Structural mechanism of WASP activation by the enterohaemorrhagic E. coli effector EspF(U).

ABSTRACT: During infection, enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) takes over the actin cytoskeleton of eukaryotic cells by injecting the EspF(U) protein into the host cytoplasm. EspF(U) controls actin by activating members of the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family. Here we show that EspF(U) binds to the autoinhibitory GTPase binding domain (GBD) in WASP proteins and displaces it from the activity-bearing VCA domain (for verprolin homology, central hydrophobic and acidic regions). This interaction potently activates WASP and neural (N)-WASP in vitro and induces localized actin assembly in cells. In the solution structure of the GBD-EspF(U) complex, EspF(U) forms an amphipathic helix that binds the GBD, mimicking interactions of the VCA domain in autoinhibited WASP. Thus, EspF(U) acti

SUBMITTER: Cheng HC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2719906 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature