Proteinases of Legionella: phenylalanineaminopeptidase of L. pneumophila

The type II secretion system of Legionella pneumophila elaborates two aminopeptidases, as well as a metalloprotease that contributes to differential infection among protozoan hosts

Legionella pneumophila, the agent of Legionnaires' disease, is an intracellular parasite of aquatic amoebae and human macrophages. A key factor for L. pneumophila in intracellular infection is its type II protein secretion system (Lsp). In order to more completely define Lsp output, we recently performed a proteomic analysis of culture supernatants. Based upon the predictions of that analysis, we found that L. pneumophila secretes two distinct aminopeptidase activities encoded by the genes lapA and lapB. Whereas lapA conferred activity against leucine, phenylalanine, and tyrosine aminopeptides, lapB was linked to the cleavage of lysine- and arginine-containing substrates. To assess the role of secreted aminopeptidases in intracellular infection, we examined the relative abilities of lapA and lapB mutants to infect human U937 cell macrophages as well as Hartmannella vermiformis and Acanthamoeba castellanii amoebae. Although these experiments identified a dispensable role for LapA and LapB, they uncovered a previously unrecognized role for the type II-dependent ProA (MspA) metalloprotease. Whereas proA mutants were not defective for macrophage or A. castellanii infection, they (but not their complemented derivatives) were impaired for growth upon coculture with H. vermiformis. Thus, ProA represents the first type II effector implicated in an intracellular infection event. Furthermore, proA represents an L. pneumophila gene that shows differential importance among protozoan infection models, suggesting that the legionellae might have evolved some of its factors to especially target certain of their protozoan hosts.

Genetic, immunological, and cytotoxic comparisons of Legionella proteolytic activities

Several strains of Legionella pneumophila and other species of Legionella with proteolytic activities were compared by assays, including Southern hybridizations and Western immunoblots, to determine their proteolytic, hemolytic, and cytotoxic activities. Only proteases from strains of L. pneumophila were both hemolytic and cytotoxic, and proteolytic activities extracted from other species of Legionella possessed only hemolytic activity. A 4.0-kilobase DNA sequence encoding the 38-kilodalton metalloprotease from L. pneumophila Philadelphia 1 that we showed previously was responsible for the observed hemolytic and cytotoxic phenotypes (F. D. Quinn and L. S. Tompkins, Mol. Microbiol., 3:797-805, 1989) was used in Southern hybridizations to probe chromosomal DNA from several strains of L. pneumophila and other Legionella species. The probe hybridized to the chromosomal DNA of all serogroups of L. pneumophila but not to any strains of L. dumoffii, L. micdadei, L. feeleii, or L. jordanis that we examined. Additionally, Western immunoblots done with rabbit antisera made to the cloned L. pneumophila protease demonstrated cross-reactions among 38-kilodalton proteins from strains of L. pneumophila, but no reactions were observed with proteins from other species of Legionella. Similarly, the cloned protease from L. pneumophila reacted with convalescent-phase sera from patients infected with L. pneumophila, but not with antisera isolated from patients infected with other Legionella species. Thus, despite some similarities among the proteolytic activities of members of the genus Legionella, including proteolytic and hemolytic phenotypes, metal requirements for zinc or iron, sensitivity to EDTA, and temperature and pH optima, we documented distinct genetic, immunological, and cytotoxicity differences among the proteolytic activities produced by Legionella species.