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Functional suppression of HAMP domain signaling defects in the E. coli serine chemoreceptor.

ABSTRACT: HAMP domains play key signaling roles in many bacterial receptor proteins. The four-helix HAMP bundle of the homodimeric Escherichia coli serine chemoreceptor (Tsr) interacts with an adjoining four-helix sensory adaptation bundle to regulate the histidine autokinase CheA bound to the cytoplasmic tip of the Tsr molecule. The adaptation helices undergo reversible covalent modifications that tune the stimulus-responsive range of the receptor: unmodified E residues promote kinase-off output, and methylated E residues or Q replacements at modification sites promote kinase-on output. We used mutationally imposed adaptational modification states and cells with various combinations of the sensory adaptation enzymes, CheR and CheB, to characterize the signaling properties of mutant Tsr receptors that had amino acid replacements in packing layer 3 of the HAMP bundle and followed in vivo CheA activity with an assay based on Förster resonance energy transfer. We found that an alanine or a serine replacement at HAMP residue I229 effectively locked Tsr output in a kinase-on state, abrogating chemotactic responses. A second amino acid replacement in the same HAMP packing layer alleviated the I229A and I229S signaling defects. Receptors with the suppressor changes alone mediated chemotaxis in adaptation-proficient cells but exhibited altered sensitivity to serine stimuli. Two of the suppressors (S255E and S255A) shifted Tsr output toward the kinase-off state, but two others (S255G and L256F) shifted output toward a kinase-on state. The alleviation of locked-on defects by on-shifted suppressors implies that Tsr-HAMP has several conformationally distinct kinase-active output states and that HAMP signaling might involve dynamic shifts over a range of bundle conformations.

SUBMITTER: Lai RZ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4188812 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Functional suppression of HAMP domain signaling defects in the E. coli serine chemoreceptor.

Lai Run-Zhi RZ Parkinson John S JS

Journal of molecular biology 20140815 21

HAMP domains play key signaling roles in many bacterial receptor proteins. The four-helix HAMP bundle of the homodimeric Escherichia coli serine chemoreceptor (Tsr) interacts with an adjoining four-helix sensory adaptation bundle to regulate the histidine autokinase CheA bound to the cytoplasmic tip of the Tsr molecule. The adaptation helices undergo reversible covalent modifications that tune the stimulus-responsive range of the receptor: unmodified E residues promote kinase-off output, and met ...[more]

PMID: 25134756

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Project description:HAMP domains are dimeric, four-helix bundles that transduce conformational signals in bacterial receptors. Genetic studies of the Escherichia coli serine receptor (Tsr) provide an opportunity to understand HAMP conformational behavior in terms of functional output. To increase its stability, the Tsr HAMP domain was spliced into a poly-HAMP unit from the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Aer2 receptor. Within the chimera, the Tsr HAMP undergoes a thermal melting transition at a temperature much lower than that of the Aer2 HAMP domains. Pulse-dipolar electron spin resonance spectroscopy and site-specific spin-labeling confirm that the Tsr HAMP maintains a four-helix bundle. Pulse-dipolar electron spin resonance spectroscopy was also used to study three well-characterized HAMP mutational phenotypes: those that cause flagella rotation that is counterclockwise (CCW) A and kinase-off; CCW B and also kinase-off; and, clockwise (CW) and kinase-on. Conformational properties of the three HAMP variants support a biphasic model of dynamic bundle stability, but also indicate distinct conformational changes within the helix bundle. Functional kinase-on (CW) and kinase-off (CCW A) states differ by concerted changes in the positions of spin-label sites at the base of the bundle. Opposite shifts in the subunit separation distances of neighboring residues at the C-termini of the α1 and α2 helices are consistent with a helix scissors motion or a gearbox rotational model of HAMP activation. In the drastic kinase-off lesion of CCW B, the α1 helices unfold and the α2 helices form a tight two-helix coiled-coil. The substitution of a critical residue in the Tsr N-terminal linker or control cable reduces conformational heterogeneity at the N-terminus of α1 but does not affect structure at the C-terminus of α2. Overall, the data suggest that transitions from on- to off-states involve decreased motional amplitudes of the Tsr HAMP coupled with helix rotations and movements toward a two-helix packing mode.

Project description:UnlabelledThe transmembrane Tsr protein of Escherichia coli mediates chemotactic responses to environmental serine gradients. Serine binds to the periplasmic domain of the homodimeric Tsr molecule, promoting a small inward displacement of one transmembrane helix (TM2). TM2 piston displacements, in turn, modulate the structural stability of the Tsr-HAMP domain on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane to control the autophosphorylation activity of the signaling CheA kinase bound to the membrane-distal cytoplasmic tip of Tsr. A five-residue control cable segment connects TM2 to the AS1 helix of HAMP and transmits stimulus and sensory adaptation signals between them. To explore the possible role of control cable helicity in transmembrane signaling by Tsr, we characterized the signaling properties of mutant receptors with various control cable alterations. An all-alanine control cable shifted Tsr output toward the kinase-on state, whereas an all-glycine control cable prevented Tsr from reaching either a fully on or fully off output state. Restoration of the native isoleucine (I214) in these synthetic control cables largely alleviated their signaling defects. Single amino acid replacements at Tsr-I214 shifted output toward the kinase-off (L, N, H, and R) or kinase-on (A and G) states, whereas other control cable residues tolerated most amino acid replacements with little change in signaling behavior. These findings indicate that changes in control cable helicity might mediate transitions between the kinase-on and kinase-off states during transmembrane signaling by chemoreceptors. Moreover, the Tsr-I214 side chain plays a key role, possibly through interaction with the membrane interfacial environment, in triggering signaling changes in response to TM2 piston displacements.ImportanceThe Tsr protein of E. coli mediates chemotactic responses to environmental serine gradients. Stimulus signals from the Tsr periplasmic sensing domain reach its cytoplasmic kinase control domain through piston displacements of a membrane-spanning helix and an adjoining five-residue control cable segment. We characterized the signaling properties of Tsr variants to elucidate the transmembrane signaling role of the control cable, an element present in many microbial sensory proteins. Both the kinase-on and kinase-off output states of Tsr depended on control cable helicity, but only one residue, I214, was critical for triggering responses to attractant inputs. These findings suggest that signal transmission in Tsr involves modulation of control cable helicity through interaction of the I214 side chain with the cytoplasmic membrane.

Project description:Tsr, the serine chemoreceptor in Escherichia coli, transduces signals from a periplasmic ligand-binding site to its cytoplasmic tip, where it controls the activity of the CheA kinase. To function, Tsr forms trimers of homodimers (TODs), which associate in vivo with the CheA kinase and CheW coupling protein. Together, these proteins assemble into extended hexagonal arrays. Here, we use cryo-electron tomography and molecular dynamics simulation to study Tsr in the context of a near-native array, characterizing its signaling-related conformational changes at both the individual dimer and the trimer level. In particular, we show that individual Tsr dimers within a trimer exhibit asymmetric flexibilities that are a function of the signaling state, highlighting the effect of their different protein interactions at the receptor tips. We further reveal that the dimer compactness of the Tsr trimer changes between signaling states, transitioning at the glycine hinge from a compact conformation in the kinase-OFF state to an expanded conformation in the kinase-ON state. Hence, our results support a crucial role for the glycine hinge: to allow the receptor flexibility necessary to achieve different signaling states while also maintaining structural constraints imposed by the membrane and extended array architecture.IMPORTANCE In Escherichia coli, membrane-bound chemoreceptors, the histidine kinase CheA, and coupling protein CheW form highly ordered chemosensory arrays. In core signaling complexes, chemoreceptor trimers of dimers undergo conformational changes, induced by ligand binding and sensory adaptation, which regulate kinase activation. Here, we characterize by cryo-electron tomography the kinase-ON and kinase-OFF conformations of the E. coli serine receptor in its native array context. We found distinctive structural differences between the members of a receptor trimer, which contact different partners in the signaling unit, and structural differences between the ON and OFF signaling complexes. Our results provide new insights into the signaling mechanism of chemoreceptor arrays and suggest an important functional role for a previously postulated flexible region and glycine hinge in the receptor molecule.

Dataset Information

Functional suppression of HAMP domain signaling defects in the E. coli serine chemoreceptor.

Publications

Functional suppression of HAMP domain signaling defects in the E. coli serine chemoreceptor.

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