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Noncanonical Sensing Mechanisms for Bacillus subtilis Chemoreceptors. J Bacteriol 2022; 204:e0002722. [PMID: 35323015 DOI: 10.1128/jb.00027-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Bodhankar et al. reported a noncanonical sensing mechanism that involves signal interaction with the McpA chemoreceptor signaling domain resulting in a chemorepellence response of Bacillus subtilis. The identified repellent binding site is analogous to that for attractant binding in McpB, another B. subtilis chemoreceptor.
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Abstract
Acetylcholine is a central biological signal molecule present in all kingdoms of life. In humans, acetylcholine is the primary neurotransmitter of the peripheral nervous system; it mediates signal transmission at neuromuscular junctions. Here, we show that the opportunistic human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa exhibits chemoattraction toward acetylcholine over a concentration range of 1 μM to 100 mM. The maximal magnitude of the response was superior to that of many other P. aeruginosa chemoeffectors. We demonstrate that this chemoattraction is mediated by the PctD (PA4633) chemoreceptor. Using microcalorimetry, we show that the PctD ligand-binding domain (LBD) binds acetylcholine with a equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) of 23 μM. It also binds choline and with lower affinity betaine. Highly sensitive responses to acetylcholine and choline, and less sensitive responses to betaine and l-carnitine, were observed in Escherichia coli expressing a chimeric receptor comprising the PctD-LBD fused to the Tar chemoreceptor signaling domain. We also identified the PacA (ECA_RS10935) chemoreceptor of the phytopathogen Pectobacterium atrosepticum, which binds choline and betaine but fails to recognize acetylcholine. To identify the molecular determinants for acetylcholine recognition, we report high-resolution structures of PctD-LBD (with bound acetylcholine and choline) and PacA-LBD (with bound betaine). We identified an amino acid motif in PctD-LBD that interacts with the acetylcholine tail. This motif is absent in PacA-LBD. Significant acetylcholine chemotaxis was also detected in the plant pathogens Agrobacterium tumefaciens and Dickeya solani. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of acetylcholine chemotaxis and extends the range of host signals perceived by bacterial chemoreceptors.
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Matilla MA, Velando F, Martín-Mora D, Monteagudo-Cascales E, Krell T. A catalogue of signal molecules that interact with sensor kinases, chemoreceptors and transcriptional regulators. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2021; 46:6356564. [PMID: 34424339 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuab043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteria have evolved many different signal transduction systems that sense signals and generate a variety of responses. Generally, most abundant are transcriptional regulators, sensor histidine kinases and chemoreceptors. Typically, these systems recognize their signal molecules with dedicated ligand-binding domains (LBDs), which, in turn, generate a molecular stimulus that modulates the activity of the output module. There are an enormous number of different LBDs that recognize a similarly diverse set of signals. To give a global perspective of the signals that interact with transcriptional regulators, sensor kinases and chemoreceptors, we manually retrieved information on the protein-ligand interaction from about 1,200 publications and 3D structures. The resulting 811 proteins were classified according to the Pfam family into 127 groups. These data permit a delineation of the signal profiles of individual LBD families as well as distinguishing between families that recognize signals in a promiscuous manner and those that possess a well-defined ligand range. A major bottleneck in the field is the fact that the signal input of many signaling systems is unknown. The signal repertoire reported here will help the scientific community design experimental strategies to identify the signaling molecules for uncharacterised sensor proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Matilla
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Félix Velando
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - David Martín-Mora
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Elizabet Monteagudo-Cascales
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Tino Krell
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Prof. Albareda 1, 18008 Granada, Spain
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4
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Matilla MA, Martín-Mora D, Krell T. The use of isothermal titration calorimetry to unravel chemotactic signalling mechanisms. Environ Microbiol 2020; 22:3005-3019. [PMID: 32329116 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Chemotaxis is based on the action of chemosensory pathways and is typically initiated by the recognition of chemoeffectors at chemoreceptor ligand-binding domains (LBD). Chemosensory signalling is highly complex; aspect that is not only reflected in the intricate interaction between many signalling proteins but also in the fact that bacteria frequently possess multiple chemosensory pathways and often a large number of chemoreceptors, which are mostly of unknown function. We review here the usefulness of isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to study this complexity. ITC is the gold standard for studying binding processes due to its precision and sensitivity, as well as its capability to determine simultaneously the association equilibrium constant, enthalpy change and stoichiometry of binding. There is now evidence that members of all major LBD families can be produced as individual recombinant proteins that maintain their ligand-binding properties. High-throughput screening of these proteins using thermal shift assays offer interesting initial information on chemoreceptor ligands, providing the basis for microcalorimetric analyses and microbiological experimentation. ITC has permitted the identification and characterization of many chemoreceptors with novel specificities. This ITC-based approach can also be used to identify signal molecules that stimulate members of other families of sensor proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel A Matilla
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Granada, Spain
| | - David Martín-Mora
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Granada, Spain
| | - Tino Krell
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Granada, Spain
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5
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Stulz A, Breitsamer M, Winter G, Heerklotz H. Primary and Secondary Binding of Exenatide to Liposomes. Biophys J 2020; 118:600-611. [PMID: 31972156 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.12.028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
The interactions of exenatide, a Trp-containing peptide used as a drug to treat diabetes, with liposomes were studied by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), tryptophan (Trp) fluorescence, and microscale thermophoresis measurements. The results are not only important for better understanding the release of this specific drug from vesicular phospholipid gel formulations but describe a general scenario as described before for various systems. This study introduces a model to fit these data on the basis of primary and secondary peptide-lipid interactions. Finally, resolving apparent inconsistencies between different methods aids the design and critical interpretation of binding experiments in general. Our results show that the net cationic exenatide adsorbs electrostatically to liposomes containing anionic diacyl phosphatidylglycerol lipids (PG); however, the ITC data could not properly be fitted by any established model. The combination of electrostatic adsorption of exenatide to the membrane surface and its self-association (Kd = 46 μM) suggested the possibility of secondary binding of peptide to the first, primarily (i.e., lipid-) bound peptide layer. A global fit of the ITC data validated this model and suggested one peptide to bind primarily per five PG molecules with a Kd ≈ 0.2 μM for PC/PG 1:1 and 0.6 μM for PC/PG 7:3 liposomes. Secondary binding shows a weaker affinity and a less exothermic or even endothermic enthalpy change. Depending on the concentration of liposomes, secondary binding may also lead to liposomal aggregation as detected by dynamic light-scattering measurements. ITC quantifies primary and secondary binding separately, whereas microscale thermophoresis and Trp fluorescence represent a summary or average of both effects, possibly with the fluorescence data showing somewhat greater weighting of primary binding. Systems with secondary peptide-peptide association within the membrane are mathematically analogous to the adsorption discussed here.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja Stulz
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Michaela Breitsamer
- Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Gerhard Winter
- Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmaceutics, Department of Pharmacy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Heiko Heerklotz
- Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg, Germany; Signalling Research Centres BIOSS and CIBSS, Freiburg, Germany; Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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6
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Orr AA, Yang J, Sule N, Chawla R, Hull KG, Zhu M, Romo D, Lele PP, Jayaraman A, Manson MD, Tamamis P. Molecular Mechanism for Attractant Signaling to DHMA by E. coli Tsr. Biophys J 2019; 118:492-504. [PMID: 31839263 DOI: 10.1016/j.bpj.2019.11.3382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Revised: 11/05/2019] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The attractant chemotaxis response of Escherichia coli to norepinephrine requires that it be converted to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DHMA) by the monoamine oxidase TynA and the aromatic aldehyde dehydrogenase FeaB. DHMA is sensed by the serine chemoreceptor Tsr, and the attractant response requires that at least one subunit of the periplasmic domain of the Tsr homodimer (pTsr) has an intact serine-binding site. DHMA that is generated in vivo by E. coli is expected to be a racemic mixture of the (R) and (S) enantiomers, so it has been unclear whether one or both chiral forms are active. Here, we used a combination of state-of-the-art tools in molecular docking and simulations, including an in-house simulation-based docking protocol, to investigate the binding properties of (R)-DHMA and (S)-DHMA to E. coli pTsr. Our studies computationally predicted that (R)-DHMA should promote a stronger attractant response than (S)-DHMA because of a consistently greater-magnitude piston-like pushdown of the pTsr α-helix 4 toward the membrane upon binding of (R)-DHMA than upon binding of (S)-DHMA. This displacement is caused primarily by interaction of DHMA with Tsr residue Thr156, which has been shown by genetic studies to be critical for the attractant response to L-serine and DHMA. These findings led us to separate the two chiral species and test their effectiveness as chemoattractants. Both the tethered cell and motility migration coefficient assays validated the prediction that (R)-DHMA is a stronger attractant than (S)-DHMA. Our study demonstrates that refined computational docking and simulation studies combined with experiments can be used to investigate situations in which subtle differences between ligands may lead to diverse chemotactic responses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asuka A Orr
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Jingyun Yang
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Nitesh Sule
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Ravi Chawla
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Kenneth G Hull
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and CPRIT Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Laboratory, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
| | - Mingzhao Zhu
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and CPRIT Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Laboratory, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
| | - Daniel Romo
- Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry and CPRIT Synthesis and Drug-Lead Discovery Laboratory, Baylor University, Waco, Texas
| | - Pushkar P Lele
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Arul Jayaraman
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas
| | - Michael D Manson
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
| | - Phanourios Tamamis
- Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.
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Abstract
Chemoreceptors in bacteria detect a variety of signals and feed this information into chemosensory pathways that represent a major mode of signal transduction. The five chemoreceptors from Escherichia coli have served as traditional models in the study of this protein family. Genome analyses revealed that many bacteria contain much larger numbers of chemoreceptors with broader sensory capabilities. Chemoreceptors differ in topology, sensing mode, cellular location, and, above all, the type of ligand binding domain (LBD). Here, we highlight LBD diversity using well-established and emerging model organisms as well as genomic surveys. Nearly a hundred different types of protein domains that are found in chemoreceptor sequences are known or predicted LBDs, but only a few of them are ubiquitous. LBDs of the same class recognize different ligands, and conversely, the same ligand can be recognized by structurally different LBDs; however, recent studies began to reveal common characteristics in signal-LBD relationships. Although signals can stimulate chemoreceptors in a variety of different ways, diverse LBDs appear to employ a universal transmembrane signaling mechanism. Current and future studies aim to establish relationships between LBD types, the nature of signals that they recognize, and the mechanisms of signal recognition and transduction.
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Abstract
Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, swims in aqueous environments with a single polar flagellum. In a spatial gradient of a chemical, the bacterium can migrate in "favorable" directions, a property that is termed chemotaxis. The chemotaxis of V. cholerae is not only critical for survival in various environments and but also is implicated in pathogenicity. In this chapter, we describe how to characterize the chemotactic behaviors of V. cholerae: these methods include swarm assay, temporal stimulation assay, capillary assay, and receptor methylation assay.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ikuro Kawagishi
- Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Kajino-cho, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8584, Japan.
- Research Center for Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Midori-cho, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan.
| | - So-Ichiro Nishiyama
- Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Kajino-cho, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8584, Japan
- Research Center for Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Midori-cho, Koganei, Tokyo, Japan
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9
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Martín-Mora D, Ortega A, Reyes-Darias JA, García V, López-Farfán D, Matilla MA, Krell T. Identification of a Chemoreceptor in Pseudomonas aeruginosa That Specifically Mediates Chemotaxis Toward α-Ketoglutarate. Front Microbiol 2016; 7:1937. [PMID: 27965656 PMCID: PMC5126104 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2016.01937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2016] [Accepted: 11/17/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an ubiquitous pathogen able to infect humans, animals, and plants. Chemotaxis was found to be associated with the virulence of this and other pathogens. Although established as a model for chemotaxis research, the majority of the 26 P. aeruginosa chemoreceptors remain functionally un-annotated. We report here the identification of PA5072 (named McpK) as chemoreceptor for α-ketoglutarate (αKG). High-throughput thermal shift assays and isothermal titration calorimetry studies (ITC) of the recombinant McpK ligand binding domain (LBD) showed that it recognizes exclusively α-ketoglutarate. The ITC analysis indicated that the ligand bound with positive cooperativity (Kd1 = 301 μM, Kd2 = 81 μM). McpK is predicted to possess a helical bimodular (HBM) type of LBD and this and other studies suggest that this domain type may be associated with the recognition of organic acids. Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) studies revealed that McpK-LBD is present in monomer-dimer equilibrium. Alpha-KG binding stabilized the dimer and dimer self-dissociation constants of 55 μM and 5.9 μM were derived for ligand-free and αKG-bound forms of McpK-LBD, respectively. Ligand-induced LBD dimer stabilization has been observed for other HBM domain containing receptors and may correspond to a general mechanism of this protein family. Quantitative capillary chemotaxis assays demonstrated that P. aeruginosa showed chemotaxis to a broad range of αKG concentrations with maximal responses at 500 μM. Deletion of the mcpK gene reduced chemotaxis over the entire concentration range to close to background levels and wild type like chemotaxis was recovered following complementation. Real-time PCR studies indicated that the presence of αKG does not modulate mcpK expression. Since αKG is present in plant root exudates it was investigated whether the deletion of mcpK altered maize root colonization. However, no significant changes with respect to the wild type strain were observed. The existence of a chemoreceptor specific for αKG may be due to its central metabolic role as well as to its function as signaling molecule. This work expands the range of known chemoreceptor types and underlines the important physiological role of chemotaxis toward tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Martín-Mora
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - Alvaro Ortega
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - José A Reyes-Darias
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - Vanina García
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - Diana López-Farfán
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - Miguel A Matilla
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
| | - Tino Krell
- Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas Granada, Spain
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10
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Maruyama IN. Activation of transmembrane cell-surface receptors via a common mechanism? The "rotation model". Bioessays 2015; 37:959-67. [PMID: 26241732 PMCID: PMC5054922 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201500041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
It has long been thought that transmembrane cell-surface receptors, such as receptor tyrosine kinases and cytokine receptors, among others, are activated by ligand binding through ligand-induced dimerization of the receptors. However, there is growing evidence that prior to ligand binding, various transmembrane receptors have a preformed, yet inactive, dimeric structure on the cell surface. Various studies also demonstrate that during transmembrane signaling, ligand binding to the extracellular domain of receptor dimers induces a rotation of transmembrane domains, followed by rearrangement and/or activation of intracellular domains. The paper here describes transmembrane cell-surface receptors that are known or proposed to exist in dimeric form prior to ligand binding, and discusses how these preformed dimers are activated by ligand binding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ichiro N Maruyama
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna, Okinawa, Japan
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11
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Pasupuleti S, Sule N, Cohn WB, MacKenzie DS, Jayaraman A, Manson MD. Chemotaxis of Escherichia coli to norepinephrine (NE) requires conversion of NE to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid. J Bacteriol 2014; 196:3992-4000. [PMID: 25182492 PMCID: PMC4248876 DOI: 10.1128/jb.02065-14] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2014] [Accepted: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Norepinephrine (NE), the primary neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system, has been reported to be a chemoattractant for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). Here we show that nonpathogenic E. coli K-12 grown in the presence of 2 μM NE is also attracted to NE. Growth with NE induces transcription of genes encoding the tyramine oxidase, TynA, and the aromatic aldehyde dehydrogenase, FeaB, whose respective activities can, in principle, convert NE to 3,4-dihydroxymandelic acid (DHMA). Our results indicate that the apparent attractant response to NE is in fact chemotaxis to DHMA, which was found to be a strong attractant for E. coli. Only strains of E. coli K-12 that produce TynA and FeaB exhibited an attractant response to NE. We demonstrate that DHMA is sensed by the serine chemoreceptor Tsr and that the chemotaxis response requires an intact serine-binding site. The threshold concentration for detection is ≤5 nM DHMA, and the response is inhibited at DHMA concentrations above 50 μM. Cells producing a heterodimeric Tsr receptor containing only one functional serine-binding site still respond like the wild type to low concentrations of DHMA, but their response persists at higher concentrations. We propose that chemotaxis to DHMA generated from NE by bacteria that have already colonized the intestinal epithelium may recruit E. coli and other enteric bacteria that possess a Tsr-like receptor to preferred sites of infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sasikiran Pasupuleti
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Nitesh Sule
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - William B Cohn
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Duncan S MacKenzie
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Arul Jayaraman
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Michael D Manson
- Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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12
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Mlp24 (McpX) of Vibrio cholerae implicated in pathogenicity functions as a chemoreceptor for multiple amino acids. Infect Immun 2012; 80:3170-8. [PMID: 22753378 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00039-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The chemotaxis of Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of cholera, has been implicated in pathogenicity. The bacterium has more than 40 genes for methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein (MCP)-like proteins (MLPs). In this study, we found that glycine and at least 18 L-amino acids, including serine, arginine, asparagine, and proline, serve as attractants to the classical biotype strain O395N1. Based on the sequence comparison with Vibrio parahaemolyticus, we speculated that at least 17 MLPs of V. cholerae may mediate chemotactic responses. Among them, Mlp24 (previously named McpX) is required for the production of cholera toxin upon mouse infection. mlp24 deletion strains of both classical and El Tor biotypes showed defects in taxis toward several amino acids, which were complemented by the expression of Mlp24. These amino acids enhanced methylation of Mlp24. Serine, arginine, asparagine, and proline were shown to bind directly to the periplasmic fragment of Mlp24. The structural information of its closest homolog, Mlp37, predicts that Mlp24 has two potential ligand-binding pockets per subunit, the membrane distal of which was suggested, by mutational analyses, to be involved in sensing of amino acids. These results suggest that Mlp24 is a chemoreceptor for multiple amino acids, including serine, arginine, and asparagine, which were previously shown to stimulate the expression of several virulence factors, implying that taxis toward a set of amino acids plays critical roles in pathogenicity of V. cholerae.
