Legionella DotM structure reveals a role in effector recruiting to the Type 4B secretion system

Meir, A., Chetrit, D., Liu, L., Roy, C. R. and Waksman, G. (2018) Legionella DotM structure reveals a role in effector recruiting to the Type 4B secretion system. Nature Communications, 9, 507. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02578-x) (PMID:29410427) (PMCID:PMC5802825)

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Abstract

Legionella pneumophila, a causative agent of pneumonia, utilizes the Type 4B secretion (T4BS) system to translocate over 300 effectors into the host cell during infection. T4BS systems are encoded by a large gene cluster termed dot/icm, three components of which, DotL, DotM, and DotN, form the “coupling complex”, which serves as a platform for recruitment of effector proteins. One class of effectors includes proteins containing Glu-rich/E-block sequences at their C terminus. However, the protein or region of the coupling complex mediating recruitment of such effectors is unknown. Here we present the crystal structure of DotM. This all alpha-helical structure exhibits patches of positively charged residues. We show that these regions form binding sites for acidic Glu-rich peptides and that mutants targeting these patches are defective in vivo in the translocation of acidic Glu-rich motif-containing effectors. We conclude that DotM forms the interacting surface for recruitment of acidic Glu-rich motif-containing Legionella effectors.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Meir Ben Efraim, Dr Amit
Authors: Meir, A., Chetrit, D., Liu, L., Roy, C. R., and Waksman, G.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity > Centre for Virus Research
Journal Name:Nature Communications
Publisher:Nature Research
ISSN:2041-1723
ISSN (Online):2041-1723
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2018 The Authors
First Published:First published in Nature Communications 9: 507
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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