Mechanism of agonism and antagonism of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing regulator QscR with non-native ligands.

ABSTRACT: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that uses the process of quorum sensing (QS) to coordinate the expression of many virulence genes. During quorum sensing, N-acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) signaling molecules regulate the activity of three LuxR-type transcription factors, LasR, RhlR and QscR. To better understand P. aeruginosa QS signal reception, we examined the mechanism underlying the response of QscR to synthetic agonists and antagonists using biophysical and structural approaches. The structure of QscR bound to a synthetic agonist reveals a novel mode of ligand binding supporting a general mechanism for agonist activity. In turn, antagonists of QscR with partial agonist activity were found to destabilize and greatly impair QscR dimerization and DNA binding. These resu

SUBMITTER: Wysoczynski-Horita CL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5914528 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature