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The molecular mechanism of Zinc acquisition by the neisserial outer-membrane transporter ZnuD.

ABSTRACT: Invading bacteria from the Neisseriaceae, Acinetobacteriaceae, Bordetellaceae and Moraxellaceae families express the conserved outer-membrane zinc transporter zinc-uptake component D (ZnuD) to overcome nutritional restriction imposed by the host organism during infection. Here we demonstrate that ZnuD is required for efficient systemic infections by the causative agent of bacterial meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, in a mouse model. We also combine X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulations to gain insight into the mechanism of zinc recognition and transport across the bacterial outer-membrane by ZnuD. Because ZnuD is also considered a promising vaccine candidate against N. meningitidis, we use several ZnuD structural intermediates to map potential antigenic epitopes, and propose a mechanism by which ZnuD can maintain high sequence conservation yet avoid immune recognition by altering the conformation of surface-exposed loops.

SUBMITTER: Calmettes C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4557270 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The molecular mechanism of Zinc acquisition by the neisserial outer-membrane transporter ZnuD.

Calmettes Charles C Ing Christopher C Buckwalter Carolyn M CM El Bakkouri Majida M Chieh-Lin Lai Christine C Pogoutse Anastassia A Gray-Owen Scott D SD Pomès Régis R Moraes Trevor F TF

Nature communications 20150818

Invading bacteria from the Neisseriaceae, Acinetobacteriaceae, Bordetellaceae and Moraxellaceae families express the conserved outer-membrane zinc transporter zinc-uptake component D (ZnuD) to overcome nutritional restriction imposed by the host organism during infection. Here we demonstrate that ZnuD is required for efficient systemic infections by the causative agent of bacterial meningitis, Neisseria meningitidis, in a mouse model. We also combine X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics ...[more]

PMID: 26282243

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Project description:Intracellular zinc concentration needs to be maintained within strict limits due to its toxicity at high levels, and this is achieved by a finely regulated balance between uptake and efflux. Many bacteria use the Zinc Uptake Regulator Zur to orchestrate zinc homeostasis, but little is known regarding the transport of this metal across the bacterial outer membrane. In this work we determined the C. crescentus Zur regulon by global transcriptional and in silico analyses. Among the genes directly repressed by Zur are those encoding a putative high affinity ABC uptake system (znuCBA), three TonB-dependent receptors (znuD, znuE and znuF) and one new putative transporter of a family not yet characterized (zrpW). Zur is also directly involved in the activation of a RND and a P-type ATPase efflux systems, as revealed by Î²-galactosidase and site-directed mutagenesis assays. Several genes belonging to the Fur regulon were also downregulated in the zur mutant, suggesting a putative cross-talk between Zur and Fur regulatory networks. Interestingly, a phenotypic analysis of the znuD and znuE mutants has shown that these genes are essential for growth under zinc starvation, suggesting that C. crescentus uses these TonB-dependent outer membrane transporters as key zinc scavenging systems. The DNA microarray experiments were performed as described in (da Silva Neto et al., 2013). Briefly, cDNA was generated from 12.5 Âµg of total RNA and labeled with either Cy3 or Cy5 fluorescent dyes (FairPlay III Microarray Labeling System, Stratagene). Labeled cDNA samples were hybridized to a Caulobacter DNA oligo microarray (Agilent), and the arrays were scanned with an Agilent High Resolution Microarray Scanner. RNA from three independent biological cultures was used for DNA microarray analysis. We considered as differentially expressed genes those showing a minimum of 2-fold change relative to the control, considering at least three out of the four last probes for each gene (that are downstream of the translational start site) in at least two of three biological replicates. The values for the relative expression of each gene were obtained as the average of the four last probes.

Project description:Cardiotoxin CTII from Naja oxiana cobra venom translocates to the intermembrane space (IMS) of mitochondria to disrupt the structure and function of the inner mitochondrial membrane. At low concentrations, CTII facilitates ATP-synthase activity, presumably via the formation of non-bilayer, immobilized phospholipids that are critical in modulating ATP-synthase activity. In this study, we investigated the effects of another cardiotoxin CTI from Naja oxiana cobra venom on the structure of mitochondrial membranes and on mitochondrial-derived ATP synthesis. By employing robust biophysical methods including 31P-NMR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy, we analyzed the effects of CTI and CTII on phospholipid packing and dynamics in model phosphatidylcholine (PC) membranes enriched with 2.5 and 5.0 mol% of cardiolipin (CL), a phospholipid composition that mimics that in the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). These experiments revealed that CTII converted a higher percentage of bilayer phospholipids to a non-bilayer and immobilized state and both cardiotoxins utilized CL and PC molecules to form non-bilayer structures. Furthermore, in order to gain further understanding on how cardiotoxins bind to mitochondrial membranes, we employed molecular dynamics (MD) and molecular docking simulations to investigate the molecular mechanisms by which CTII and CTI interactively bind with an in silico phospholipid membrane that models the composition similar to the OMM. In brief, MD studies suggest that CTII utilized the N-terminal region to embed the phospholipid bilayer more avidly in a horizontal orientation with respect to the lipid bilayer and thereby penetrate at a faster rate compared with CTI. Molecular dynamics along with the Autodock studies identified critical amino acid residues on the molecular surfaces of CTII and CTI that facilitated the long-range and short-range interactions of cardiotoxins with CL and PC. Based on our compiled data and our published findings, we provide a conceptual model that explains a molecular mechanism by which snake venom cardiotoxins, including CTI and CTII, interact with mitochondrial membranes to alter the mitochondrial membrane structure to either upregulate ATP-synthase activity or disrupt mitochondrial function.

Dataset Information

The molecular mechanism of Zinc acquisition by the neisserial outer-membrane transporter ZnuD.

Publications

The molecular mechanism of Zinc acquisition by the neisserial outer-membrane transporter ZnuD.

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