| 1. |
- Dubnovitsky, Anatoly, et al.
(författare)
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Amyloid-beta Protofibrils: Size, Morphology and Synaptotoxicity of an Engineered Mimic
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Structural and biochemical studies of the aggregation of the amyloid-beta peptide (A beta) are important to understand the mechanisms of Alzheimer's disease, but research is complicated by aggregate inhomogeneity and instability. We previously engineered a hairpin form of A beta called A beta cc, which forms stable protofibrils that do not convert into amyloid fibrils. Here we provide a detailed characterization of A beta(42)cc protofibrils. Like wild type A beta they appear as smooth rod-like particles with a diameter of 3.1 (+/- 0.2) nm and typical lengths in the range 60 to 220 nm when observed by atomic force microscopy. Non-perturbing analytical ultracentrifugation and nanoparticle tracking analyses are consistent with such rod-like protofibrils. A beta(42)cc protofibrils bind the ANS dye indicating that they, like other toxic protein aggregates, expose hydrophobic surface. Assays with the OC/A11 pair of oligomer specific antibodies put A beta(42)cc protofibrils into the same class of species as fibrillar oligomers of wild type A beta. A beta(42)cc protofibrils may be used to extract binding proteins in biological fluids and apolipoprotein E is readily detected as a binder in human serum. Finally, A beta(42)cc protofibrils act to attenuate spontaneous synaptic activity in mouse hippocampal neurons. The experiments indicate considerable structural and chemical similarities between protofibrils formed by A beta(42)cc and aggregates of wild type A beta(42). We suggest that A beta(42)cc protofibrils may be used in research and applications that require stable preparations of protofibrillar A beta.
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| 2. |
- Dubnovitsky, Anatoly, et al.
(författare)
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Conserved Hydrophobic Clusters on the Surface of the Caf1A Usher C-Terminal Domain Are Important for F1 Antigen Assembly
- 2010
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Ingår i: Journal of Molecular Biology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0022-2836 .- 1089-8638. ; 403, s. 243-259
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The outer membrane usher protein Caf1A of the plague pathogen Yersinia pestis is responsible for the assembly of a major surface antigen, the F1 capsule. The F1 capsule is mainly formed by thin linear polymers of CaF1 (capsular antigen fraction 1) protein subunits. The Caf1A usher promotes polymerization of subunits and secretion of growing polymers to the cell surface. The usher monomer (811 aa, 90.5 kDa) consists of a large transmembrane beta-barrel that forms a secretion channel and three soluble domains. The periplasmic N-terminal domain binds chaperone subunit complexes supplying new subunits for the growing fiber. The middle domain, which is structurally similar to Caf1 and other fimbrial subunits, serves as a plug that regulates the permeability of the usher. Here we describe the identification, characterization, and crystal structure of the Caf1A usher C-terminal domain (Caf1Ac). Caf1Ac is shown to be a periplasmic domain with a seven-stranded beta-barrel fold. Analysis of C-terminal truncation mutants of Caf1A demonstrated that the presence of CaF1 Ac is crucial for the function of the usher in vivo, but that it is not required for the initial binding of chaperone subunit complexes to the usher. Two clusters of conserved hydrophobic residues on the surface of Caf1Ac were found to be essential for the efficient assembly of surface polymers. These clusters are conserved between the FGL family and the FGS family of chaperone usher systems. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Dubnovitsky, Anatoly, et al.