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Tajima H, Imada K, Sakuma M, Hattori F, Nara T, Kamo N, Homma M, Kawagishi I. Ligand specificity determined by differentially arranged common ligand-binding residues in bacterial amino acid chemoreceptors Tsr and Tar. J Biol Chem 2011; 286:42200-42210. [PMID: 21979954 PMCID: PMC3234949 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m111.221887] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2011] [Revised: 09/16/2011] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Escherichia coli has closely related amino acid chemoreceptors with distinct ligand specificity, Tar for l-aspartate and Tsr for l-serine. Crystallography of the ligand-binding domain of Tar identified the residues interacting with aspartate, most of which are conserved in Tsr. However, swapping of the nonconserved residues between Tsr and Tar did not change ligand specificity. Analyses with chimeric receptors led us to hypothesize that distinct three-dimensional arrangements of the conserved ligand-binding residues are responsible for ligand specificity. To test this hypothesis, the structures of the apo- and serine-binding forms of the ligand-binding domain of Tsr were determined at 1.95 and 2.5 Å resolutions, respectively. Some of the Tsr residues are arranged differently from the corresponding aspartate-binding residues of Tar to form a high affinity serine-binding pocket. The ligand-binding pocket of Tsr was surrounded by negatively charged residues, which presumably exclude negatively charged aspartate molecules. We propose that all these Tsr- and Tar-specific features contribute to specific recognition of serine and aspartate with the arrangement of the side chain of residue 68 (Asn in Tsr and Ser in Tar) being the most critical.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hirotaka Tajima
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602; Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Koganei 184-8584; Research Center for Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Koganei 184-8584
| | - Katsumi Imada
- Graduate School of Frontier Bioscience, Osaka University, Suita 565-0871; Department of Macromolecular Science, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Toyonaka 560-0043.
| | - Mayuko Sakuma
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602
| | - Fumiyuki Hattori
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602
| | - Toshifumi Nara
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Matsuyama University, Matsuyama 790-8578, Japan
| | - Naoki Kamo
- College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Matsuyama University, Matsuyama 790-8578, Japan
| | - Michio Homma
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8602
| | - Ikuro Kawagishi
- Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Koganei 184-8584; Research Center for Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Koganei 184-8584.
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14
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Schmidt J, Müsken M, Becker T, Magnowska Z, Bertinetti D, Möller S, Zimmermann B, Herberg FW, Jänsch L, Häussler S. The Pseudomonas aeruginosa chemotaxis methyltransferase CheR1 impacts on bacterial surface sampling. PLoS One 2011; 6:e18184. [PMID: 21445368 PMCID: PMC3062574 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0018184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2010] [Accepted: 02/22/2011] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The characterization of factors contributing to the formation and development of surface-associated bacterial communities known as biofilms has become an area of intense interest since biofilms have a major impact on human health, the environment and industry. Various studies have demonstrated that motility, including swimming, swarming and twitching, seems to play an important role in the surface colonization and establishment of structured biofilms. Thereby, the impact of chemotaxis on biofilm formation has been less intensively studied. Pseudomonas aeruginosa has a very complex chemosensory system with two Che systems implicated in flagella-mediated motility. In this study, we demonstrate that the chemotaxis protein CheR1 is a methyltransferase that binds S-adenosylmethionine and transfers a methyl group from this methyl donor to the chemoreceptor PctA, an activity which can be stimulated by the attractant serine but not by glutamine. We furthermore demonstrate that CheR1 does not only play a role in flagella-mediated chemotaxis but that its activity is essential for the formation and maintenance of bacterial biofilm structures. We propose a model in which motility and chemotaxis impact on initial attachment processes, dispersion and reattachment and increase the efficiency and frequency of surface sampling in P. aeruginosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliane Schmidt
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Mathias Müsken
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- TWINCORE, Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a Joint Venture of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Tanja Becker
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- TWINCORE, Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a Joint Venture of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Zofia Magnowska
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | | | - Stefan Möller
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Kassel, Kassel, Germany
| | | | | | - Lothar Jänsch
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
| | - Susanne Häussler
- Department of Cell Biology, Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany
- TWINCORE, Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a Joint Venture of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research and Medical School Hannover, Hannover, Germany
- * E-mail:
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15
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Amin DN, Hazelbauer GL. Chemoreceptors in signalling complexes: shifted conformation and asymmetric coupling. Mol Microbiol 2010; 78:1313-23. [PMID: 21091513 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07408.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by signalling complexes of chemoreceptors, histidine kinase CheA and coupling protein CheW. Interactions in complexes profoundly affect the kinase. We investigated effects of these interactions on chemoreceptors by comparing receptors alone and in complexes. Assays of initial rates of methylation indicated that signalling complexes shifted receptor conformation towards the methylation-on, higher-ligand-affinity, kinase-off state, tuning receptors for greater sensitivity. In contrast, transmembrane and conformational signalling within chemoreceptors was essentially unaltered, consistent with other evidence identifying receptor dimers as the fundamental units of such signalling. In signalling complexes, coupling of ligand binding to kinase activity is cooperative and the dynamic range of kinase control expanded > 100-fold by receptor adaptational modification. We observed no cooperativity in influence of ligand on receptor conformation, only on kinase activity. However, receptor modification generated increased dynamic range in a stepwise fashion, partly in coupling ligand to receptor conformation and partly in coupling receptor conformation to kinase activity. Thus, receptors and kinase were not equivalently affected by interactions in signalling complexes or by ligand binding and adaptational modification, indicating asymmetrical coupling between them. This has implications for mechanisms of precise adaptation. Coupling might vary, providing a previously unappreciated locus for sensory control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Divya N Amin
- Department of Biochemistry, 117 Schweitzer Hall, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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16
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Lacal J, Alfonso C, Liu X, Parales RE, Morel B, Conejero-Lara F, Rivas G, Duque E, Ramos JL, Krell T. Identification of a chemoreceptor for tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates: differential chemotactic response towards receptor ligands. J Biol Chem 2010; 285:23126-36. [PMID: 20498372 PMCID: PMC2906306 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m110.110403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 81] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2010] [Revised: 05/12/2010] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the identification of McpS as the specific chemoreceptor for 6 tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and butyrate in Pseudomonas putida. The analysis of the bacterial mutant deficient in mcpS and complementation assays demonstrate that McpS is the only chemoreceptor of TCA cycle intermediates in the strain under study. TCA cycle intermediates are abundantly present in root exudates, and taxis toward these compounds is proposed to facilitate the access to carbon sources. McpS has an unusually large ligand-binding domain (LBD) that is un-annotated in InterPro and is predicted to contain 6 helices. The ligand profile of McpS was determined by isothermal titration calorimetry of purified recombinant LBD (McpS-LBD). McpS recognizes TCA cycle intermediates but does not bind very close structural homologues and derivatives like maleate, aspartate, or tricarballylate. This implies that functional similarity of ligands, such as being part of the same pathway, and not structural similarity is the primary element, which has driven the evolution of receptor specificity. The magnitude of chemotactic responses toward these 7 chemoattractants, as determined by qualitative and quantitative chemotaxis assays, differed largely. Ligands that cause a strong chemotactic response (malate, succinate, and fumarate) were found by differential scanning calorimetry to increase significantly the midpoint of protein unfolding (T(m)) and unfolding enthalpy (DeltaH) of McpS-LBD. Equilibrium sedimentation studies show that malate, the chemoattractant that causes the strongest chemotactic response, stabilizes the dimeric state of McpS-LBD. In this respect clear parallels exist to the Tar receptor and other eukaryotic receptors, which are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Lacal
- From the
Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Carlos Alfonso
- the
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Xianxian Liu
- the
Department of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, and
| | - Rebecca E. Parales
- the
Department of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, California 95616, and
| | - Bertrand Morel
- the
Departamento de Química Física e Instituto de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Francisco Conejero-Lara
- the
Departamento de Química Física e Instituto de Biotecnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
| | - Germán Rivas
- the
Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas, CSIC, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Estrella Duque
- From the
Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Juan L. Ramos
- From the
Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
| | - Tino Krell
- From the
Department of Environmental Protection, Estación Experimental del Zaidín, CSIC, 18008 Granada, Spain
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17
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Suzuki D, Irieda H, Homma M, Kawagishi I, Sudo Y. Phototactic and chemotactic signal transduction by transmembrane receptors and transducers in microorganisms. SENSORS 2010; 10:4010-39. [PMID: 22319339 PMCID: PMC3274258 DOI: 10.3390/s100404010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2010] [Revised: 03/29/2010] [Accepted: 04/09/2010] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
Microorganisms show attractant and repellent responses to survive in the various environments in which they live. Those phototaxic (to light) and chemotaxic (to chemicals) responses are regulated by membrane-embedded receptors and transducers. This article reviews the following: (1) the signal relay mechanisms by two photoreceptors, Sensory Rhodopsin I (SRI) and Sensory Rhodopsin II (SRII) and their transducers (HtrI and HtrII) responsible for phototaxis in microorganisms; and (2) the signal relay mechanism of a chemoreceptor/transducer protein, Tar, responsible for chemotaxis in E. coli. Based on results mainly obtained by our group together with other findings, the possible molecular mechanisms for phototaxis and chemotaxis are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Suzuki
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan; E-Mails: (D.S.); (H.I.); (M.H.)
| | - Hiroki Irieda
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan; E-Mails: (D.S.); (H.I.); (M.H.)
| | - Michio Homma
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan; E-Mails: (D.S.); (H.I.); (M.H.)
| | - Ikuro Kawagishi
- Department of Frontier Bioscience, Hosei University, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8584, Japan; E-Mail: (I.K.)
- Research Center for Micro-Nano Technology, Hosei University, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8584, Japan
| | - Yuki Sudo
- Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8602, Japan; E-Mails: (D.S.); (H.I.); (M.H.)
- PRESTO, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), 4-1-8 Honcho Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0012, Japan
- Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: ; Tel.: +81-52-789-2993; Fax: +81-52-789-3001
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18
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Fowler DJ, Weis RM, Thompson LK. Kinase-active signaling complexes of bacterial chemoreceptors do not contain proposed receptor-receptor contacts observed in crystal structures. Biochemistry 2010; 49:1425-34. [PMID: 20088541 DOI: 10.1021/bi901565k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The receptor dimers that mediate bacterial chemotaxis form high-order signaling complexes with CheW and the kinase CheA. From the packing arrangement in two crystal structures of different receptor cytoplasmic fragments, two different models have been proposed for receptor signaling arrays: the trimers-of-dimers and hedgerow models. Here we identified an interdimer distance that differs substantially in the two models, labeled the atoms defining this distance through isotopic enrichment, and measured it with (19)F-(13)C REDOR. This was done in two types of receptor samples: isolated bacterial membranes containing overexpressed, intact receptor and soluble receptor fragments reconstituted into kinase-active signaling complexes. In both cases, the distance found was not compatible with the receptor dimer-dimer contacts observed in the trimers-of-dimers or in the hedgerow models. Comparisons of simulated and observed REDOR dephasing were used to deduce a closest approach distance at this interface, which provides a constraint for the possible arrangements of receptor assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Fowler
- Department of Chemistry, 710 North Pleasant Street, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
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19
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The chemoreceptor dimer is the unit of conformational coupling and transmembrane signaling. J Bacteriol 2010; 192:1193-200. [PMID: 20061469 DOI: 10.1128/jb.01391-09] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Transmembrane chemoreceptors are central components in bacterial chemotaxis. Receptors couple ligand binding and adaptational modification to receptor conformation in processes that create transmembrane signaling. Homodimers, the fundamental receptor structural units, associate in trimers and localize in patches of thousands. To what degree do conformational coupling and transmembrane signaling require higher-order interactions among dimers? To what degree are they altered by such interactions? To what degree are they inherent features of homodimers? We addressed these questions using nanodiscs to create membrane environments in which receptor dimers had few or no potential interaction partners. Receptors with many, few, or no interaction partners were tested for conformational changes and transmembrane signaling in response to ligand occupancy and adaptational modification. Conformation was assayed by measuring initial rates of receptor methylation, a parameter independent of receptor-receptor interactions. Coupling of ligand occupancy and adaptational modification to receptor conformation and thus to transmembrane signaling occurred with essentially the same sensitivity and magnitude in isolated dimers as for dimers with many neighbors. Thus, we conclude that the chemoreceptor dimer is the fundamental unit of conformational coupling and transmembrane signaling. This implies that in signaling complexes, coupling and transmembrane signaling occur through individual dimers and that changes between dimers in a receptor trimer or among trimer-based signaling complexes are subsequent steps in signaling.
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20
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Glekas GD, Foster RM, Cates JR, Estrella JA, Wawrzyniak MJ, Rao CV, Ordal GW. A PAS domain binds asparagine in the chemotaxis receptor McpB in Bacillus subtilis. J Biol Chem 2009; 285:1870-8. [PMID: 19864420 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m109.072108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
During chemotaxis toward asparagine by Bacillus subtilis, the ligand is thought to bind to the chemoreceptor McpB on the exterior of the cell and induce a conformational change. This change affects the degree of phosphorylation of the CheA kinase bound to the cytoplasmic region of the receptor. Until recently, the sensing domains of the B. subtilis receptors were thought to be structurally similar to the well studied Escherichia coli four-helical bundle. However, sequence analysis has shown the sensing domains of receptors from these two organisms to be vastly different. Homology modeling of the sensing domain of the B. subtilis asparagine receptor McpB revealed two tandem PAS domains. McpB mutants having alanine substitutions in key arginine and tyrosine residues of the upper PAS domain but not in any residues of the lower PAS domain exhibited a chemotactic defect in both swarm plates and capillary assays. Thus, binding does not appear to occur across any dimeric surface but within a monomer. A modified capillary assay designed to determine the concentration of attractant where chemotaxis is most sensitive showed that when Arg-111, Tyr-121, or Tyr-133 is mutated to an alanine, much more asparagine is required to obtain an active chemoreceptor. Isothermal titration calorimetry experiments on the purified sensing domain showed a K(D) to asparagine of 14 mum, with the three mutations leading to less efficient binding. Taken together, these results reveal not only a novel chemoreceptor sensing domain architecture but also, possibly, a different mechanism for chemoreceptor activation.
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Affiliation(s)
- George D Glekas
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA
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21
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Zhou Q, Ames P, Parkinson JS. Mutational analyses of HAMP helices suggest a dynamic bundle model of input-output signalling in chemoreceptors. Mol Microbiol 2009; 73:801-14. [PMID: 19656294 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06819.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
To test the gearbox model of HAMP signalling in the Escherichia coli serine receptor, Tsr, we generated a series of amino acid replacements at each residue of the AS1 and AS2 helices. The residues most critical for Tsr function defined hydrophobic packing faces consistent with a four-helix bundle. Suppression patterns of helix lesions conformed to the predicted packing layers in the bundle. Although the properties and patterns of most AS1 and AS2 lesions were consistent with both proposed gearbox structures, some mutational features specifically indicate the functional importance of an x-da bundle over an alternative a-d bundle. These genetic data suggest that HAMP signalling could simply involve changes in the stability of its x-da bundle. We propose that Tsr HAMP controls output signals by modulating destabilizing phase clashes between the AS2 helices and the adjoining kinase control helices. Our model further proposes that chemoeffectors regulate HAMP bundle stability through a control cable connection between the transmembrane segments and AS1 helices. Attractant stimuli, which cause inward piston displacements in chemoreceptors, should reduce cable tension, thereby stabilizing the HAMP bundle. This study shows how transmembrane signalling and HAMP input-output control could occur without the helix rotations central to the gearbox model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Zhou
- Biology Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
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22
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Perozzo R, Folkers G, Scapozza L. Thermodynamics of Protein–Ligand Interactions: History, Presence, and Future Aspects. J Recept Signal Transduct Res 2009; 24:1-52. [PMID: 15344878 DOI: 10.1081/rrs-120037896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 254] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
The understanding of molecular recognition processes of small ligands and biological macromolecules requires a complete characterization of the binding energetics and correlation of thermodynamic data with interacting structures involved. A quantitative description of the forces that govern molecular associations requires determination of changes of all thermodynamic parameters, including free energy of binding (deltaG), enthalpy (deltaH), and entropy (deltaS) of binding and the heat capacity change (deltaCp). A close insight into the binding process is of significant and practical interest, since it provides the fundamental know-how for development of structure-based molecular design-strategies. The only direct method to measure the heat change during complex formation at constant temperature is provided by isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). With this method one binding partner is titrated into a solution containing the interaction partner, thereby generating or absorbing heat. This heat is the direct observable that can be quantified by the calorimeter. The use of ITC has been limited due to the lack of sensitivity, but recent developments in instrument design permit to measure heat effects generated by nanomol (typically 10-100) amounts of reactants. ITC has emerged as the primary tool for characterizing interactions in terms of thermodynamic parameters. Because heat changes occur in almost all chemical and biochemical processes, ITC can be used for numerous applications, e.g., binding studies of antibody-antigen, protein-peptide, protein-protein, enzyme-inhibitor or enzyme-substrate, carbohydrate-protein, DNA-protein (and many more) interactions as well as enzyme kinetics. Under appropriate conditions data analysis from a single experiment yields deltaH, K(B), the stoichiometry (n), deltaG and deltaS of binding. Moreover, ITC experiments performed at different temperatures yield the heat capacity change (deltaCp). The informational content of thermodynamic data is large, and it has been shown that it plays an important role in the elucidation of binding mechanisms and, through the link to structural data, also in rational drug design. In this review we will present a comprehensive overview to ITC by giving some historical background to calorimetry, outline some critical experimental and data analysis aspects, discuss the latest developments, and give three recent examples of studies published with respect to macromolecule-ligand interactions that have utilized ITC technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Remo Perozzo
- Department of Chemistry and Applied BioSciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland.
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23
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Kim YJ, Chizhov I, Engelhard M. Functional Expression of the Signaling Complex Sensory Rhodopsin II/Transducer II fromHalobacterium salinaruminEscherichia coli. Photochem Photobiol 2009; 85:521-8. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2008.00470.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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24
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Different signaling roles of two conserved residues in the cytoplasmic hairpin tip of Tsr, the Escherichia coli serine chemoreceptor. J Bacteriol 2008; 190:8065-74. [PMID: 18931127 DOI: 10.1128/jb.01121-08] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors form ternary signaling complexes with the histidine kinase CheA through the coupling protein CheW. Receptor complexes in turn cluster into cellular arrays that produce highly sensitive responses to chemical stimuli. In Escherichia coli, receptors of different types form mixed trimer-of-dimers signaling teams through the tips of their highly conserved cytoplasmic domains. To explore the possibility that the hairpin loop at the tip of the trimer contact region might promote interactions with CheA or CheW, we constructed and characterized mutant receptors with amino acid replacements at the two nearly invariant hairpin charged residues of Tsr: R388, the most tip-proximal trimer contact residue, and E391, the apex residue of the hairpin turn. Mutant receptors were subjected to in vivo tests for the assembly and function of trimers, ternary complexes, and clusters. All R388 replacements impaired or destroyed Tsr function, apparently through changes in trimer stability or geometry. Large-residue replacements locked R388 mutant ternary complexes in the kinase-off (F, H) or kinase-on (W, Y) signaling state, suggesting that R388 contributes to signaling-related conformational changes in the trimer. In contrast, most E391 mutants retained function and all formed ternary signaling complexes efficiently. Hydrophobic replacements of any size (G, A, P, V, I, L, F, W) caused a novel phenotype in which the mutant receptors produced rapid switching between kinase-on and -off states, indicating that hairpin tip flexibility plays an important role in signal state transitions. These findings demonstrate that the receptor determinants for CheA and CheW binding probably lie outside the hairpin tip of the receptor signaling domain.
