Purification
PR was obtained in 85% purity, assuming that values of ε280 and ε546 for pR are the same as for bR solubilized in DMPC/cholate/SDS mixtures at pH 8 (ε280= 7.85 × 104 cm-1 M-1 and ε551 = 4.8 × 104 cm-1 M-1) [5]. This assumption is actually expected to underestimate the purity of pR produced, by up to ~20%, since the pR we expressed has 10 tryptophan and 14 tyrosine residues, as compared to 8 tryptophans and 11 tyrosines in bR from H. salinarum. The absorbance of contaminant proteins was assumed to be 1.1 for a 1 mg/mL solution. By using these assumptions, the relative concentrations of pR and other proteins can be determined from the absorbance spectra of the various fractions (fig. 1). The resulting purity values correlate well with those Coomasie-stained SDS-PAGE gels (see below). The OG extract of cholate-washed membrane pellets starts out at a pR content of 7% total protein (w/w). The Phenylsepharose column increases the purity level to 24%, with approximately 5% loss. The final purification step by hydroxylapatite column chromatography produces pR with ~85% purity and a further loss of ~60%, i.e. the overall yield of the two column procedure was ~30%.
Figure 1  UV/visible absorption spectra of pR in octylglucoside solution (1–3%) at three stages of purification. All three spectra were measured in the presence of octylglucoside at pH 8, and are normalized to the 280-nm protein peak. Spectrum A, the OG extract of cholate-washed E. coli membranes; spectrum B, pooled 546-nm absorbing fractions from Phenylsepharose column; spectrum C, same material after hydroxylapatite column.