Unfolding Individual Domains of BmrA, a Bacterial ABC Transporter Involved in Multidrug Resistance

The folding and stability of proteins are often studied via unfolding (and refolding) a protein with urea. Yet, in the case of membrane integral protein domains, which are shielded by a membrane or a membrane mimetic, urea generally does not induce unfolding. However, the unfolding of alpha-helical membrane proteins may be induced by the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). When protein unfolding is followed via monitoring changes in Trp fluorescence characteristics, the contributions of individual Trp residues often cannot be disentangled, and, consequently, the folding and stability of the individual domains of a multi-domain membrane protein cannot be studied. In this study, the unfolding of the homodimeric bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter Bacillus multidrug resistance ATP (BmrA), which comprises a transmembrane domain and a cytosolic nucleotide-binding domain, was investigated. To study the stability of individual BmrA domains in the context of the full-length protein, the individual domains were silenced by mutating the existent Trps. The SDS-induced unfolding of the corresponding constructs was compared to the (un)folding characteristics of the wild-type (wt) protein and isolated domains. The full-length variants BmrA(W413Y) and BmrA(W104YW164A) were able to mirror the changes observed with the isolated domains; thus, these variants allowed for the study of the unfolding and thermodynamic stability of mutated domains in the context of full-length BmrA.