(författare)
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Structural basis for high-affinity HER2 receptor binding by an engineered protein
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 1091-6490 .- 0027-8424. ; 107, s. 15039-15044
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is specifically overexpressed in tumors of several cancers, including an aggressive form of breast cancer. It is therefore a target for both cancer diagnostics and therapy. The 58 amino acid residue ZHER2 affibody molecule was previously engineered as a high-affinity binder of HER2. Here we determined the structure of ZHER2 in solution and the crystal structure of ZHER2 in complex with the HER2 extracellular domain. ZHER2 binds to a conformational epitope on HER2 that is distant from those recognized by the therapeutic antibodies trastuzumab and pertuzumab. Its small size and lack of interference may provide ZHER2 with advantages for diagnostic use or even for delivery of therapeutic agents to HER2-expressing tumors when trastuzumab or pertuzumab are already employed. Biophysical characterization shows that ZHER2 is thermodynamically stable in the folded state yet undergoing conformational interconversion on a submillisecond time scale. The data suggest that it is the HER2-binding conformation that is formed transiently prior to binding. Still, binding is very strong with a dissociation constant K(D) = 22 pM, and perfect conformational homogeneity is therefore not necessarily required in engineered binding proteins. A comparison of the original Z domain scaffold to free and bound ZHER2 structures reveals how high-affinity binding has evolved during selection and affinity maturation and suggests how a compromise between binding surface optimization and stability and dynamics of the unbound state has been reached.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Gerstner, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Functional and Structural Characterization of a Novel HLA-DRB1*04:01-Restricted alpha-Enolase T Cell Epitope in Rheumatoid Arthritis
- 2016
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Immunology. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1664-3224. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Antibodies to citrullinated proteins, common in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, are strongly associated to a specific set of HLA-DR alleles including HLA-DRB1*04:01, *04:04, and *01:01. Here, we first demonstrate that autoantibody levels toward the dominant citrullinated B cell epitope from alpha-enolase are significantly elevated in HLA-DRB1*04:01-positive RA patients. Furthermore, we identified alpha-enolase-derived T cell epitopes and demonstrated that native and citrullinated versions of several peptides bind with different affinities to HLA-DRB1*04:01, *04:04, and *01:01. The citrulline residues in the eight identified peptides are distributed throughout the entire length of the presented epitopes and more specifically, localized at peptide positions p-2, p2, p4, p6, p7, p10, and p11. Importantly, in contrast to its native version peptide 26 (TSKGLFRAAVPSGAS), the HLA-DRB1*04:01-restricted citrullinated peptide Cit26 (TSKGLFCitAAVPSGAS) elicited significant functional T cell responses in primary cells from RA patients. Comparative analysis of the crystal structures of HLA-DRB1*04:01 in complex with peptide 26 or Cit26 demonstrated that the posttranslational modification did not alter the conformation of the peptide. And since citrullination is the only structural difference between the two complexes, this indicates that the neo-antigen Cit26 is recognized by T cells with high specificity to the citrulline residue.
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| 6. |
- Gerstner, Christina, et al.
(författare)
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Multi-HLA class II tetramer analyses of citrulline-reactive T cells and early treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis
- 2020
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Ingår i: BMC Immunology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1471-2172. ; 21:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background HLA class II tetramers can be used for ex vivo enumeration and phenotypic characterisation of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells. They are increasingly applied in settings like allergy, vaccination and autoimmune diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder for which many autoantigens have been described. Results Using multi-parameter flow cytometry, we developed a multi-HLA class II tetramer approach to simultaneously study several antigen specificities in RA patient samples. We focused on previously described citrullinated HLA-DRB1*04:01-restricted T cell epitopes from alpha-enolase, fibrinogen-beta, vimentin as well as cartilage intermediate layer protein (CILP). First, we examined inter-assay variability and the sensitivity of the assay in peripheral blood from healthy donors (n = 7). Next, we confirmed the robustness and sensitivity in a cohort of RA patients with repeat blood draws (n = 14). We then applied our method in two different settings. We assessed lymphoid tissue from seropositive arthralgia (n = 5) and early RA patients (n = 5) and could demonstrate autoreactive T cells in individuals at risk of developing RA. Lastly, we studied peripheral blood from early RA patients (n = 10) and found that the group of patients achieving minimum disease activity (DAS28 < 2.6) at 6 months follow-up displayed a decrease in the frequency of citrulline-specific T cells. Conclusions Our study demonstrates the development of a sensitive tetramer panel allowing simultaneous characterisation of antigen-specific T cells in ex vivo patient samples including RA 'at risk' subjects. This multi-tetramer approach can be useful for longitudinal immune-monitoring in any disease with known HLA-restriction element and several candidate antigens.
