Electron microscopy of cytochrome c oxidase-containing proteoliposomes: imaging analysis of protein orientation and monomer-dimer behaviour.

1. Cytochrome c oxidase-containing vesicles were prepared by cholate dialysis using bovine heart cytochrome c oxidase with egg and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine/dioleoylphosphatidylethanolamines (1:1, w/w) at two ratios of phospholipid to protein (25 mg/mg and 10 mg/mg). With each mixture, one or two (FII, FIII) fractions with mostly outward-facing cytochrome aa3 were separated from a fraction (FI) containing mostly inward-facing enzyme and protein-free liposomes by DEAE-Sephacel chromatography. 2. FII and FIII fractions from egg phospholipid mixtures had 60-80% outward-facing enzyme; FII and FIII fractions from dioleoyl phospholipids showed 50-70% outward-facing enzyme. Egg and dioleoyl phospholipid mixtures maintained good respiratory control ratios (8-13) only at the higher lipid/protein ratios. 3. Platinum/carbon replicas of freeze-fractured vesicle surfaces were subjected to image analysis. The results showed two types of membrane projection with average heights of 7.5 nm and 3.5 nm from the fracture plane. The former were more numerous on the convex faces. Calculated areas of the projections indicated the probable presence of both enzyme dimers and higher aggregates. Oxidase dimers may have membrane areas of 70-80 nm2 at the high (7.5 nm) side and 40-50 nm2 on the low (3.5 nm) side. 4. Proteoliposomes prepared with enzyme depleted of subunit III contained predominantly much smaller projecting areas. These probably represent monomers with high side areas of 35-40 nm2 and low side areas of 20-25 nm2. Electron microscopy thus directly confirms the predicted change of aggregation state resulting from subunit depletion. 5. The results are compared with those from two-dimensional crystals. Assuming that the high and low projections are two sides of one family of transmembrane molecules, a total length of 11 nm matches 11-12 nm lengths obtained by crystallography. Our membrane areas match the areas obtained in earlier 'crystal' studies better than the small areas obtained recently by electron cryomicroscopy.