Crystallization and X-ray analysis of all of the players in the autoregulation of the ataRT toxin-antitoxin system.

ABSTRACT: The ataRT operon from enteropathogenic Escherichia coli encodes a toxin-antitoxin (TA) module with a recently discovered novel toxin activity. This new type II TA module targets translation initiation for cell-growth arrest. Virtually nothing is known regarding the molecular mechanisms of neutralization, toxin catalytic action or translation autoregulation. Here, the production, biochemical analysis and crystallization of the intrinsically disordered antitoxin AtaR, the toxin AtaT, the AtaR-AtaT complex and the complex of AtaR-AtaT with a double-stranded DNA fragment of the operator region of the promoter are reported. Because they contain large regions that are intrinsically disordered, TA antitoxins are notoriously difficult to crystallize. AtaR forms a homodimer in solution and crystall

SUBMITTER: Jurenas D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6038448 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature