Structural mechanism of organic hydroperoxide induction of the transcription regulator OhrR

A new oxidative sensing and regulation pathway mediated by the MgrA homologue SarZ in Staphylococcus aureus

Oxidative stress serves as an important host/environmental signal that triggers a wide range of responses from the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Among these, a thiol-based oxidation sensing pathway through a global regulator MgrA controls the virulence and antibiotic resistance of the bacterium. Herein, we report a new thiol-based oxidation sensing and regulation system that is mediated through a parallel global regulator SarZ. SarZ is a functional homologue of MgrA and is shown to affect the expression of approximately 87 genes in S. aureus. It uses a key Cys residue, Cys-13, to sense oxidative stress and to co-ordinate the expression of genes involved in metabolic switching, antibiotic resistance, peroxide stress defence, virulence, and cell wall properties. The discovery of this SarZ-mediated regulation, mostly independent from the MgrA-based regulation, fills a missing gap of oxidation sensing and response in S. aureus.

The crystal structure of MexR from Pseudomonas aeruginosa in complex with its antirepressor ArmR

The intrinsic antimicrobial resistance of the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is compounded in mutant strains that overexpress multidrug efflux pumps such as the prominent drug-proton antiporter, MexAB-OprM. The primary regulator of the mexAB-oprM operon is the MarR family repressor, MexR. An additional repressor, NalC, also regulates mexAB-oprM by controlling expression of ArmR, an antirepressor peptide that is hypothesized to prevent the binding of MexR to its cognate DNA operator via an allosteric protein-peptide interaction. To better understand how ArmR modulates MexR, we determined the MexR-binding region of ArmR as its C-terminal 25 residues and solved the crystal structure of MexR in a 2:1 complex with this ArmR fragment at 1.8 A resolution. This structure reveals that the C-terminal residues of ArmR form a kinked alpha-helix, which occupies a pseudosymmetrical and largely hydrophobic binding cavity located at the centre of the MexR dimer. Although the ArmR-binding cavity partially overlaps with the small molecule effector-binding sites of other MarR family members, it possesses a larger and more complex binding surface to accommodate the greater size and specific physicochemical properties of a peptide effector. Comparison with the structure of apo-MexR reveals that ArmR stabilizes a dramatic conformational change that is incompatible with DNA-binding. Thus, this work defines the structural mechanism by which ArmR allosterically derepresses MexR-controlled gene expression in P. aeruginosa and reveals important insights into the regulation of multidrug resistance.

The Pseudomonas aeruginosa multidrug efflux regulator MexR uses an oxidation-sensing mechanism

MexR is a MarR family protein that negatively regulates multidrug efflux systems in the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The mechanism of MexR-regulated antibiotic resistance has never been elucidated in the past. We present here that two Cys residues in MexR are redox-active. They form intermonomer disulfide bonds in MexR dimer with a redox potential of -155 mV. This MexR oxidation leads to its dissociation from promoter DNA, derepression of the mexAB-oprM drug efflux operon, and increased antibiotic resistance of P. aeruginosa. We show computationally that the formation of disulfide bonds is consistent with a conformation change that prevents the oxidized MexR from binding to DNA. Collectively, the results reveal that MexR is a redox regulator that senses peroxide stress to mediate antibiotic resistance in P. aeruginosa.

Conversion of Bacillus subtilis OhrR from a 1-Cys to a 2-Cys peroxide sensor

OhrR proteins can be divided into two groups based on their inactivation mechanism: 1-Cys (represented by Bacillus subtilis OhrR) and 2-Cys (represented by Xanthomonas campestris OhrR). A conserved cysteine residue near the amino terminus is present in both groups of proteins and is initially oxidized to the sulfenic acid. The B. subtilis 1-Cys OhrR protein is subsequently inactivated by formation of a mixed-disulfide bond with low-molecular-weight thiols or by cysteine overoxidation to sulfinic and sulfonic acids. In contrast, the X. campestris 2-Cys OhrR is inactivated when the initially oxidized cysteine sulfenate forms an intersubunit disulfide bond with a second Cys residue from the other subunit of the protein dimer. Here, we demonstrate that the 1-Cys B. subtilis OhrR can be converted into a 2-Cys OhrR by introducing another cysteine residue in either position 120 or position 124. Like the X. campestris OhrR protein, these mutants (G120C and Q124C) are inactivated by intermolecular disulfide bond formation. Analysis of oxidized 2-Cys variants both in vivo and in vitro indicates that intersubunit disulfide bond formation can occur simultaneously at both active sites in the protein dimer. Rapid formation of intersubunit disulfide bonds protects OhrR against irreversible overoxidation in the presence of strong oxidants much more efficiently than do the endogenous low-molecular-weight thiols.

Oxidant-dependent switching between reversible and sacrificial oxidation pathways for Bacillus subtilis OhrR

The Bacillus subtilis OhrR protein functions as a transcriptional repressor of the inducible peroxidase, OhrA. Derepression is mediated by the organic-peroxide selective oxidation of an active site cysteine (C15). In the presence of cumene hydroperoxide (CHP), oxidation of OhrR leads to a sulphenic acid intermediate which reacts to form either a mixed-disulphide or a protein sulphenamide. These inactive forms of OhrR can be reactivated by thiol-disulphide exchange reactions allowing restoration of repression. Here, we demonstrate that linoleic acid hydroperoxide (LHP) is a potent oxidant for OhrR and even low levels lead to overoxidation of OhrR to cysteine sulphinic (and sulphonic) acid derivatives. Kinetic competition experiments indicate that further oxidation of the initial OhrR sulphenate product occurs at least 100-fold more rapidly with LHP than with CHP. Thus, depending on the oxidant, OhrR can be either reversibly oxidized or can instead function as a sacrificial regulator.

Redox control in actinobacteria

As most actinobacteria are obligate aerobes, they have to cope with endogenously generated reactive oxygen species, and actinobacterial pathogens have to resist oxidative attack by phagocytes. Actinobacteria also have to survive long periods under low oxygen tension; for example, Mycobacterium tuberculosis can persist in the host for years under apparently hypoxic conditions in a latent, non-replicative state. Here we focus on the regulatory switches that control actinobacterial responses to peroxide stress, disulfide stress and low oxygen tension. Other unique aspects of their redox biology will be highlighted, including the use of the pseudodisaccharide mycothiol as their major low-molecular-weight thiol buffer, and the [4Fe-4S]-containing WhiB-like proteins, which play diverse, important roles in actinobacterial biology, but whose biochemical role is still controversial.