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The Corynebacterium diphtheriae shaft pilin SpaA is built of tandem Ig-like modules with stabilizing isopeptide and disulfide bonds.


ABSTRACT: Cell-surface pili are important virulence factors that enable bacterial pathogens to adhere to specific host tissues and modulate host immune response. Relatively little is known about the structure of Gram-positive bacterial pili, which are built by the sortase-catalyzed covalent crosslinking of individual pilin proteins. Here we report the 1.6-A resolution crystal structure of the shaft pilin component SpaA from Corynebacterium diphtheriae, revealing both common and unique features. The SpaA pilin comprises 3 tandem Ig-like domains, with characteristic folds related to those typically found in non-pilus adhesins. Whereas both the middle and the C-terminal domains contain an intramolecular Lys-Asn isopeptide bond, previously detected in the shaft pilins of Streptococcus pyogenes and Bacillus cereus, the middle Ig-like domain also harbors a calcium ion, and the C-terminal domain contains a disulfide bond. By mass spectrometry, we show that the SpaA monomers are cross-linked in the assembled pili by a Lys-Thr isopeptide bond, as predicted by previous genetic studies. Together, our results reveal that despite profound dissimilarities in primary sequences, the shaft pilins of Gram-positive pathogens have strikingly similar tertiary structures, suggesting a modular backbone construction, including stabilizing intermolecular and intramolecular isopeptide bonds.

SUBMITTER: Kang HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2761350 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Corynebacterium diphtheriae shaft pilin SpaA is built of tandem Ig-like modules with stabilizing isopeptide and disulfide bonds.

Kang Hae Joo HJ   Paterson Neil G NG   Gaspar Andrew H AH   Ton-That Hung H   Baker Edward N EN  

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20090921 40


Cell-surface pili are important virulence factors that enable bacterial pathogens to adhere to specific host tissues and modulate host immune response. Relatively little is known about the structure of Gram-positive bacterial pili, which are built by the sortase-catalyzed covalent crosslinking of individual pilin proteins. Here we report the 1.6-A resolution crystal structure of the shaft pilin component SpaA from Corynebacterium diphtheriae, revealing both common and unique features. The SpaA p  ...[more]

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