scholarly journals Tol-Dependent Macromolecule Import through the Escherichia coli Cell Envelope Requires the Presence of an Exposed TolA Binding Motif

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (21) ◽  
pp. 7526-7534 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stéphanie Pommier ◽  
Marthe Gavioli ◽  
Eric Cascales ◽  
Roland Lloubès

ABSTRACT The Tol-Pal proteins of the cell envelope of Escherichia coli are required for maintaining outer membrane integrity. This system forms protein complexes in which TolA plays a central role by providing a bridge between the inner and outer membranes via its interaction with the Pal lipoprotein. The Tol proteins are parasitized by filamentous bacteriophages and group A colicins. The N-terminal domain of the Ff phage g3p protein and the translocation domains of colicins interact directly with TolA during the processes of import through the cell envelope. Recently, a four-amino-acid sequence in Pal has been shown to be involved in Pal's interaction with TolA. A similar motif is also present in the sequence of two TolA partners, g3p and colicin A. Here, a mutational study was conducted to define the function of these motifs in the binding activity and import process of TolA. The various domains were produced and exported to the bacterial periplasm, and their cellular effects were analyzed. Cells producing the g3p domain were tolerant to colicins and filamentous phages and had destabilized outer membranes, while g3p deleted of three residues in the motif was affected in TolA binding and had no effect on cell integrity or colicin or phage import. A conserved Tyr residue in the colicin A translocation domain was involved in TolA binding and colicin A import. Furthermore, in vivo and in vitro coprecipitation analyses demonstrated that colicin A and g3p N-terminal domains compete for binding to TolA.

Development ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 113 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Van Doren ◽  
H.M. Ellis ◽  
J.W. Posakony

In Drosophila, a group of regulatory proteins of the helix-loop-helix (HLH) class play an essential role in conferring upon cells in the developing adult epidermis the competence to give rise to sensory organs. Proteins encoded by the daughterless (da) gene and three genes of the achaete-scute complex (AS-C) act positively in the determination of the sensory organ precursor cell fate, while the extramacrochaetae (emc) and hairy (h) gene products act as negative regulators. In the region upstream of the achaete gene of the AS-C, we have identified three ‘E box’ consensus sequences that are bound specifically in vitro by hetero-oligomeric complexes consisting of the da protein and an AS-C protein. We have used this DNA-binding activity to investigate the biochemical basis of the negative regulatory function of emc. Under the conditions of our experiments, the emc protein, but not the h protein, is able to antagonize specifically the in vitro DNA-binding activity of da/AS-C and putative da/da protein complexes. We interpret these results as follows: the heterodimerization capacity of the emc protein (conferred by its HLH domain) allows it to act in vivo as a competitive inhibitor of the formation of functional DNA-binding protein complexes by the da and AS-C proteins, thereby reducing the effective level of their transcriptional regulatory activity within the cell.


2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (11) ◽  
pp. 3328-3335 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dipankar Manna ◽  
Xiuhua Wang ◽  
N. Patrick Higgins

ABSTRACT The region upstream of the Escherichia coli bgloperon is an insertion hot spot for several transposons. Elements as distantly related as Tn1, Tn5, and phage Mu home in on this location. To see what characteristics result in a high-affinity site for transposition, we compared in vivo and in vitro Mu transposition patterns near the bgl promoter. In vivo, Mu insertions were focused in two narrow zones of DNA nearbgl, and both zones exhibited a striking orientation bias. Five hot spots upstream of the bgl cyclic AMP binding protein (CAP) binding site had Mu insertions exclusively with the phage oriented left to right relative to the direction of bgl transcription. One hot spot within the CAP binding domain had the opposite (right-to-left) orientation of phage insertion. The DNA segment lying between these two Mu hot-spot clusters is extremely A/T rich (80%) and is an efficient target for insertion sequences during stationary phase. IS1 insertions that activate the bgl operon resulted in a decrease in Mu insertions near the CAP binding site. Mu transposition in vitro differed significantly from the in vivo transposition pattern, having a new hot-spot cluster at the border of the A/T-rich segment. Transposon hot-spot behavior and orientation bias may relate to an asymmetry of transposon DNA-protein complexes and to interactions with proteins that produce transcriptionally silenced chromatin.


2005 ◽  
Vol 389 (2) ◽  
pp. 587-592 ◽  
Author(s):  
James W. A. Allen ◽  
Nicholas Leach ◽  
Stuart J. Ferguson

c-type cytochromes are characterized by covalent attachment of haem to the protein by two thioether bonds formed between the haem vinyl groups and the cysteine sulphurs in a CXXCH peptide motif. In Escherichia coli and many other Gram-negative bacteria, this post-translational haem attachment is catalysed by the Ccm (cytochrome c maturation) system. The features of the apocytochrome substrate required and recognized by the Ccm apparatus are uncertain. In the present study, we report investigations of maturation of cytochrome b562 variants containing CXXCR, CXXCK or CXXCM haem-binding motifs. None of them showed any evidence for correct maturation by the Ccm system. However, we have determined, for each variant, that the proteins (i) were expressed in large amounts, (ii) could bind haem in vivo and/or in vitro and (iii) were not degraded in the cell. Together with previous observations, these results strongly suggest that the apocytochrome substrate feature recognized by the Ccm system is simply the two cysteine residues and the histidine of the CXXCH haem-binding motif. Using the same experimental approach, we have also investigated a cytochrome b562 variant containing the special CWSCK motif that binds the active-site haem of E. coli nitrite reductase NrfA. Whereas a CWSCH analogue was matured by the Ccm apparatus in large amounts, the CWSCK form was not detectably matured either by the Ccm system or by the dedicated Nrf biogenesis proteins, implying that the substrate recognition features for haem attachment in NrfA may be more extensive than the CWSCK motif.


2020 ◽  
Vol 219 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shotaro Sakakibara ◽  
Kiyohito Mizutani ◽  
Ayumu Sugiura ◽  
Ayuko Sakane ◽  
Takuya Sasaki ◽  
...  

Actomyosin-undercoated adherens junctions are critical for epithelial cell integrity and remodeling. Actomyosin associates with adherens junctions through αE-catenin complexed with β-catenin and E-cadherin in vivo; however, in vitro biochemical studies in solution showed that αE-catenin complexed with β-catenin binds to F-actin less efficiently than αE-catenin that is not complexed with β-catenin. Although a “catch-bond model” partly explains this inconsistency, the mechanism for this inconsistency between the in vivo and in vitro results remains elusive. We herein demonstrate that afadin binds to αE-catenin complexed with β-catenin and enhances its F-actin–binding activity in a novel mechanism, eventually inducing the proper actomyosin organization through αE-catenin complexed with β-catenin and E-cadherin at adherens junctions.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (12) ◽  
pp. 3761-3767 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wuliang Sun ◽  
Jerzy Schoneich ◽  
G. Nigel Godson

ABSTRACT Earlier we showed by affinity cross-linking of initiating substrates to Escherichia coli primase that one or more of the residues Lys211, Lys229, and Lys241 were involved in the catalytic center of the enzyme (A. A. Mustaev and G. N. Godson, J. Biol. Chem. 270:15711–15718, 1995). We now demonstrate by mutagenesis that only Lys241 but not Lys211 and Lys229 is part of the catalytic center. Primase with a mutation of Arg to Lys at position 241 (defined as K241R-primase) is almost unable to synthesize primer RNA (pRNA) on the single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB)/R199G4oric template. However, it is able to synthesize a pppApG dimer plus trace amounts of 8- to 11-nucleotide (nt) pRNA transcribed from the 5′ CTG 3′ pRNA initiation site on phage G4 oric DNA. The amount of dimer synthesized by K241R-primase is similar to that synthesized by the wild-type primase, demonstrating that the K241R mutant can initiate pRNA synthesis normally but is deficient in chain elongation. In the general priming system, the K241R-primase also can synthesize only the dimer and very small amounts of 11-nt pRNA. The results of gel retardation experiments suggested that this deficiency in pRNA chain elongation of the K241R mutant primase is unlikely to be caused by impairment of the DNA binding activity. The K241R mutant primase, however, can still prime DNA synthesis in vivo and in vitro.


2002 ◽  
Vol 75 (6) ◽  
pp. 613 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Santabarbara ◽  
Ilaria Cazzalini ◽  
Andrea Rivadossi ◽  
Flavio M. Garlaschi ◽  
Giuseppe Zucchelli ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Ирина Владимировна Акулина ◽  
Светлана Ивановна Павлова ◽  
Ирина Семеновна Степаненко ◽  
Назира Сунагатовна Карамова ◽  
Александр Владиславович Сергеев ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Проведено токсикологическое исследование соединений с антибактериальными свойствами из группы терпенов ментанового ряда в условиях in vitro и in vivo: лимонена (B34), его производного (+)-1,2-оксида лимонена (B60) и серосодержащего монотерпенового соединения 2-(1’-гидрокси-4’-изопренил-1’-метилциклогексил-2’-тио)метилэтаноата (B65). В условиях in vitro (культура опухолевых клеток HeLa) изучаемые монотерпены в диапазоне концентраций 2 – 200 мкг/мл обладали цитотоксичностью. Ингибирующая концентрация (ИК50) для B34 составила 231 (167 – 295) мкг/мл, для B60 – 181 (105 – 257) мкг/мл, ИК50 B65 – 229 (150 – 308) мкг/мл. Исследование генотоксичности показало, что B34 и B65 в диапазоне концентраций 50 – 1000 мкг/мл не индуцируют SOS мутагенез в клетках Escherichia coli PQ37, тогда как B60 в концентрациях 500 и 1000 мкг/мл проявляет генотоксичность. In vivo в остром эксперименте на беспородных мышах установлена низкая токсичность B34 и его производных при различных путях введения. Наименьший показатель острой токсичности имеет B65, в связи с чем дополнительно на крысах проведено изучение его хронической токсичности. Ежедневное внутрижелудочное введение B65 в разовых дозах, составляющих 1/10 и 1/20 ЛД50 (1000 мг/кг и 500 мг/кг), в течение 1 мес не вызывало гибели животных, значимых нарушений общего состояния, изменения динамики массы тела, морфопатологических изменений. Внутрижелудочное введение B65 крысам в высокой токсической дозе 2000 мг/кг (1/5 ЛД50) в течение месяца вызывает патоморфологические изменения структуры печени.


Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 503-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongbo Liu ◽  
Stephen R Hewitt ◽  
John B Hays

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated that the Escherichia coli MutHLS mismatch-repair system can process UV-irradiated DNA in vivo and that the human MSH2·MSH6 mismatch-repair protein binds more strongly in vitro to photoproduct/base mismatches than to “matched” photoproducts in DNA. We tested the hypothesis that mismatch repair directed against incorrect bases opposite photoproducts might reduce UV mutagenesis, using two alleles at E. coli lacZ codon 461, which revert, respectively, via CCC → CTC and CTT → CTC transitions. F′ lacZ targets were mated from mut+ donors into mutH, mutL, or mutS recipients, once cells were at substantial densities, to minimize spontaneous mutation prior to irradiation. In umu+ mut+ recipients, a range of UV fluences induced lac+ revertant frequencies of 4–25 × 10−8; these frequencies were consistently 2-fold higher in mutH, mutL, or mutS recipients. Since this effect on mutation frequency was unaltered by an Mfd− defect, it appears not to involve transcription-coupled excision repair. In mut+ umuC122::Tn5 bacteria, UV mutagenesis (at 60 J/m2) was very low, but mutH or mutL or mutS mutations increased reversion of both lacZ alleles roughly 25-fold, to 5–10 × 10−8. Thus, at UV doses too low to induce SOS functions, such as Umu2′D, most incorrect bases opposite occasional photoproducts may be removed by mismatch repair, whereas in heavily irradiated (SOS-induced) cells, mismatch repair may only correct some photoproduct/base mismatches, so UV mutagenesis remains substantial.


Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-672 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jodi L Vogel ◽  
Vincent Geuskens ◽  
Lucie Desmet ◽  
N Patrick Higgins ◽  
Ariane Toussaint

Abstract Mutations in an N-terminal 70-amino acid domain of bacteriophage Mu's repressor cause temperature-sensitive DNA-binding activity. Surprisingly, amber mutations can conditionally correct the heat-sensitive defect in three mutant forms of the repressor gene, cts25 (D43-G), cts62 (R47-Q and cts71 (M28-I), and in the appropriate bacterial host produce a heat-stable Sts phenotype (for survival of temperature shifts). Sts repressor mutants are heat sensitive when in supE or supF hosts and heat resistant when in Sup° hosts. Mutants with an Sts phenotype have amber mutations at one of three codons, Q179, Q187, or Q190. The Sts phenotype relates to the repressor size: in Sup° hosts sts repressors are shorter by seven, 10, or 18 amino acids compared to repressors in supE or supF hosts. The truncated form of the sts62-1 repressor, which lacks 18 residues (Q179–V196), binds Mu operator DNA more stably at 42° in vitro compared to its full-length counterpart (cts62 repressor). In addition to influencing temperature sensitivity, the C-terminus appears to control the susceptibility to in vivo Clp proteolysis by influencing the multimeric structure of repressor.


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