Fatty Acids Abolish Shigella Virulence by Inhibiting Its Master Regulator, VirF.

ABSTRACT: The pathogenicity of Shigella, the intracellular pathogen responsible for human bacillary dysentery, depends on a coordinated and tightly regulated expression of its virulence determinants. This is the result of a cascade organization of its positive regulators, with VirF, a transcriptional activator belonging to the AraC-XylS family, in a pivotal position. VirF itself is submitted to several well-known regulations at the transcriptional level. In this work, we present evidence for a novel posttranslational regulatory mechanism of VirF mediated by the inhibitory interaction with specific fatty acids. By homology modeling and molecular docking analyses, we identify a jelly roll motif in the structure of ViF capable of interacting with medium-chain saturated and long-chain unsaturated

SUBMITTER: Trirocco R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10269687 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature