Effect of redox environment on the in vitro and in vivo folding of RTEM-1 beta-lactamase and Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase.

The oxidative folding mechanisms of two Escherichia coli periplasmic proteins, alkaline phosphatase and RTEM-1 beta-lactamase, have been examined in vitro and in vivo. In contrast to eukaryotic proteins, which require a relatively reducing environment for optimal folding rates, both alkaline phosphatase and beta-lactamase fold fastest under very oxidizing conditions. For example, bovine pancreatic ribonuclease exhibits an optimal folding rate in a redox buffer consisting of 1 mM GSH and 0.2 mM GSSG (Lyles, M. M., and Gilbert, H. F. (1991) Biochemistry 30, 613-619); however, both E. coli alkaline phosphatase and beta-lactamase exhibit optimal in vitro folding rates at low concentrations of GSH (< 0.4 mM) and very high concentrations of GSSG (4-8 mM). For both bacterial proteins, GSH inhibits oxidative folding. Under optimal redox conditions, the rate-limiting step for the in vitro oxidative folding of alkaline phosphatase depends on the concentration of the protein, consistent with a mechanism involving rapid oxidation followed by slow dimerization. With beta-lactamase, the oxidative folding mechanism involves a competition between disulfide bond formation and folding of the molecule into a catalytically active conformation that buries the 2 reduced cysteines in the core of the enzyme. The effects of including a thiol reductant in the growth medium on the in vivo folding of alkaline phosphatase and beta-lactamase are similar to the effects observed during in vitro folding of these enzymes. The levels of both oxidized proteins are decreased by GSH in the growth medium. However, addition of a disulfide oxidant to the growth medium does not positively affect the production of either enzyme. These observations are consistent with the idea that the oxidative folding mechanisms of E. coli periplasmic proteins and, by inference, proteins of the eukaryotic endoplasmic reticulum have evolved to accommodate constraints placed on the folding reaction by the folding environment. The consequences of differences between the folding mechanisms in eukaryotic and prokaryotic disulfide-containing proteins on the expression of eukaryotic proteins in the bacterial periplasm are discussed.