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Conservation of msp, the gene encoding the major outer membrane protein of oral Treponema spp.

ABSTRACT: The major surface protein (Msp) of Treponema denticola has been implicated as a mediator of the interaction between the spirochete and the gingival epithelium in periodontal diseases. Previous studies showed that the Msp of T. denticola ATCC 35405 had porin activity, depolarized epithelial cell membranes, bound to extracellular matrix components of epithelial cells, and formed a regular hexagonal surface array in the treponemal outer membrane. The gene encoding Msp in ATCC 35405 was recently cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli (J. C. Fenno, K.-H. Müller, and B. C. McBride, J. Bacteriol. 178:2489-2496, 1996). In the present study, we identified genes encoding Msp-like proteins in several oral spirochetes. A prominent heat-modifiable Msp-like protein having an apparent molecular mass of between 43 and 64 kDa was present in all oral spirochete strains tested. Antibodies raised against the ATCC 35405 Msp reacted strongly with the Msp proteins of T. denticola ATCC 35404 and T. vincentii, reacted very weakly with the Msp protein of T. denticola ATCC 33520, and did not react with T. denticola OTK, T. socranskii, and T. pectinovorum. The msp loci of the T. denticola strains and T. vincentii were identified in analyses using PCR with oligonucleotide primers derived from the DNA sequence flanking msp in ATCC 35405. Southern blot analysis showed at least three groups of related msp DNA sequences. Comparison of DNA sequences of the 5' and 3' ends of the msp genes showed high sequence homology in the flanking regions and signal peptide coding regions, while the homologies between regions encoding the mature peptide were as low as 50%. The entire msp DNA sequences of T. denticola ATCC 33520 and OTK were determined, and the deduced Msp amino acid sequences were compared to the sequence of the previously reported Msp of ATCC 35405. The results show that the msp locus is conserved in oral treponemes but that there are significant differences between the mature Msp peptides of different strains. Further studies of the antigenic domains, functional domains, and physical structures of Msp proteins, based on these results, will enhance understanding of the role of Msp in the cytopathology associated with oral spirochetes.

SUBMITTER: Fenno JC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC178801 | biostudies-other | 1997 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Conservation of msp, the gene encoding the major outer membrane protein of oral Treponema spp.

Fenno J C JC Wong G W GW Hannam P M PM Müller K H KH Leung W K WK Leung W K WK Leung W K WK McBride B C BC

Journal of bacteriology 19970201 4

The major surface protein (Msp) of Treponema denticola has been implicated as a mediator of the interaction between the spirochete and the gingival epithelium in periodontal diseases. Previous studies showed that the Msp of T. denticola ATCC 35405 had porin activity, depolarized epithelial cell membranes, bound to extracellular matrix components of epithelial cells, and formed a regular hexagonal surface array in the treponemal outer membrane. The gene encoding Msp in ATCC 35405 was recently clo ...[more]

PMID: 9023187

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Project description:The gene encoding the major outer sheath protein (Msp) of the oral spirochete Treponema denticola ATCC 35405 was cloned, sequenced, and expressed in Escherichia coli. Preliminary sequence analysis showed that the 5' end of the msp gene was not present on the 5.5-kb cloned fragment described in a recent study (M. Haapasalo, K. H. Müller, V. J. Uitto, W. K. Leung, and B. C. McBride, Infect. Immun. 60:2058-2065,1992). The 5' end of msp was obtained by PCR amplification from a T. denticola genomic library, and an open reading frame of 1,629 bp was identified as the coding region for Msp by combining overlapping sequences. The deduced peptide consisted of 543 amino acids and had a molecular mass of 58,233 Da. The peptide had a typical prokaryotic signal sequence with a potential cleavage site for signal peptidase 1. Northern (RNA) blot analysis showing the msp transcript to be approximately 1.7 kb was consistent with the identification of a promoter consensus sequence located optimally upstream of msp and a transcription termination signal found downstream of the stop codon. The entire msp sequence was amplified from T. denticola genomic DNA and cloned in E. coli by using a tightly regulated T7 RNA polymerase vector system. Expression of Msp was toxic to E. coli when the entire msp gene was present. High levels of Msp were produced as inclusion bodies when the putative signal peptide sequence was deleted and replaced by a vector-encoded T7 peptide sequence. Recombinant Msp purified to homogeneity from a clone containing the full-length msp gene adhered to immobilized laminin and fibronectin but not to bovine serum albumin. Attachment of recombinant Msp was decreased in the presence of soluble substrate. Attachment of T. denticola to immobilized laminin and fibronectin was increased by pretreatment of the substrate with recombinant Msp. These studies lend further support to the hypothesis that Msp mediates the extracellular matrix binding activity of T. denticola.

Project description:Treponema denticola, one of several recognized periodontal pathogens, is a model organism for studying Treponema physiology and host-microbe interactions. Its major surface protein Msp (or MOSP) comprises an oligomeric outer membrane-associated complex that binds fibronectin, has cytotoxic pore-forming activity, and disrupts several intracellular responses. There are two hypotheses regarding native Msp structure and membrane topology. One hypothesis predicts that the entire Msp protein forms a β-barrel structure similar to that of well-studied outer membrane porins of Gram-negative bacteria. The second hypothesis predicts a bipartite Msp with distinct and separate periplasmic N-terminal and porin-like β-barrel C-terminal domains. The bipartite model, based on bioinformatic analysis of the orthologous Treponema pallidum Tpr proteins, is supported largely by studies of recombinant TprC and Msp polypeptides. The present study reports immunological studies in both T. denticola and Escherichia coli backgrounds to identify a prominent Msp surface epitope (residues 229 to 251 in ATCC 35405) in a domain that differs between strains with otherwise highly conserved Msps. These results were then used to evaluate a series of in silico structural models of representative T. denticola Msps. The data presented here are consistent with a model of Msp as a large-diameter β-barrel porin. This work adds to the knowledge regarding the diverse Msp-like proteins in oral treponemes and may contribute to an understanding of the evolutionary and potential functional relationships between Msps of oral Treponema and the orthologous group of Tpr proteins of T. pallidum. IMPORTANCE Treponema denticola is among a small subset of the oral microbiota contributing to severe periodontal disease. Due to its relative genetic tractability, T. denticola is a model organism for studying Treponema physiology and host-microbe interactions. T. denticola Msp is a highly expressed outer membrane-associated oligomeric protein that binds fibronectin, has cytotoxic pore-forming activity, and disrupts intracellular regulatory pathways. It shares homology with the orthologous group of T. pallidum Tpr proteins, one of which is implicated in T. pallidum in vivo antigenic variation. The outer membrane topologies of both Msp and the Tpr family proteins are unresolved, with conflicting reports on protein domain localization and function. In this study, we combined empirical immunological data derived both from diverse T. denticola strains and from recombinant Msp expression in E. coli with in silico predictive structural modeling of T. denticola Msp membrane topology, to move toward resolution of this important issue in Treponema biology.

Project description:Pathogenic Leptospira spp. are spirochetes that have a low transmembrane outer membrane protein content relative to that of enteric gram-negative bacteria. In a previous study we identified a 31-kDa surface protein that was present in strains of Leptospira alstoni in amounts which correlated with the outer membrane particle density observed by freeze fracture electron microscopy (D. A. Haake, E. M. Walker, D. R. Blanco, C. A. Bolin, J. N. Miller, and M. A. Lovett, Infect. Immun. 59:1131-1140, 1991). The N-terminal amino acid sequence was used to design a pair of oligonucleotides which were utilized to screen a lambda ZAP II library containing EcoRI fragments of L. alstoni DNA. A 2.5-kb DNA fragment which contained the entire structural ompL1 gene was identified. The structural gene deduced from the sequence of this DNA fragment would encode a 320-amino-acid polypeptide with a 24-amino-acid leader peptide and a leader peptidase I cleavage site. Processing of OmpL1 results in a mature protein with a predicted molecular mass of 31,113 Da. Secondary-structure prediction identified repeated stretches of amphipathic beta-sheets typical of outer membrane protein membrane-spanning sequences. A topological model of OmpL1 containing 10 transmembrane segments is suggested. A recombinant OmpL1 fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli in order to immunize rabbits with the purified protein. Upon Triton X-114 extraction of L. alstoni and phase separation, anti-OmpL1 antiserum recognized a single band on immunoblots of the hydrophobic detergent fraction which was not present in the hydrophilic aqueous fraction. Immunoelectron microscopy with anti-OmpL1 antiserum demonstrates binding to the surface of intact L. alstoni. DNA hybridization studies indicate that the ompL1 gene is present in a single copy in all pathogenic Leptospira species that have been tested and is absent in nonpathogenic Leptospira species. OmpL1 may be the first spirochetal transmembrane outer membrane protein for which the structural gene has been cloned and sequenced.

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Conservation of msp, the gene encoding the major outer membrane protein of oral Treponema spp.

Publications

Conservation of msp, the gene encoding the major outer membrane protein of oral Treponema spp.

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