Secretion Substrate (secretion + substrate)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


VirE2, a Type IV secretion substrate, interacts with the VirD4 transfer protein at cell poles of Agrobacterium tumefaciens

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2003
Krishnamohan Atmakuri
Summary Agrobacterium tumefaciens transfers oncogenic DNA and effector proteins to plant cells during the course of infection. Substrate translocation across the bacterial cell envelope is mediated by a type IV secretion (TFS) system composed of the VirB proteins, as well as VirD4, a member of a large family of inner membrane proteins implicated in the coupling of DNA transfer intermediates to the secretion machine. In this study, we demonstrate with novel cytological screens , a two-hybrid (C2H) assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) , and by immunoprecipitation of chemically cross-linked protein complexes that the VirE2 effector protein interacts directly with the VirD4 coupling protein at cell poles of A. tumefaciens. Analyses of truncation derivatives showed that VirE2 interacts via its C terminus with VirD4, and, further, an NH2 -terminal membrane-spanning domain of VirD4 is dispensable for complex formation. VirE2 interacts with VirD4 independently of the virB -encoded transfer machine and T pilus, the putative periplasmic chaperones AcvB and VirJ, and the T-DNA transfer intermediate. Finally, VirE2 is recruited to polar-localized VirD4 as a complex with its stabilizing secretion chaperone VirE1, yet the effector,coupling protein interaction is not dependent on chaperone binding. Together, our findings establish for the first time that a protein substrate of a type IV secretion system is recruited to a member of the coupling protein superfamily. [source]


Human GCIP interacts with CT847, a novel Chlamydia trachomatis type III secretion substrate, and is degraded in a tissue-culture infection model

CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 10 2007
Blandine Chellas-Géry
Summary The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis occupies a parasitophorous vacuole and employs a type III secretion mechanism to translocate host-interactive proteins. These proteins most likely contribute to pathogenesis through modulation of host cell mechanisms crucial for the establishment and maintenance of a permissive intracellular environment. Using a surrogate Yersinia type III secretion system (T3SS), we have identified the conserved gene product CT847 as a chlamydial T3SS substrate. Yeast two-hybrid studies using CT847 as bait to screen a HeLa cell cDNA library identified an interaction with mammalian Grap2 cyclin D- interacting protein (GCIP). Immunoblot analyses of C. trachomatis -infected HeLa cells showed that GCIP levels begin to decrease (as compared with mock-infected HeLa cells) between 8 h and 12 h post infection. GCIP was virtually undetectable in 24 h time point material. This decrease was inhibited by proteasome inhibitors lactacystin and MG-132, and the T3SS inhibitor Compound 1. CT847 was detectible in purified reticulate body but not elementary body lysates, and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) expression analyses indicate a mid-cycle expression pattern. Both of these findings are consistent with CT847 contributing to the observed effect on GCIP. Given the established roles of GCIP, we believe that we have discovered a novel C. trachomatis antihost protein whose activity is relevant to chlamydial pathogenesis. [source]


C-ring requirement in flagellar type III secretion is bypassed by FlhDC upregulation

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 2 2010
Marc Erhardt
Summary The cytoplasmic C-ring of the flagellum consists of FliG, FliM and FliN and acts as an affinity cup to localize secretion substrates for protein translocation via the flagellar-specific type III secretion system. Random T-POP transposon mutagenesis was employed to screen for insertion mutants that allowed flagellar type III secretion in the absence of the C-ring using the flagellar type III secretion system-specific hook,,-lactamase reporter (Lee and Hughes, 2006). Any condition resulting in at least a twofold increase in flhDC expression was sufficient to overcome the requirement for the C-ring and the ATPase complex FliHIJ in flagellar type III secretion. Insertions in known and unknown flagellar regulatory loci were isolated as well as chromosomal duplications of the flhDC region. The twofold increased flhDC mRNA level coincided in a twofold increase in the number of hook-basal bodies per cell as analysed by fluorescent microscopy. These results indicate that the C-ring functions as a nonessential affinity cup-like structure during flagellar type III secretion to enhance the specificity and efficiency of the secretion process. [source]


Agrobacterium type IV secretion is a two-step process in which export substrates associate with the virulence protein VirJ in the periplasm

MOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002
Mario Pantoja
Summary Type IV secretion systems are virulence determinants in many bacteria and share extensive homology with many conjugal transfer systems. Although type IV systems and their homologues have been studied widely, the mechanism by which substrates are secreted remains unclear. In Agrobacterium, we show that type IV secretion substrates that lack signal peptides form a soluble complex in the periplasm with the virulence protein VirJ. Additionally, these proteins co-precipitate with constituents of the type IV transporter: the VirB pilus and the VirD4 protein. Our findings suggest that the substrate proteins localized to the periplasm may associate with the pilus in a manner that is mediated by VirJ, and suggest a two-step process for type IV secretion in Agrobacterium. Our analyses of protein,protein interactions in a variety of mutant backgrounds indicate that substrates are probably secreted independently of one another. [source]