The Structural Basis for a Transition State That Regulates Pore Formation in a Bacterial Toxin.

ABSTRACT: The cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) genes are present in bacterial species that span terrestrial, vertebrate, and invertebrate niches, which suggests that they have evolved to function under widely different environmental conditions. Using a combination of biophysical and crystallographic approaches, we reveal that the relative stability of an intramolecular interface in the archetype CDC perfringolysin O (PFO) plays a central role in regulating its pore-forming properties. The disruption of this interface allows the formation of the membrane spanning β-barrel pore in all CDCs. We show here that the relative strength of the stabilizing forces at this interface directly impacts the energy barrier posed by the transition state for pore formation, as reflected in the Arrhenius activatio

SUBMITTER: Wade KR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6479001 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature