Bacterial in-cell NMR of human α-synuclein: a disordered monomer by nature?

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 950-954 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andres Binolfi ◽  
Francois-Xavier Theillet ◽  
Philipp Selenko

The notion that human α-synuclein is an intrinsically disordered monomeric protein was recently challenged by a postulated α-helical tetramer as the physiologically relevant protein structure. The fact that this alleged conformation had evaded detection for so many years was primarily attributed to a widely used denaturation protocol to purify recombinant α-synuclein. In the present paper, we provide in-cell NMR evidence obtained directly in intact Escherichia coli cells that challenges a tetrameric conformation under native in vivo conditions. Although our data cannot rule out the existence of other intracellular protein states, especially in cells of higher organisms, they indicate clearly that inside E. coli α-synuclein is mostly monomeric and disordered.

2012 ◽  
Vol 198 (5) ◽  
pp. 881-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunyong Park ◽  
Tom A. Rapoport

The transport of proteins across the plasma membrane in bacteria requires a channel formed from the SecY complex, which cooperates with either a translating ribosome in cotranslational translocation or the SecA ATPase in post-translational translocation. Whether translocation requires oligomers of the SecY complex is an important but controversial issue: it determines channel size, how the permeation of small molecules is prevented, and how the channel interacts with the ribosome and SecA. Here, we probe in vivo the oligomeric state of SecY by cross-linking, using defined co- and post-translational translocation intermediates in intact Escherichia coli cells. We show that nontranslocating SecY associated transiently through different interaction surfaces with other SecY molecules inside the membrane. These interactions were significantly reduced when a translocating polypeptide inserted into the SecY channel co- or post-translationally. Mutations that abolish the interaction between SecY molecules still supported viability of E. coli. These results show that a single SecY molecule is sufficient for protein translocation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 190 (4) ◽  
pp. 613-621 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio O. Ortiz ◽  
Florian Brandt ◽  
Valério R.F. Matias ◽  
Lau Sennels ◽  
Juri Rappsilber ◽  
...  

Ribosomes arranged in pairs (100S) have been related with nutritional stress response and are believed to represent a “hibernation state.” Several proteins have been identified that are associated with 100S ribosomes but their spatial organization has hitherto not been characterized. We have used cryoelectron tomography to reveal the three-dimensional configuration of 100S ribosomes isolated from starved Escherichia coli cells and we have described their mode of interaction. In situ studies with intact E. coli cells allowed us to demonstrate that 100S ribosomes do exist in vivo and represent an easily reversible state of quiescence; they readily vanish when the growth medium is replenished.


Genetics ◽  
1987 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 513-521
Author(s):  
Nancy J Trun ◽  
Thomas J Silhavy

ABSTRACT The prlC gene of E. coli was originally identified as an allele, prlC1, which suppresses certain signal sequence mutations in the genes for several exported proteins. We have isolated six new alleles of prlC that also confer this phenotype. These mutations can be placed into three classes based on the degree to which they suppress the lamBsignal sequence deletion, lamBs78. Genetic mapping reveals that the physical location of the mutations in prlC correlates with the strength of the suppression, suggesting that different regions of the gene can be altered to yield a suppressor phenotype. We also describe an in vivo cloning procedure using λplacMu9H. The procedure relies on transposition and illegitimate recombination to generate a specialized transducing phage that carries prlC1. This method should be applicable to any gene for which there is a mutant phenotype.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Gaurav ◽  
Varsha Gupta ◽  
Sandeep K. Shrivastava ◽  
Ranjana Pathania

AbstractThe increasing prevalence of antimicrobial resistance has become a global health problem. Acinetobacter baumannii is an important nosocomial pathogen due to its capacity to persist in the hospital environment. It has a high mortality rate and few treatment options. Antibiotic combinations can help to fight multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, but they are rarely used in the clinics and mostly unexplored. The interaction between bacteriostatic and bactericidal antibiotics are mostly reported as antagonism based on the results obtained in the susceptible model laboratory strain Escherichia coli. However, in the present study, we report a synergistic interaction between nalidixic acid and tetracycline against clinical multi-drug resistant A. baumannii and E. coli. Here we provide mechanistic insight into this dichotomy. The synergistic combination was studied by checkerboard assay and time-kill curve analysis. We also elucidate the mechanism behind this synergy using several techniques such as fluorescence spectroscopy, flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, morphometric analysis, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. Nalidixic acid and tetracycline combination displayed synergy against most of the MDR clinical isolates of A. baumannii and E. coli but not against susceptible isolates. Finally, we demonstrate that this combination is also effective in vivo in an A. baumannii/Caenorhabditis elegans infection model (p < 0.001)


1987 ◽  
Vol 248 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Charlier ◽  
R Sanchez

In contrast with most aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the lysyl-tRNA synthetase of Escherichia coli is coded for by two genes, the normal lysS gene and the inducible lysU gene. During its purification from E. coli K12, lysyl-tRNA synthetase was monitored by its aminoacylation and adenosine(5′)tetraphospho(5′)adenosine (Ap4A) synthesis activities. Ap4A synthesis was measured by a new assay using DEAE-cellulose filters. The heterogeneity of lysyl-tRNA synthetase (LysRS) was revealed on hydroxyapatite; we focused on the first peak, LysRS1, because of its higher Ap4A/lysyl-tRNA activity ratio at that stage. Additional differences between LysRS1 and LysRS2 (major peak on hydroxyapatite) were collected. LysRS1 was eluted from phosphocellulose in the presence of the substrates, whereas LysRS2 was not. Phosphocellulose chromatography was used to show the increase of LysRS1 in cells submitted to heat shock. Also, the Mg2+ optimum in the Ap4A-synthesis reaction is much higher for LysRS1. LysRS1 showed a higher thermostability, which was specifically enhanced by Zn2+. These results in vivo and in vitro strongly suggest that LysRS1 is the heat-inducible lysU-gene product.


2003 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 3088-3096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Redford ◽  
Paula L. Roesch ◽  
Rodney A. Welch

ABSTRACT Extraintestinal Escherichia coli strains cause meningitis, sepsis, urinary tract infection, and other infections outside the bowel. We examined here extraintestinal E. coli strain CFT073 by differential fluorescence induction. Pools of CFT073 clones carrying a CFT073 genomic fragment library in a promoterless gfp vector were inoculated intraperitoneally into mice; bacteria were recovered by lavage 6 h later and then subjected to fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Eleven promoters were found to be active in the mouse but not in Luria-Bertani (LB) broth culture. Three are linked to genes for enterobactin, aerobactin, and yersiniabactin. Three others are linked to the metabolic genes metA, gltB, and sucA, and another was linked to iha, a possible adhesin. Three lie before open reading frames of unknown function. One promoter is associated with degS, an inner membrane protease. Mutants of the in vivo-induced loci were tested in competition with the wild type in mouse peritonitis. Of the mutants tested, only CFT073 degS was found to be attenuated in peritoneal and in urinary tract infection, with virulence restored by complementation. CFT073 degS shows growth similar to that of the wild type at 37°C but is impaired at 43°C or in 3% ethanol LB broth at 37°C. Compared to the wild type, the mutant shows similar serum survival, motility, hemolysis, erythrocyte agglutination, and tolerance to oxidative stress. It also has the same lipopolysaccharide appearance on a silver-stained gel. The basis for the virulence attenuation is unclear, but because DegS is needed for σE activity, our findings implicate σE and its regulon in E. coli extraintestinal pathogenesis.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (24) ◽  
pp. 7403-7407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean McAteer ◽  
Andrew Coulson ◽  
Neil McLennan ◽  
Millicent Masters

ABSTRACT LytB and GcpE, because they are codistributed with other pathway enzymes, have been predicted to catalyze unknown steps in the nonmevalonate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis. We constructed a conditional Escherichia coli lytB mutant and found that LytB is essential for survival and that depletion of LytB results in cell lysis, which is consistent with a role for this protein in isoprenoid biosynthesis. Alcohols which can be converted to pathway intermediates beyond the hypothesized LytB step(s) support limited growth of E. coli lytB mutants. An informatic analysis of protein structure suggested that GcpE is a globular protein of the TIM barrel class and that LytB is also a globular protein. Possible biochemical roles for LytB and GcpE are suggested.


