Structure and dynamics of the E. coli chemotaxis core signaling complex by cryo-electron tomography and molecular simulations.

ABSTRACT: To enable the processing of chemical gradients, chemotactic bacteria possess large arrays of transmembrane chemoreceptors, the histidine kinase CheA, and the adaptor protein CheW, organized as coupled core-signaling units (CSU). Despite decades of study, important questions surrounding the molecular mechanisms of sensory signal transduction remain unresolved, owing especially to the lack of a high-resolution CSU structure. Here, we use cryo-electron tomography and sub-tomogram averaging to determine a structure of the Escherichia coli CSU at sub-nanometer resolution. Based on our experimental data, we use molecular simulations to construct an atomistic model of the CSU, enabling a detailed characterization of CheA conformational dynamics in its native structural context. We identify multip

SUBMITTER: Cassidy CK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6954272 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature