Localization and Environment of Tryptophans in Soluble and Membrane- Bound States of a Pore-Forming Toxin from Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT The location and environment of tryptophans in the soluble and membrane-bound forms of Staphylococcus aureus a-toxin were monitored using intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence. Fluorescence quenching of the toxin monomer in solution indicated varying degrees of tryptophan burial within the protein interior. N-Bromosuccinimide readily abolished 80% of the fluorescence in solution. The residual fluorescence of the modified toxin showed a blue-shifted emission maximum, a longer fluorescence lifetime as compared to the unmodified and membrane-bound a-toxin, and a 5- to 6-nm red edge excitation shift, all indicating a restricted tryptophan environment and deeply buried tryptophans. In the membrane-bound form, the fluorescence of a-toxin was quenched by iodide, indicating a conformational change leading to exposure of some tryptophans. A shorter average lifetime of tryptophans in the membrane-bound a-toxin as compared to the native toxin supported the conclusions based on iodide quenching of the membrane-bound toxin. Fluorescence quenching of membrane-bound a-toxin using brominated and spin-labeled fatty acids showed no quenching of fluorescence using brominated lipids. However, significant quenching was observed using 5- and 12-doxyl stearic acids. An average depth calculation using the parallax method indicated that the doxyl-quenchable tryptophans are located at an average depth of 10 Å from the center of the bilayer close to the membrane interface. This was found to be in striking agreement with the recently described structure of the membrane-bound form of a-toxin