2005 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 2343-2351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Komp Lindgren ◽  
Linda L. Marcusson ◽  
Dorthe Sandvang ◽  
Niels Frimodt-Møller ◽  
Diarmaid Hughes

ABSTRACT Resistance to fluoroquinolones in urinary tract infection (UTIs) caused by Escherichia coli is associated with multiple mutations, typically those that alter DNA gyrase and DNA topoisomerase IV and those that regulate AcrAB-TolC-mediated efflux. We asked whether a fitness cost is associated with the accumulation of these multiple mutations. Mutants of the susceptible E. coli UTI isolate Nu14 were selected through three to five successive steps with norfloxacin. Each selection was performed with the MIC of the selected strain. After each selection the MIC was measured; and the regions of gyrA, gyrB, parC, and parE, previously associated with resistance mutations, and all of marOR and acrR were sequenced. The first selection step yielded mutations in gyrA, gyrB, and marOR. Subsequent selection steps yielded mutations in gyrA, parE, and marOR but not in gyrB, parC, or acrR. Resistance-associated mutations were identified in almost all isolates after selection steps 1 and 2 but in less than 50% of isolates after subsequent selection steps. Selected strains were competed in vitro, in urine, and in a mouse UTI infection model against the starting strain, Nu14. First-step mutations were not associated with significant fitness costs. However, the accumulation of three or more resistance-associated mutations was usually associated with a large reduction in biological fitness, both in vitro and in vivo. Interestingly, in some lineages a partial restoration of fitness was associated with the accumulation of additional mutations in late selection steps. We suggest that the relative biological costs of multiple mutations may influence the evolution of E. coli strains that develop resistance to fluoroquinolones.


Open Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 170040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qianqian Di ◽  
Qing Lin ◽  
Zhibin Huang ◽  
Yali Chi ◽  
Xiaohui Chen ◽  
...  

Neutrophils play important roles in innate immunity and are mainly dependent on various enzyme-containing granules to kill engulfed microorganisms. Zebrafish nephrosin ( npsn ) is specifically expressed in neutrophils; however, its function is largely unknown. Here, we generated an npsn mutant ( npsn smu5 ) via CRISPR/Cas9 to investigate the in vivo function of Npsn. The overall development and number of neutrophils remained unchanged in npsn -deficient mutants, whereas neutrophil antibacterial function was defective. Upon infection with Escherichia coli , the npsn smu5 mutants exhibited a lower survival rate and more severe bacterial burden, as well as augmented inflammatory response to challenge with infection when compared with wild-type embryos, whereas npsn -overexpressing zebrafish exhibited enhanced host defence against E. coli infection. These findings demonstrated that zebrafish Npsn promotes host defence against bacterial infection. Furthermore, our findings suggested that npsn -deficient and -overexpressing zebrafish might serve as effective models of in vivo innate immunity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 474 (8) ◽  
pp. 1395-1416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cora Lilia Alvarez ◽  
Gerardo Corradi ◽  
Natalia Lauri ◽  
Irene Marginedas-Freixa ◽  
María Florencia Leal Denis ◽  
...  

We studied the kinetics of extracellular ATP (ATPe) in Escherichia coli and their outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) stimulated with amphipatic peptides melittin (MEL) and mastoparan 7 (MST7). Real-time luminometry was used to measure ATPe kinetics, ATP release, and ATPase activity. The latter was also determined by following [32P]Pi released from [γ-32P]ATP. E. coli was studied alone, co-incubated with Caco-2 cells, or in rat jejunum segments. In E. coli, the addition of [γ-32P]ATP led to the uptake and subsequent hydrolysis of ATPe. Exposure to peptides caused an acute 3-fold (MST7) and 7-fold (MEL) increase in [ATPe]. In OMVs, ATPase activity increased linearly with [ATPe] (0.1–1 µM). Exposure to MST7 and MEL enhanced ATP release by 3–7 fold, with similar kinetics to that of bacteria. In Caco-2 cells, the addition of ATP to the apical domain led to a steep [ATPe] increase to a maximum, with subsequent ATPase activity. The addition of bacterial suspensions led to a 6–7 fold increase in [ATPe], followed by an acute decrease. In perfused jejunum segments, exposure to E. coli increased luminal ATP 2 fold. ATPe regulation of E. coli depends on the balance between ATPase activity and ATP release. This balance can be altered by OMVs, which display their own capacity to regulate ATPe. E. coli can activate ATP release from Caco-2 cells and intestinal segments, a response which in vivo might lead to intestinal release of ATP from the gut lumen.


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