An Adaptation To Life In Acid Through A Novel Mevalonate Pathway.

Extreme acidophiles are capable of growth at pH values near zero. Sustaining life in acidic environments requires extensive adaptations of membranes, proton pumps, and DNA repair mechanisms. Here we describe an adaptation of a core biochemical pathway, the mevalonate pathway, in extreme acidophiles. Two previously known mevalonate pathways involve ATP dependent decarboxylation of either mevalonate 5-phosphate or mevalonate 5-pyrophosphate, in which a single enzyme carries out two essential steps: (1) phosphorylation of the mevalonate moiety at the 3-OH position and (2) subsequent decarboxylation. We now demonstrate that in extreme acidophiles, decarboxylation is carried out by two separate steps: previously identified enzymes generate mevalonate 3,5-bisphosphate and a new decarboxylase we describe here, mevalonate 3,5-bisphosphate decarboxylase, produces isopentenyl phosphate. Why use two enzymes in acidophiles when one enzyme provides both functionalities in all other organisms examined to date? We find that at low pH, the dual function enzyme, mevalonate 5-phosphate decarboxylase is unable to carry out the first phosphorylation step, yet retains its ability to perform decarboxylation. We therefore propose that extreme acidophiles had to replace the dual-purpose enzyme with two specialized enzymes to efficiently produce isoprenoids in extremely acidic environments

RomA, A Periplasmic Protein Involved in the Synthesis of the Lipopolysaccharide, Tunes Down the Inflammatory Response Triggered by Brucella

Brucellaceae are stealthy pathogens with the ability to survive and replicate in the host in the context of a strong immune response. This capacity relies on several virulence factors that are able to modulate the immune system and in their structural components that have low proinflammatory activities. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), the main component of the outer membrane, is a central virulence factor of Brucella, and it has been well established that it induces a low inflammatory response. We describe here the identification and characterization of a novel periplasmic protein (RomA) conserved in alpha-proteobacteria, which is involved in the homeostasis of the outer membrane. A mutant in this gene showed several phenotypes, such as membrane defects, altered LPS composition, reduced adhesion, and increased virulence and inflammation. We show that RomA is involved in the synthesis of LPS, probably coordinating part of the biosynthetic complex in the periplasm. Its absence alters the normal synthesis of this macromolecule and affects the homeostasis of the outer membrane, resulting in a strain with a hyperinflammatory phenotype. Our results suggest that the proper synthesis of LPS is central to maximize virulence and minimize inflammation.Fil: Valguarnera, Pablo Ezequiel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Spera, Juan Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Czibener, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Fulgenzi, Fabiana Rosa. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Casabuono, Adriana Cristina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono; ArgentinaFil: Altabe, Silvia Graciela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Pasquevich, Karina Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Guaimas, Francisco Fernando. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Cassataro, Juliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; ArgentinaFil: Couto, Alicia Susana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono; ArgentinaFil: Ugalde, Juan Esteban. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; Argentin

Crystallization of recombinant Bacteroides fragilis glutamine synthetase (GlnN) isolated using a novel and rapid purification protocol

Glutamine synthetase enzymes (GSs) are large oligomeric enzymes that play a critical role in nitrogen metabolism in all forms of life. To date, no crystal structures exist for the family of large (1 MDa) type III GS enzymes, which only share 9% sequence identity with the well characterized GSI and GSII enzymes. Here we present a novel protocol for the isolation of untagged Bacteroides fragilis GlnN expressed in an auxotrophic Escherichia coli strain. The rapid and scalable two-step protocol utilized differential precipitation by divalent cations followed by affinity chromatography to produce suitable quantities of homogenous material for structural characterization. Subsequent optimizations to the sample stability and solubility led to the discovery of conditions for the production of the first diffraction quality crystals of a type III GS enzyme

Characterization of the Structure, Function and Assembly of the DrrAB Antibiotic Efflux Pump in Streptomyces Peucetius

ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters constitute one of the largest families of transport proteins. The occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in human cancer cells has been correlated with the over expression of human ABC, P-glycoprotein (Pgp). Streptomyces peucetius produces two anticancer agents, doxorubicin and daunorubicin, that belong to the anthracycline family of antibiotics. The organism is self-resistant to the potent effects of the antibiotics it produces due to the action of an efflux pump, DrrAB. Both Pgp and DrrAB carry out similar functions, but in two different cell types. An understanding of the bacterial drug transporter DrrAB is thus expected to help in obtaining a better understanding of the function and evolution of the multidrug transporter P-glycoprotein. In DrrAB, the catalytic and membrane domains are present on separate subunits, DrrA and DrrB respectively. How the catalytic ATP-binding domains and the membrane domains in transporters interact with each other, or how energy is transduced between them, is not well understood. We introduced several single cysteine substitutions in DrrB and then by using a cysteine to amine hetero-bifunctional cross-linker showed that DrrA interacts predominantly with the N-terminal cytoplasmic tail of DrrB. Within this region of DrrB, we also identified a sequence with similarities to the EAA motif found in importers of the ABC family of proteins, thus leading to the proposal that the EAA or the EAA-like motif may be involved in forming a generalized interface between the ABC and the TMD of both uptake and export systems. By using a combination of approaches, including point mutations and disulfide cross-linking analysis, we show here that the Q-loop region of DrrA plays an important role in dimerization of DrrA as well as in interactions with DrrB. Furthermore, we also show that the interaction of the Q-loop with the N-terminus of DrrB is involved in transmitting conformational changes between DrrA and DrrB. The scope of the present study further extends into identifying the factors involved in the biogenesis of the DrrAB pump. We have identified two accessory proteins namely, FtsH and GroEL that may be involved in proper folding and assembly of the transporter

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES TO OVERCOME THE G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE GAP

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES TO OVERCOME THE G PROTEIN-COUPLED RECEPTOR STRUCTURAL KNOWLEDGE GA

Deletion of heat shock protein 60 in adult mouse cardiomyocytes perturbs mitochondrial protein homeostasis and causes heart failure.

To maintain healthy mitochondrial enzyme content and function, mitochondria possess a complex protein quality control system, which is composed of different endogenous sets of chaperones and proteases. Heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) is one of these mitochondrial molecular chaperones and has been proposed to play a pivotal role in the regulation of protein folding and the prevention of protein aggregation. However, the physiological function of HSP60 in mammalian tissues is not fully understood. Here we generated an inducible cardiac-specific HSP60 knockout mouse model, and demonstrated that HSP60 deletion in adult mouse hearts altered mitochondrial complex activity, mitochondrial membrane potential, and ROS production, and eventually led to dilated cardiomyopathy, heart failure, and lethality. Proteomic analysis was performed in purified control and mutant mitochondria before mutant hearts developed obvious cardiac abnormalities, and revealed a list of mitochondrial-localized proteins that rely on HSP60 (HSP60-dependent) for correctly folding in mitochondria. We also utilized an in vitro system to assess the effects of HSP60 deletion on mitochondrial protein import and protein stability after import, and found that both HSP60-dependent and HSP60-independent mitochondrial proteins could be normally imported in mutant mitochondria. However, the former underwent degradation in mutant mitochondria after import, suggesting that the protein exhibited low stability in mutant mitochondria. Interestingly, the degradation could be almost fully rescued by a non-specific LONP1 and proteasome inhibitor, MG132, in mutant mitochondria. Therefore, our results demonstrated that HSP60 plays an essential role in maintaining normal cardiac morphology and function by regulating mitochondrial protein homeostasis and mitochondrial function

Identification of differentially temperature regulated virulence factors of Campylobacter jejuni and tested in Galleria mellonella

Background Campylobacter jejuni is the major cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in man, while it is generally regarded as a commensal of the avian gut. Consumption and handling of contaminated poultry meat products are a major risk factor for human infection. The body temperature in man 37°C and chickens 42°C differ markedly, and differential gene regulation and protein expression at different temperatures may in part explain the behaviour in the two hosts. Results We performed proteomics analyses with C. jejuni cells grown at 37°C and 42°C. Q tof analysis was carried out after samples were digested with the Fasp method and peptides were fractionated by strong anion exchanges. Differentially regulated proteins were identified by Mascot and Scaffold analyses. QQQ analysis confirmed that a total of 33 proteins were differentially regulated between 37°C and 42°C. Several upregulated proteins were selected for their corresponding gene knock-out mutants to be tested for their virulence in the Galleria mellonella model. To correlate with other tissue/animal models, the GADH mutant was selected for its reduced ability to colonize chickens. At 37°C, the mutants of Omp50 and GroEL significantly increased virulence; while at 42°C, the mutants of YceI, Omp50, and GADH reduced virulence against Galleria mellonella compared with the wild type strains. Conclusion The results of current and previous studies indicate that GADH is a virulent factor in G. mellonella and a colonization factor in chickens. The workflow of this study may prove a new way to identify stress related virulent factors. The implications of these findings are discussed for pathogenesis in the model and other hosts

Friends in need: how chaperonins recognize and remodel proteins that require folding assistance

Chaperonins are biological nanomachines that help newly translated proteins to fold by rescuing them from kinetically trapped misfolded states. Protein folding assistance by the chaperonin machinery is obligatory in vivo for a subset of proteins in the bacterial proteome. Chaperonins are large oligomeric complexes, with unusual seven fold symmetry (group I) or eight/nine fold symmetry (group II), that form double-ring constructs, enclosing a central folding chamber. Dramatic large-scale conformational changes, that take place during ATP-driven cycles, allow chaperonins to bind misfolded proteins, encapsulate them into the expanded cavity and release them back into the cellular environment, regardless of whether they are folded or not. The theory associated with the iterative annealing mechanism, which incorporated the conformational free energy landscape description of protein folding, \textit{quantitatively} explains most, if not all, the available data. Misfolded conformations are associated with low energy minima in a rugged energy landscape. Random disruptions of these low energy conformations result in higher free energy, less folded, conformations that can stochastically partition into the native state. Group I chaperonins (GroEL homologues in eubacteria and endosymbiotic organelles), recognize a large number of misfolded proteins non-specifically and operate through highly coordinated cooperative motions. By contrast, the less well understood group II chaperonins (CCT in Eukarya and thermosome/TF55 in Archaea), assist a selected set of substrate proteins. Chaperonins are implicated in bacterial infection, autoimmune disease, as well as protein aggregation and degradation diseases. Understanding the chaperonin mechanism and their substrates is important not only for the fundamental aspect of cellular protein folding, but also for effective therapeutic strategies.Comment: 26 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Frontiers in Molecular Bioscience