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25
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Abstract
Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is perhaps the most rigorous commercially available method for characterizing protein-ligand interactions. In this method, interactions are detected by the intrinsic heat (binding enthalpy) change of the reaction. The technique is applicable to native, unmodified proteins in solution. This is important for proteins that lose or change their functional behavior when chemically modified or attached to a surface. ITC is also useful for evaluating qualitative questions such whether a proposed binding interaction occurs at all, or for quantitatively measuring the concentration of functionally active protein. Finally, if executed with proper control experiments, ITC can be a rich source of thermodynamic information about the molecular binding mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Doyle
- SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA
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26
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Abstract
The reconstitution of membrane-associated protein complexes poses significant experimental challenges. The core signaling complex in the bacterial chemotaxis system is an illustrative example: The soluble cytoplasmic signaling proteins CheW and CheA bind to heterogeneous clusters of transmembrane receptor proteins, resulting in an assembly that exhibits cooperative kinase regulation. An understanding of the basis for the cooperativity inherent in the receptor/CheW/CheA interaction, as well as other membrane phenomena, can benefit from functional studies under defined conditions. To meet this need, a simple method was developed to assemble functional complexes on lipid membranes. The method employs a receptor cytoplasmic domain fragment (CF) with a histidine tag and liposomes that contain a Ni(2+) -chelating lipid. Assemblies of CF, CheW, and CheA form spontaneously in the presence of these liposomes, which exhibit the salient biochemical functions of kinase stimulation, cooperative regulation, and CheR-mediated receptor methylation. Although ligand binding phenomena cannot be studied directly with this approach, other factors that influence kinase stimulation and receptor methylation can be explored systematically, including receptor density and competition among stimulating and inhibiting receptor domains. The template-directed assembly of proteins leads to relatively well-defined samples that are amenable to analysis by a number of methods, including light scattering, electron microscopy, and fluorescence resonance energy transfer. The approach promises to be applicable to many systems involving membrane-associated proteins.
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27
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Tsamaloukas AD, Keller S, Heerklotz H. Uptake and release protocol for assessing membrane binding and permeation by way of isothermal titration calorimetry. Nat Protoc 2007; 2:695-704. [PMID: 17406632 DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2007.98] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The activity of many biomolecules and drugs crucially depends on whether they bind to biological membranes and whether they translocate to the opposite lipid leaflet and trans aqueous compartment. A general strategy to measure membrane binding and permeation is the uptake and release assay, which compares two apparent equilibrium situations established either by the addition or by the extraction of the solute of interest. Only solutes that permeate the membrane sufficiently fast do not show any dependence on the history of sample preparation. This strategy can be pursued for virtually all membrane-binding solutes, using any method suitable for detecting binding. Here, we present in detail one example that is particularly well developed, namely the nonspecific membrane partitioning and flip-flop of small, nonionic solutes as characterized by isothermal titration calorimetry. A complete set of experiments, including all sample preparation procedures, can typically be accomplished within 2 days. Analogous protocols for studying charged solutes, virtually water-insoluble, hydrophobic compounds or specific ligands are also considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alekos D Tsamaloukas
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3H6
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28
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Boldog T, Grimme S, Li M, Sligar SG, Hazelbauer GL. Nanodiscs separate chemoreceptor oligomeric states and reveal their signaling properties. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103:11509-14. [PMID: 16864771 PMCID: PMC1544200 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0604988103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 163] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2006] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors are transmembrane homodimers that can form trimers, higher order arrays, and extended clusters as part of signaling complexes. Interactions of dimers in oligomers are thought to confer cooperativity and cross-receptor influences as well as a 35-fold gain between ligand binding and altered kinase activity. In addition, higher order interactions among dimers are necessary for the observed patterns of assistance in adaptational modification among different receptors. Elucidating mechanisms underlying these properties will require defining which receptor functions can be performed by dimers and which require specific higher order interactions. However, such an assignment has not been possible. Here, we used Nanodiscs, an emerging technology for manipulating membrane proteins, to prepare small particles of lipid bilayer containing one or only a few chemoreceptor dimers. We found that receptor dimers isolated in individual Nanodiscs were readily modified, bound ligand, and performed transmembrane signaling. However, they were hardly able to activate the chemotaxis histidine kinase. Instead, maximal activation and thus full-range control of kinase occurred preferentially in discs containing approximately three chemoreceptor dimers. The sharp dependence of kinase activation on this number of receptors per dimer implies that the core structural unit of kinase activation and control is a trimer of dimers. Thus, our observations demonstrate that chemoreceptor transmembrane signaling does not require oligomeric organization beyond homodimers and implicate a trimer of dimers as the unit of downstream signaling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Boldog
- *Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri–Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; and
| | - Stephen Grimme
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 116 Morrill Hall, 505 South Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - Mingshan Li
- *Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri–Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; and
| | - Stephen G. Sligar
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, 116 Morrill Hall, 505 South Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801
| | - Gerald L. Hazelbauer
- *Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri–Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, MO 65211; and
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29
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Abstract
Sensory adaptation in bacterial chemotaxis is mediated by chemoreceptor methylation and demethylation. In Escherichia coli, methyltransferase CheR and methylesterase CheB bind both substrate sites and a carboxyl-terminal pentapeptide sequence carried by certain receptors. Pentapeptide binding enhances enzyme action, an enhancement required for effective adaptation and chemotaxis. Pentapeptides are linked to the conserved body of chemoreceptors through a notably variable sequence of 30-35 residues. We created nested deletions from the distal end of this linker in chemoreceptor Tar. Chemotaxis was eliminated by deletion of 20-40 residues and reduced by shorter deletions. This did not reflect generalized disruption, because all but the most extremely truncated receptors activated kinase, were substrates for adaptational modification and performed transmembrane signalling. In contrast, linker truncations reduced rates of adaptational modification in parallel with chemotaxis. We concluded the linker is important for chemotaxis because of its role in adaptational modification. Effects of linker truncations on CheR binding to receptor-borne pentapeptide implied linker (i) makes pentapeptide available to modification enzymes by separation from the helical receptor body, and (ii) is a flexible arm allowing dual binding of enzyme to pentapeptide and modification site. The data suggest linker and the helix from which it emerges are structurally dynamic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingshan Li
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Missouri-Columbia, 117 Schweitzer Hall, Columbia, MO 65211, USA
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30
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Keymer JE, Endres RG, Skoge M, Meir Y, Wingreen NS. Chemosensing in Escherichia coli: two regimes of two-state receptors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2006; 103:1786-91. [PMID: 16446460 PMCID: PMC1413630 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0507438103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 165] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The chemotaxis network in Escherichia coli is remarkable for its sensitivity to small relative changes in the concentrations of multiple chemical signals. We present a model for signal integration by mixed clusters of interacting two-state chemoreceptors. Our model results compare favorably to the results obtained by Sourjik and Berg with in vivo fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Importantly, we identify two distinct regimes of behavior, depending on the relative energies of the two states of the receptors. In regime I, coupling of receptors leads to high sensitivity, while in regime II, coupling of receptors leads to high cooperativity, i.e., high Hill coefficient. For homogeneous receptors, we predict an observable transition between regime I and regime II with increasing receptor methylation or amidation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan E. Keymer
- *Departments of Molecular Biology and
- NEC Laboratories America, Inc., 4 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540; and
| | - Robert G. Endres
- *Departments of Molecular Biology and
- NEC Laboratories America, Inc., 4 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540; and
| | - Monica Skoge
- Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544-1014
| | - Yigal Meir
- Department of Physics, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva 84105, Israel
| | - Ned S. Wingreen
- *Departments of Molecular Biology and
- NEC Laboratories America, Inc., 4 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540; and
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
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31
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Yang Q, Alemany R, Casas J, Kitajka K, Lanier SM, Escribá PV. Influence of the Membrane Lipid Structure on Signal Processing via G Protein-Coupled Receptors. Mol Pharmacol 2005; 68:210-7. [PMID: 15837842 DOI: 10.1124/mol.105.011692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We have recently reported that lipid structure regulates the interaction with membranes, recruitment to membranes, and distribution to membrane domains of heterotrimeric Galphabetagamma proteins, Galpha subunits, and Gbetagamma dimers (J Biol Chem 279:36540-36545, 2004). Here, we demonstrate that modulation of the membrane structure not only determines G protein localization but also regulates the function of G proteins and related signaling proteins. In this context, the antitumor drug daunorubicin (daunomycin) and oleic acid changed the membrane structure and inhibited G protein activity in biological membranes. They also induced marked changes in the activity of the alpha(2A/D)-adrenergic receptor and adenylyl cyclase. In contrast, elaidic and stearic acid did not change the activity of the above-mentioned proteins. These fatty acids are chemical but not structural analogs of oleic acid, supporting the structural basis of the modulation of membrane lipid organization and subsequent regulation of G protein-coupled receptor signaling. In addition, oleic acid (and also daunorubicin) did not alter G protein activity in a membrane-free system, further demonstrating the involvement of membrane structure in this signal modulation. The present work also unravels in part the molecular bases involved in the antihypertensive (Hypertension 43:249-254, 2004) and anticancer (Mol Pharmacol 67:531-540, 2005) activities of synthetic oleic acid derivatives (e.g., 2-hydroxyoleic acid) as well as the molecular bases of the effects of diet fats on human health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qing Yang
- Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, USA
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32
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Zhang W, Olson JS, Phillips GN. Biophysical and kinetic characterization of HemAT, an aerotaxis receptor from Bacillus subtilis. Biophys J 2005; 88:2801-14. [PMID: 15653746 PMCID: PMC1305375 DOI: 10.1529/biophysj.104.047936] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2004] [Accepted: 11/24/2004] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
HemAT from Bacillus subtilis is a new type of heme protein responsible for sensing oxygen. The structural and functional properties of the full-length HemAT protein, the sensor domain (1-178), and Tyr-70 mutants have been characterized. Kinetic and equilibrium measurements reveal that both full-length HemAT and the sensor domain show two distinct O(2) binding components. The high-affinity component has a K(dissociation) approximately 1-2 microM and a normal O(2) dissociation rate constant, k(O2) = 50-80 s(-1). The low-affinity component has a K(dissociation) approximately 50-100 microM and a large O(2) dissociation rate constant equal to approximately 2000 s(-1). The low n-value and biphasic character of the equilibrium curve indicate that O(2) binding to HemAT involves either independent binding to high- and low-affinity subunits in the dimer or negative cooperativity. Replacement of Tyr-70(B10) with Phe, Leu, or Trp in the sensor domain causes dramatic increases in k(O2) for both the high- and low-affinity components. In contrast, the rates and affinity for CO binding are little affected by loss of the Tyr-70 hydroxyl group. These results suggest highly dynamic behavior for the Tyr-70 side chain and the fraction of the "up" versus "down" conformation is strongly influenced by the nature of the iron-ligand complex. As a result of having both high- and low-affinity components, HemAT can respond to oxygen concentration gradients under both hypoxic (0-10 microM) and aerobic (50-250 microM) conditions, a property which could, in principle, be important for a robust sensing system. The unusual ligand-binding properties of HemAT suggest that asymmetry and apparent negative cooperativity play an important role in the signal transduction pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, W. M. Keck Center for Computational Biology, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77005, USA
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33
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Chalah A, Weis RM. Site-specific and synergistic stimulation of methylation on the bacterial chemotaxis receptor Tsr by serine and CheW. BMC Microbiol 2005; 5:12. [PMID: 15766389 PMCID: PMC1079850 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2180-5-12] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2004] [Accepted: 03/14/2005] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Specific glutamates in the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs) of Escherichia coli are modified during sensory adaptation. Attractants that bind to MCPs are known to increase the rate of receptor modification, as with serine and the serine receptor (Tsr), which contributes to an increase in the steady-state (adapted) methylation level. However, MCPs form ternary complexes with two cytoplasmic signaling proteins, the kinase (CheA) and an adaptor protein (CheW), but their influences on receptor methylation are unknown. Here, the influence of CheW on the rate of Tsr methylation has been studied to identify contributions to the process of adaptation. Results Methyl group incorporation was measured in a series of membrane samples in which the Tsr molecules were engineered to have one available methyl-accepting glutamate residue (297, 304, 311 or 493). The relative rates at these sites (0.14, 0.05, 0.05 and 1, respectively) differed from those found previously for the aspartate receptor (Tar), which was in part due to sequence differences between Tar and Tsr near site four. The addition of CheW generated unexpectedly large and site-specific rate increases, equal to or larger than the increases produced by serine. The increases produced by serine and CheW (added separately) were the largest at site one, ~3 and 6-fold, respectively, and the least at site four, no change and ~2-fold, respectively. The rate increases were even larger when serine and CheW were added together, larger than the sums of the increases produced by serine and CheW added separately (except site four). This resulted in substantially larger serine-stimulated increases when CheW was present. Also, CheW enhanced methylation rates when either two or all four sites were available. Conclusion The increase in the rate of receptor methylation upon CheW binding contributes significantly to the ligand specificity and kinetics of sensory adaptation. The synergistic effect of serine and CheW binding to Tsr is attributed to distinct influences on receptor structure; changes in the conformation of the Tsr dimer induced by serine binding improve methylation efficiency, and CheW binding changes the arrangement among Tsr dimers, which increases access to methylation sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anas Chalah
- Department of Chemistry, 710 North Pleasant St., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9336, USA
| | - Robert M Weis
- Department of Chemistry, 710 North Pleasant St., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9336, USA
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34
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Antommattei FM, Munzner JB, Weis RM. Ligand-specific activation of Escherichia coli chemoreceptor transmethylation. J Bacteriol 2004; 186:7556-63. [PMID: 15516567 PMCID: PMC524905 DOI: 10.1128/jb.186.22.7556-7563.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Adaptation in the chemosensory pathways of bacteria like Escherichia coli is mediated by the enzyme-catalyzed methylation (and demethylation) of glutamate residues in the signaling domains of methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCPs). MCPs can be methylated in trans, where the methyltransferase (CheR) molecule catalyzing methyl group transfer is tethered to the C terminus of a neighboring receptor. Here, it was shown that E. coli cells exhibited adaptation to attractant stimuli mediated through either engineered or naturally occurring MCPs that were unable to tether CheR as long as another MCP capable of tethering CheR was also present, e.g., either the full-length aspartate or serine receptor (Tar or Tsr). Methylation of isolated membrane samples in which engineered tethering and substrate receptors were coexpressed demonstrated that the truncated substrate receptors (trTsr) were efficiently methylated in the presence of tethering receptors (Tar with methylation sites blocked) relative to samples in which none of the MCPs had tethering sites. The effects of ligand binding on methylation were investigated, and an increase in rate was produced only with serine (the ligand specific for the substrate receptor trTsr); no significant change in rate was produced by aspartate (the ligand specific for the tethering receptor Tar). Although the overall efficiency of methylation was lower, receptor-specific effects were also observed in trTar- and trTsr-containing samples, where neither Tar nor Tsr possessed the CheR binding site at the C terminus. Altogether, the results are consistent with a ligand-induced conformational change that is limited to the methylated receptor dimer and does not spread to adjacent receptor dimers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frances M. Antommattei
- Department of Chemistry, Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Jennifer B. Munzner
- Department of Chemistry, Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
| | - Robert M. Weis
- Department of Chemistry, Program in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts
- Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Chemistry, LGRT 701, 710 North Pleasant St., University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003-9336. Phone: (413) 545-0464. Fax: (413) 545-4490. E-mail:
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35
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Abstract
Motile bacteria often use sophisticated chemotaxis signaling systems to direct their movements. In general, bacterial chemotactic signal transduction pathways have three basic elements: (1) signal reception by bacterial chemoreceptors located on the membrane; (2) signal transduction to relay the signals from membrane receptors to the motor; and (3) signal adaptation to desensitize the initial signal input. The chemotaxis proteins involved in these signal transduction pathways have been identified and extensively studied, especially in the enterobacteria Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium. Chemotaxis-guided bacterial movements enable bacteria to adapt better to their natural habitats via moving toward favorable conditions and away from hostile surroundings. A variety of oral microbes exhibits motility and chemotaxis, behaviors that may play important roles in bacterial survival and pathogenesis in the oral cavity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Renate Lux
- School of Dentistry, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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36
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Miller AS, Falke JJ. Side chains at the membrane-water interface modulate the signaling state of a transmembrane receptor. Biochemistry 2004; 43:1763-70. [PMID: 14967017 PMCID: PMC2890265 DOI: 10.1021/bi0360206] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Previous model studies of peptides and proteins have shown that protein-lipid interactions, primarily involving amino acid side chains near the membrane-water interface, modulate the position of transmembrane helices in bilayers. The present study examines whether such interfacial side chains stabilize the signaling states of a transmembrane signaling helix in a representative receptor, the aspartate receptor of bacterial chemotaxis. To examine the functional roles of signaling helix side chains at the periplasmic and cytoplasmic membrane-water interfaces, arginine and cysteine substitutions were scanned through these two interfacial regions. The chemical reactivities of the cysteine residues were first measured to determine the positions at which the helix crosses the membrane-water interface in both the periplasmic and cytoplasmic compartments. Subsequently, two antisymmetric in vitro activity measurements were carried out to determine the effect of each interfacial arginine or cysteine substitution on receptor signaling. Substitutions that stabilize the receptor on-state cause upregulation of receptor-coupled kinase activity and inhibition of methylation at receptor adaptation sites, while substitutions that stabilize the off-state have the opposite effects on these two activities. Notably, four substitutions at aromatic tryptophan and phenylalanine positions buried in the membrane near the membrane-water interface were found to stabilize the native on- or off-signaling state. The striking ability of these substitutions to drive the receptor toward a specific signaling state indicates that interfacial side chains are highly optimized to correctly position the native signaling helix in the membrane and to allow normal switching between the on- and off-signaling states. The analogous substitutions in model transmembrane helices are known to drive small piston-type displacements of the helix normal to the membrane. Thus, the simplest molecular interpretation of the present findings is that the signal-stabilizing substitutions drive piston displacements of the signaling helix, providing further support for the piston model for transmembrane signaling in bacterial chemoreceptors. More generally, the findings indicate that the interfacial phenylalanine, tryptophan, and arginine side chains widespread in the transmembrane alpha-helices of receptors, channels, and transporters can play important roles in modulating transitions between signaling and conformational states.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Joseph J. Falke
- To whom correspondence should be addressed: , tel (303) 492-3503, fax (303) 492-5894
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37
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Nakamura H, Kumita H, Imai K, Iizuka T, Shiro Y. ADP reduces the oxygen-binding affinity of a sensory histidine kinase, FixL: the possibility of an enhanced reciprocating kinase reaction. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101:2742-6. [PMID: 14970341 PMCID: PMC365691 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0305795101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The rhizobial FixL/FixJ system, a paradigm of heme-based oxygen sensors, belongs to the ubiquitous two-component signal transduction system. Oxygen-free (deoxy) FixL is autophosphorylated at an invariant histidine residue by using ATP and catalyzes the concomitant phosphoryl transfer to FixJ, but oxygen binding to the FixL heme moiety inactivates the kinase activity. Here we demonstrate that ADP acts as an allosteric effector, reducing the oxygen-binding affinity of the sensor domain in FixL when it is produced from ATP in the kinase reaction. The addition of ADP to a solution of purified wild-type FixL resulted in an approximately 4- to 5-fold decrease in oxygen-binding affinity in the presence of FixJ. In contrast, phosphorylation-deficient mutants, in which the well conserved ATP-binding catalytic site of the kinase domain is impaired, showed no such allosteric effect. This discovery casts light on the significance of homodimerization of two-component histidine kinases; ADP, generated in the phosphorylation reaction in one subunit of the homodimer, enhances the histidine kinase activity of the other, analogous to a two-cylinder reciprocating engine by reducing the ligand-binding affinity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiro Nakamura
- RIKEN Harima Institute/SPring-8, Mikazuki, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5148, Japan.
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38
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Zhang W, Phillips GN. Structure of the oxygen sensor in Bacillus subtilis: signal transduction of chemotaxis by control of symmetry. Structure 2003; 11:1097-110. [PMID: 12962628 DOI: 10.1016/s0969-2126(03)00169-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Much is now known about chemotaxis signaling transduction for Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. The mechanism of chemotaxis of Bacillus subtilis is, in a sense, reversed. Attractant binding strengthens the activity of histidine kinase in B. subtilis, instead of an inhibition reaction. The HemAT from B. subtilis can detect oxygen and transmit the signal to regulatory proteins that control the direction of flagella rotation. We have determined the crystal structures of the HemAT sensor domain in liganded and unliganded forms at 2.15 A and 2.7 A resolution, respectively. The liganded structure reveals a highly symmetrical organization. Tyrosine70 shows distinct conformational changes on one subunit when ligands are removed. Our study suggests that disruption of the symmetry of HemAT plays an important role in initiating the chemotaxis signaling transduction cascade.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Zhang
- Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
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39
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Bunn MW, Ordal GW. Transmembrane organization of the Bacillus subtilis chemoreceptor McpB deduced by cysteine disulfide crosslinking. J Mol Biol 2003; 331:941-9. [PMID: 12909020 DOI: 10.1016/s0022-2836(03)00834-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
The Bacillus subtilis chemoreceptor McpB is a dimer of identical subunits containing two transmembrane (TM) segments (TM1, residues 17-34: TM2, residues 280-302) in each monomer with a 2-fold axis of symmetry. To study the organization of the TM domains, the wild-type receptor was mutated systematically at the membrane bilayer/extracytoplasmic interface with 15 single cysteine (Cys) substitutions in each of the two TM domains. Each single Cys substitution was capable of complementing a null allele in vivo, suggesting that no significant perturbation of the native tertiary or quaternary structure of the chemoreceptor was introduced by the mutations. On the basis of patterns of disulfide crosslinking between subunits of the dimeric receptor, an alpha-helical interface was identified between TM1 and TM1' (containing residues 32, 36, 39, and 43) and between TM2 and TM2' (containing residues 276, 277, 280, 283 and 286). Pairs of cysteine substitutions (positions 34/280 and 38/273) in TM1 and TM2 were used to further elucidate specific contacts within a monomer subunit, enabling a model to be constructed defining the organization of the TM domain. Crosslinking of residues that were 150-180 degrees removed from position 32 (positions 37, 41, and 44) suggested that the receptors may be organized as an array of trimers of dimers in vivo. All crosslinking was unaffected by deletion of cheB and cheR (loss of receptor demethylation/methylation enzymes) or by deletion of cheW and cheV (loss of proteins that couple receptors with the autophosphorylating kinase). These findings indicate that the organization of the transmembrane region and the stability of the quaternary complex of receptors are independent of covalent modifications of the cytoplasmic domain and conformations in the cytoplasmic domain induced by the coupling proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael W Bunn
- Department of Biochemistry, Colleges of Medicine and Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois, 190 MSB 506 S Mathews, Urbana, IL 61801-3618, USA
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40
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Weis RM, Hirai T, Chalah A, Kessel M, Peters PJ, Subramaniam S. Electron microscopic analysis of membrane assemblies formed by the bacterial chemotaxis receptor Tsr. J Bacteriol 2003; 185:3636-43. [PMID: 12775701 PMCID: PMC156230 DOI: 10.1128/jb.185.12.3636-3643.2003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The serine receptor (Tsr) from Escherichia coli is representative of a large family of transmembrane receptor proteins that mediate bacterial chemotaxis by influencing cell motility through signal transduction pathways. Tsr and other chemotaxis receptors form patches in the inner membrane that are often localized at the poles of the bacteria. In an effort to understand the structural constraints that dictate the packing of receptors in the plane of the membrane, we have used electron microscopy to examine ordered assemblies of Tsr in membrane extracts isolated from cells engineered to overproduce the receptor. Three types of assemblies were observed: ring-like "micelles" with a radial arrangement of receptor subunits, two-dimensional crystalline arrays with approximate hexagonal symmetry, and "zippers," which are receptor bilayers that result from the antiparallel interdigitation of cytoplasmic domains. The registration among Tsr molecules in the micelle and zipper assemblies was sufficient for identification of the receptor domains and for determination of their contributions to the total receptor length. The overall result of this analysis is compatible with an atomic model of the receptor dimer that was constructed primarily from the X-ray crystal structures of the periplasmic and cytoplasmic domains. Significantly, the micelle and zipper structures were also observed in fixed, cryosectioned cells expressing the Tsr receptor at high abundance, suggesting that the modes of Tsr assembly found in vitro are relevant to the situation in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert M Weis
- Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20817, USA.
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41
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Levit MN, Stock JB. Receptor methylation controls the magnitude of stimulus-response coupling in bacterial chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 2002; 277:36760-5. [PMID: 12119291 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m204325200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Motile prokaryotes employ a chemoreceptor-kinase array to sense changes in the media and properly adjust their swimming behavior. This array is composed of a family of Type I membrane receptors, a histidine protein kinase (CheA), and an Src homology 3-like protein (CheW). Binding of an attractant to the chemoreceptors inhibits CheA, which results in decreased phosphorylation of the chemotaxis response regulator (CheY). Sensitivity of the system to stimuli is modulated by a protein methyltransferase (CheR) and a protein methylesterase (CheB) that catalyze the methylation and demethylation of specific glutamyl residues in the cytoplasmic domain of the receptors. One of the most fundamental unanswered questions concerning the bacterial chemotaxis mechanism is the quantitative relationship between ligand binding to receptors and CheA inhibition. We show that the receptor glutamyl modifications cause adaptation by changing the gain (magnitude amplification) between attractant binding and kinase inhibition without substantially affecting ligand binding affinity. The mechanism adjusts receptor sensitivity to background stimulus intensity over several orders of magnitude of attractant concentrations. The cooperative effects of ligand binding appear to be minimal with Hill coefficients for kinase inhibition less than 2, independent of the state of glutamyl modification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail N Levit
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
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42
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Levit MN, Grebe TW, Stock JB. Organization of the receptor-kinase signaling array that regulates Escherichia coli chemotaxis. J Biol Chem 2002; 277:36748-54. [PMID: 12119289 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m204317200] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Motor behavior in prokaryotes is regulated by a phosphorelay network involving a histidine protein kinase, CheA, whose activity is controlled by a family of Type I membrane receptors. In a typical Escherichia coli cell, several thousand receptors are organized together with CheA and an Src homology 3-like protein, CheW, into complexes that tend to be localized at the cell poles. We found that these complexes have at least 6 receptors per CheA. CheW is not required for CheA binding to receptors, but is essential for kinase activation. The kinase activity per mole of bound CheA is proportional to the total bound CheW. Similar results were obtained with the E. coli serine receptor, Tsr, and the Salmonella typhimurium aspartate receptor, Tar. In the case of Tsr, under conditions optimal for kinase activation, the ratio of subunits in complexes is approximately 6 Tsr:4 CheW:1 CheA. Our results indicate that information from numerous receptors is integrated to control the activity of a relatively small number of kinase molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikhail N Levit
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
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43
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Falke
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics Program, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0215, USA.
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44
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Abstract
Bacterial chemoreceptors signal across the membrane by conformational changes that traverse a four-helix transmembrane domain. High-resolution structures are available for the chemoreceptor periplasmic domain and part of the cytoplasmic domain but not for the transmembrane domain. Thus, we constructed molecular models of the transmembrane domains of chemoreceptors Trg and Tar, using coordinates of an unrelated four-helix coiled coil as a template and the X-ray structure of a chemoreceptor periplasmic domain to establish register and positioning. We tested the models using the extensive data for cross-linking propensities between cysteines introduced into adjacent transmembrane helices, and we found that many aspects of the models corresponded with experimental observations. The one striking disparity, the register of transmembrane helix 2 (TM2) relative to its partner transmembrane helix 1, could be corrected by sliding TM2 along its long axis toward the periplasm. The correction implied that axial sliding of TM2, the signaling movement indicated by a large body of data, was of greater magnitude than previously thought. The refined models were used to assess effects of inter-helical disulfides on the two ligand-induced conformational changes observed in alternative crystal structures of periplasmic domains: axial sliding within a subunit and subunit rotation. Analyses using a measure of disulfide potential energy provided strong support for the helical sliding model of transmembrane signaling but indicated that subunit rotation could be involved in other ligand-induced effects. Those analyses plus modeled distances between diagnostic cysteine pairs indicated a magnitude for TM2 sliding in transmembrane signaling of several angstroms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan L Peach
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
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45
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Abstract
Chemotaxis transducers are specialized receptors that microorganisms use in order to sense the environment in directing their motility to favorable niches. The Escherichia coli transducers are models for studying the sensory and signaling events at the molecular level. Extensive studies in other organisms and the arrival of genomics has resulted in the accumulation of sequences of many transducer genes, but they are not fully understood. In silico analysis provides some assistance in classification of various transducers from different species and in predicting their function. All transducers contain two structural modules: a conserved C-terminal multidomain module, which is a signature element of the transducer superfamily, and a variable N-terminal module, which is responsible for the diversity within the superfamily. These structural modules have two distinct functions: the conserved C-terminal module is involved in signaling and adaptation, and the N-terminal module is involved in sensing various stimuli. Both C-terminal and N-terminal modules appear to be mobile genetic elements and subjects of duplication and lateral transfer. Although chemotaxis transducers are found exclusively in prokaryotic organisms that have some type of motility (flagellar, gliding or pili-based), several types of domains that are found in their N-terminal modules are also present in signal transduction proteins from eukaryotes, including humans. This indicates that basic principles of sensory transduction are conserved throughout the phylogenetic tree and that the chemotaxis transducer superfamily is a valuable source of novel sensory elements yet to be discovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- I B Zhulin
- School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, 310 Ferst Drive, Atlanta, GA 30332-0230, USA.
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46
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Beel BD, Hazelbauer GL. Signalling substitutions in the periplasmic domain of chemoreceptor Trg induce or reduce helical sliding in the transmembrane domain. Mol Microbiol 2001; 40:824-34. [PMID: 11401690 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.2001.02446.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
We used in vivo oxidative cross-linking of engineered cysteine pairs to assess conformational changes in the four-helix transmembrane domain of chemoreceptor Trg. Extending previous work, we searched for and found a fourth cross-linking pair that spanned the intrasubunit interface between transmembrane helix 1 (TM1) and its partner TM2. We determined the effects of ligand occupancy on cross-linking rate constants for all four TM1-TM2 diagnostic pairs in conditions that allowed the formation of receptor-kinase complexes for the entire cellular complement of Trg. Occupancy altered all four rates in a pattern that implicated sliding of TM2 relative to TM1 towards the cytoplasm as the transmembrane signalling movement in receptor-kinase complexes. Transmembrane signalling can be reduced or induced by single amino acid substitutions in the ligand-binding region of the periplasmic domain of Trg. We determined the effects of these substitutions on conformation in the transmembrane domain and on ligand-induced changes using the diagnostic TM1-TM2 cysteine pairs. Effects on rates of in vivo cross-linking showed that induced signalling substitutions altered the relative positions of TM1 and TM2 in the same way as ligand binding, and reduced signalling substitutions blocked or attenuated the ligand-induced shift. These results provide strong support for the helical sliding model of transmembrane signalling.
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Affiliation(s)
- B D Beel
- School of Molecular Biosciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4660, USA
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47
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Li G, Weis RM. Covalent modification regulates ligand binding to receptor complexes in the chemosensory system of Escherichia coli. Cell 2000; 100:357-65. [PMID: 10676817 DOI: 10.1016/s0092-8674(00)80671-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In the Escherichia coli chemosensory pathway, receptor modification mediates adaptation to ligand. Evidence is presented that covalent modification influences ligand binding to receptors in complexes with CheW and the kinase CheA. Kinase inhibition was measured with serine receptor complexes in different modification levels; Ki for serine-mediated inhibition increased 10,000-fold from the lowest to the highest level. Without CheA and CheW, ligand binding is unaffected by covalent modification; thus, the influence of covalent modification is mediated only in the receptor complex, a conclusion supported by an analogy to allosteric enzymes and the observation of cooperative kinase inhibition. Also, the finding that a subsaturating serine concentration accelerates active receptor-kinase complex assembly implies that the assembly/disassembly process may also contribute to kinase regulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Li
- Department of Chemistry, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003-4510, USA
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48
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Abstract
Many, if not most, bacterial species swim. The synthesis and operation of the flagellum, the most complex organelle of a bacterium, takes a significant percentage of cellular energy, particularly in the nutrient limited environments in which many motile species are found. It is obvious that motility accords cells a survival advantage over non-motile mutants under normal, poorly mixed conditions and is an important determinant in the development of many associations between bacteria and other organisms, whether as pathogens or symbionts and in colonization of niches and the development of biofilms. This survival advantage is the result of sensory control of swimming behaviour. Although too small to sense a gradient along the length of the cell, and unable to swim great distances because of buffetting by Brownian motion and the curvature resulting from a rotating flagellum, bacteria can bias their random swimming direction towards a more favourable environment. The favourable environment will vary from species to species and there is now evidence that in many species this can change depending on the current physiological growth state of the cell. In general, bacteria sense changes in a range of nutrients and toxins, compounds altering electron transport, acceptors or donors into the electron transport chain, pH, temperature and even the magnetic field of the Earth. The sensory signals are balanced, and may be balanced with other sensory pathways such as quorum sensing, to identify the optimum current environment. The central sensory pathway in this process is common to most bacteria and most effectors. The environmental change is sensed by a sensory protein. In most species examined this is a transmembrane protein, sensing the external environment, but there is increasing evidence for additional cytoplasmic receptors in many species. All receptors, whether sensing sugars, amino acids or oxygen, share a cytoplasmic signalling domain that controls the activity of a histidine protein kinase, CheA, via a linker protein, CheW. A reduction in an attractant generally leads to the increased autophosphorylation of CheA. CheA passes its phosphate to a small, single domain response regulator, CheY. CheY-P can interact with the flagellar motor to cause it to change rotational direction or stop. Signal termination either via a protein, CheZ, which increases the dephosphorylation rate of CheY-P or via a second CheY which acts as a phosphate sink, allows the cell to swim off again, usually in a new direction. In addition to signal termination the receptor must be reset, and this occurs via methylation of the receptor to return it to a non-signalling conformation. The way in which bacteria use these systems to move to optimum environments and the interaction of the different sensory pathways to produce species-specific behavioural response will be the subject of this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- J P Armitage
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK
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49
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Abstract
Chemotaxis of enteric bacteria in spatial gradients toward a source of chemoattractant is accomplished by increases in the length of swimming runs up the gradient. Biochemical components of the intracellular signal pathway have been identified, but mechanisms for achieving the high response sensitivity remain unknown. Binding of attractant ligand to its receptor inactivates a receptor-associated histidine kinase, CheA, which phosphorylates the signal protein CheY. The reduction in phospho-CheY, CheY-P, levels prolongs swimming runs. Here, the stimulus-response relation has been determined by measurement of excitation responses mediated by the Tar receptor to defined concentration jumps of the attractant, aspartate, administered within milliseconds by photolysis of a photolabile precursor. The bacteria responded to <1% changes in Tar occupancy when adapted to aspartate over concentrations spanning three orders of magnitude. Response amplitudes increased approximately logarithmically with stimulus strength, extending responsiveness over a greater stimulus range. The extent and form of this relation indicates that, in contrast to mechanisms for adaptive recovery, excitation signal generation involves amplification based on cooperative interactions. These interactions could entail inactivation of multiple receptor-CheA signaling complexes and/or simultaneous activation of CheY-P dephosphorylation.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Jasuja
- Department of Physiology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA
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50
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Robillard GT, Broos J. Structure/function studies on the bacterial carbohydrate transporters, enzymes II, of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 1999; 1422:73-104. [PMID: 10393270 DOI: 10.1016/s0304-4157(99)00002-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- G T Robillard
- The University of Groningen, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Nienborgh 4, 9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
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