hPLSCR1, Δ160-hPLSCR1, and D275A-hPLSCR1 were generated, purified, and assayed for scramblase activity. The cysteine-deleted constructs of hPLSCR1 showed reduced binding affinity (Kd) for Hg2+ and Pb2+ without altering the Ca2+-binding affinity whereas the point mutant had completely lost its affinity for Ca2+ and reduced affinities for Hg2+ and Pb2+. The results accentuated the significance of cysteine residues as additional binding sites for heavy metal ions in hPLSCR1.
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Abbreviations
- IPTG:
-
Isopropyl-β-d-thiogalactoside
- EGTA:
-
Ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid
- PMSF:
-
Phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride
- PC:
-
Egg phosphatidylcholine
- PS:
-
Brain phosphatidyl serine
- NEM:
-
N-Ethylmaleimide
- DEPC:
-
Diethyl pyrocarbonate
- PG:
-
Phenyl glyoxal
- AEBSF:
-
4-(2-Aminoethyl) benzene sulfonyl fluoride
- NLS:
-
N-Lauroyl sarcosine
- NBD-PC:
-
1-Oleoyl-2-[6-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino] caproyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine
- NBD-PS:
-
1-Oleoyl-2-[6-(7-nitrobenz-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl)amino]caproyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoserine
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Indian Institute of Technology Madras for facilities. The authors thank the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and Indian Institute of Technology Madras for Circular Dichroism studies. AKS acknowledges BMSCE, Bengaluru and AICTE, Government of India, New Delhi for providing the fellowship. S.K.P. wishes to thank the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, and Indian Institute of Technology Madras for fellowship.
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Conceptualization: SNG; Methodology: AKS; Formal analysis and investigation: AKS, SKP; Writing—original draft preparation: SKP, AKS; Writing—review and editing: SKP, SNG; Resources and Supervision: SNG.
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249_2021_1521_MOESM1_ESM.doc
Details of expression vector construction, overexpression, and purification of (His)6-hPLSCR1, (His)6-Δ100-hPLSCR1 (His)6- Δ160-hPLSCR1, and (His)6- D275A-hPLSCR1 along with a schematic representation of deletion constructs of hPLSCR1 and the principle of scramblase assay are provided in the supplementary information (DOC 1256 KB)
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Shettihalli, A.K., Palanirajan, S.K. & Gummadi, S.N. Are cysteine residues of human phospholipid scramblase 1 essential for Pb2+ and Hg2+ binding-induced scrambling of phospholipids?. Eur Biophys J 50, 745–757 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-021-01521-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00249-021-01521-9