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Identification of critical residues in the colicin E9 DNase binding region of the Im9 protein.

ABSTRACT: 1H-15N NMR studies, in conjunction with mutagenesis experiments, have been used to delineate the DNase-binding surface of the colicin E9 inhibitor protein Im9 (where Im stands for immunity protein). Complexes were formed between the 15 kDa unlabelled E9 DNase domain and the 9.5 kDa Im9 protein uniformly labelled with 15N. Approx. 90% of the amide resonances of the bound Im9 were assigned and spectral parameters obtained from 1H-15N heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC) spectra were compared with those for the free Im9 assigned previously. Many of the amide resonances were shifted on complex formation, some by more than 2 p.p.m. in the 15N dimension and more than 0.5 p.p.m. in the 1H dimension. Most of the strongly shifted amides are located on the surfaces of two of the four helices, helix II and helix III. Whereas helix II had already been identified through genetic and biochemical investigations as an important determinant of biological specificity, helix III had not previously been implicated in binding to the DNase. To test the robustness of the NMR-delineated DNase-binding site, a selection of Im9 alanine mutants were constructed and their dissociation rate constants from E9 DNase-immunity protein complexes quantified by radioactive subunit exchange kinetics. Their off-rates correlated well with the NMR perturbation analysis; for example, residues that were highly perturbed in HSQC experiments, such as residues 34 (helix II) and 54 (helix III), had a marked effect on the DNase-immunity protein dissociation rate when replaced by alanine. The NMR and mutagenesis data are consistent with a DNase-binding region on Im9 composed of invariant residues in helix III and variable residues in helix II. The relationship of this binding site model to the wide range of affinities (Kd values in the range 10(-4) to 10(-16)M) that have been measured for cognate and non-cognate colicin DNase-immunity protein interactions is discussed.

SUBMITTER: Osborne MJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1218388 | biostudies-other | 1997 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Colicins are protein toxins made by Escherichia coli to kill related bacteria that compete for scarce resources. All colicins must cross the target cell outer membrane in order to reach their intracellular targets. Normally, the first step in the intoxication process is the tight binding of the colicin to an outer membrane receptor protein via its central receptor-binding domain. It is shown here that for one colicin, E1, that step, although it greatly increases the efficiency of killing, is not absolutely necessary. For colicin E1, the second step, translocation, relies on the outer membrane/transperiplasmic protein TolC. The normal role of TolC in bacteria is as an essential component of a family of tripartite drug and toxin exporters, but for colicin E1, it is essential for its import. Colicin E1 and some N-terminal translocation domain peptides had been shown previously to bind in vitro to TolC and occlude channels made by TolC in planar lipid bilayer membranes. Here, a set of increasingly shorter colicin E1 translocation domain peptides was shown to bind to Escherichia coli in vivo and protect them from subsequent challenge by colicin E1. A segment of only 21 residues, the "TolC box," was thereby defined; that segment is essential for colicin E1 cytotoxicity and for binding of translocation domain peptides to TolC. IMPORTANCE:The Escherichia coli outer membrane/transperiplasmic protein TolC is normally an essential component of the bacterium's tripartite drug and toxin export machinery. The protein toxin colicin E1 instead uses TolC for its import into the cells that it kills, thereby subverting its normal role. Increasingly shorter constructs of the colicin's N-terminal translocation domain were used to define an essential 21-residue segment that is required for both colicin cytotoxicity and for binding of the colicin's translocation domain to bacteria, in order to protect them from subsequent challenge by active colicin E1. Thus, an essential TolC binding sequence of colicin E1 was identified and may ultimately lead to the development of drugs to block the bacterial drug export pathway.

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Identification of critical residues in the colicin E9 DNase binding region of the Im9 protein.

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