Solid-state NMR studies of the membrane-bound closed state of the colicin E1 channel domain in lipid bilayers

The colicin El channel polypeptide was shown to be organized anisotropically in membranes by solid-state NMR analysis of samples of uniformly N-15-labeled protein in oriented planar phospholipid bilayers. The 190 residue C-terminal colicin El channel domain is the largest polypeptide to have been characterized by N-15 solid-state NMR spectroscopy in oriented membrane bilayers. The N-15-NMR spectra of the colicin El show that: (1) the structure and dynamics are independent of anionic lipid content in both oriented and unoriented samples; (2) assuming the secondary structure of the polypeptide is helical, there are both trans-membrane and in-plane helical segments; (3) trans-membrane helices account for approximately 20-25% of the channel polypeptide, which is equivalent to 38-48 residues of the 190-residue polypeptide. The results of the two-dimensional PISEMA spectrum are interpreted in terms of a single trans-membrane helical hairpin inserted into the bilayer from each channel molecule. These data are also consistent with this helical hairpin being derived from the 38-residue hydrophobic segment near the C-terminus of the colicin El channel polypeptide.