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| 7. |
- Houtman, Miranda, et al.
(författare)
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Five commercially-available antibodies react differentially with allelic forms of human HLA-DR beta chain
- 2022
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Ingår i: Molecular Immunology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0161-5890 .- 1872-9142. ; 152, s. 106-110
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Allelic variants of HLA-DRB1 have been associated with a variety of autoimmune and infectious diseases. Although the precise molecular mechanisms by which HLA-DRB1 alleles predispose to a particular disease are currently unclear, it has been shown that mRNA expression levels of HLA-DRB1 are dependent on the different alleles. We aimed to measure HLA-DR beta chain levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of individuals carrying HLA-DRB1*03:01/*04:01 and HLA-DRB1*03:01/*15:01 alleles by western blotting, using five commercially-available HLA-DRB antibodies. We observed highly heterogeneous binding of the tested antibodies to the different allelic forms of the HLA-DR beta chain. Overall, we show that current immunological research that employs available antibodies to detect HLA-DR beta chains is biased towards detection of specific variants of the protein; this may cause significant discrepancy in quantification of protein expression in a heterogeneous human population.
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| 8. |
- Lendel, Christofer, et al.
(författare)
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A Hexameric Peptide Barrel as Building Block of Amyloid-β Protofibrils
- 2014
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Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie. - : Wiley. - 0044-8249 .- 1521-3757. ; 126:47, s. 12970-12974
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oligomeric and protofibrillar aggregates formed by the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) are believed to be involved in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Central to Alzheimer pathology is also the fact that the longer Aβ42 peptide is more prone to aggregation than the more prevalent Aβ40. Detailed structural studies of Aβ oligomers and protofibrils have been impeded by aggregate heterogeneity and instability. We previously engineered a variant of Aβ that forms stable protofibrils and here we use solid-state NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling to derive a structural model of these. NMR data are consistent with packing of residues 16 to 42 of Aβ protomers into hexameric barrel-like oligomers within the protofibril. The core of the oligomers consists of all residues of the central and C-terminal hydrophobic regions of Aβ, and hairpin loops extend from the core. The model accounts for why Aβ42 forms oligomers and protofibrils more easily than Aβ40.
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| 9. |
- Lendel, Christofer, 1976-, et al.
(författare)
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A Hexameric Peptide Barrel as Building Block of Amyloid-β Protofibrils
- 2014
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Ingår i: Angewandte Chemie International Edition. - : Wiley. - 1433-7851 .- 1521-3773. ; 53:47, s. 12756-12760
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Oligomeric and protofibrillar aggregates formed by the amyloid-β peptide (Aβ) are believed to be involved in the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. Central to Alzheimer pathology is also the fact that the longer Aβ42 peptide is more prone to aggregation than the more prevalent Aβ40. Detailed structural studies of Aβ oligomers and protofibrils have been impeded by aggregate heterogeneity and instability. We previously engineered a variant of Aβ that forms stable protofibrils and here we use solid-state NMR spectroscopy and molecular modeling to derive a structural model of these. NMR data are consistent with packing of residues 16 to 42 of Aβ protomers into hexameric barrel-like oligomers within the protofibril. The core of the oligomers consists of all residues of the central and C-terminal hydrophobic regions of Aβ, and hairpin loops extend from the core. The model accounts for why Aβ42 forms oligomers and protofibrils more easily than Aβ40.
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| 10. |
- Lindborg, M., et al.
(författare)
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High-affinity binding to staphylococcal protein A by an engineered dimeric Affibody molecule
- 2013
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Ingår i: Protein Engineering Design & