Mechanistic link between β barrel assembly and the initiation of autotransporter secretion.

ABSTRACT: Autotransporters are bacterial virulence factors that contain an N-terminal extracellular ("passenger") domain and a C-terminal β barrel ("β") domain that anchors the protein to the outer membrane. The β domain is required for passenger domain secretion, but its exact role in autotransporter biogenesis is unclear. Here we describe insights into the function of the β domain that emerged from an analysis of mutations in the Escherichia coli O157:H7 autotransporter EspP. We found that the G1066A and G1081D mutations slightly distort the structure of the β domain and delay the initiation of passenger domain translocation. Site-specific photocrosslinking experiments revealed that the mutations slow the insertion of the β domain into the outer membrane, but do not delay the binding of the β doma

SUBMITTER: Pavlova O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3593871 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature