Molecular architecture and functional analysis of NetB, a pore-forming toxin from Clostridium perfringens

NetB is a pore-forming toxin produced by Clostridium perfringens and has been reported to play a major role in the pathogenesis of avian necrotic enteritis, a disease that has emerged due to the removal of antibiotics in animal feedstuffs. Here we present the crystal structure of the pore-form of NetB solved to 3.9Å. The heptameric assembly shares structural homology to the Staphylococcal α-hemolysin. However, the rim domain, a region that is thought to interact with the target cell membrane shows sequence and structural divergence leading to the alteration of a phosphocholine binding pocket found in the staphylococcal toxins. Consistent with the structure we show that NetB does not bind phosphocholine efficiently but instead interacts directly with cholesterol leading to enhanced oligomerisation and pore formation. Finally we have identified conserved and non-conserved amino acid positions within the rim loops that significantly affect binding and toxicity of NetB. These findings present new insights into the mode of action of these pore-forming toxins enabling the design of more effective control measures against necrotic enteritis and providing potential new tools to the field of bionanotechnology

Outer membrane protein folding from an energy landscape perspective

The cell envelope is essential for the survival of Gram-negative bacteria. This specialised membrane is densely packed with outer membrane proteins (OMPs), which perform a variety of functions. How OMPs fold into this crowded environment remains an open question. Here, we review current knowledge about OFMP folding mechanisms in vitro and discuss how the need to fold to a stable native state has shaped their folding energy landscapes. We also highlight the role of chaperones and the β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM) in assisting OMP folding in vivo and discuss proposed mechanisms by which this fascinating machinery may catalyse OMP folding

The cryo-electron microscopy structure of huntingtin

Huntingtin (HTT) is a large (348 kDa) protein that is essential for embryonic development and is involved in diverse cellular activities such as vesicular transport, endocytosis, autophagy and the regulation of transcription(1,2). Although an integrative understanding of the biological functions of HTT is lacking, the large number of identified HTT interactors suggests that it serves as a protein-protein interaction hub(1,3,4). Furthermore, Huntington's disease is caused by a mutation in the HTT gene, resulting in a pathogenic expansion of a polyglutamine repeat at the amino terminus of HTT5,6. However, only limited structural information regarding HTT is currently available. Here we use cryo-electron microscopy to determine the structure of full-length human HTT in a complex with HTT-associated protein 40 (HAP40; encoded by three F8A genes in humans)(7) to an overall resolution of 4 angstrom. HTT is largely a-helical and consists of three major domains. The amino-and carboxy-terminal domains contain multiple HEAT (huntingtin, elongation factor 3, protein phosphatase 2A and lipid kinase TOR) repeats arranged in a solenoid fashion. These domains are connected by a smaller bridge domain containing different types of tandem repeats. HAP40 is also largely alpha-helical and has a tetratricopeptide repeat-like organization. HAP40 binds in a cleft and contacts the three HTT domains by hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions, thereby stabilizing the conformation of HTT. These data rationalize previous biochemical results and pave the way for improved understanding of the diverse cellular functions of HTT