Tracking cholesterol/sphingomyelin-rich membrane domains with the ostreolysin A-mCherry protein

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 24;9(3):e92783. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0092783. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Ostreolysin A (OlyA) is an ∼15-kDa protein that has been shown to bind selectively to membranes rich in cholesterol and sphingomyelin. In this study, we investigated whether OlyA fluorescently tagged at the C-terminal with mCherry (OlyA-mCherry) labels cholesterol/sphingomyelin domains in artificial membrane systems and in membranes of Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) epithelial cells. OlyA-mCherry showed similar lipid binding characteristics to non-tagged OlyA. OlyA-mCherry also stained cholesterol/sphingomyelin domains in the plasma membranes of both fixed and living MDCK cells, and in the living cells, this staining was abolished by pretreatment with either methyl-β-cyclodextrin or sphingomyelinase. Double labelling of MDCK cells with OlyA-mCherry and the sphingomyelin-specific markers equinatoxin II-Alexa488 and GST-lysenin, the cholera toxin B subunit as a probe that binds to the ganglioside GM1, or the cholesterol-specific D4 domain of perfringolysin O fused with EGFP, showed different patterns of binding and distribution of OlyA-mCherry in comparison with these other proteins. Furthermore, we show that OlyA-mCherry is internalised in living MDCK cells, and within 90 min it reaches the juxtanuclear region via caveolin-1-positive structures. No binding to membranes could be seen when OlyA-mCherry was expressed in MDCK cells. Altogether, these data clearly indicate that OlyA-mCherry is a promising tool for labelling a distinct pool of cholesterol/sphingomyelin membrane domains in living and fixed cells, and for following these domains when they are apparently internalised by the cell.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cholesterol / metabolism*
  • Dogs
  • Fungal Proteins / pharmacology
  • Hemolysin Proteins / pharmacology*
  • Luminescent Proteins / genetics
  • Luminescent Proteins / metabolism
  • Madin Darby Canine Kidney Cells
  • Membrane Microdomains / metabolism*
  • Red Fluorescent Protein
  • Sphingomyelins / metabolism*

Substances

  • Fungal Proteins
  • Hemolysin Proteins
  • Luminescent Proteins
  • Sphingomyelins
  • ostreolysin
  • Cholesterol

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Slovenian Research Agency (http://www.arrs.gov.si/en/agencija), grants JI-4305 and PI-0207. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.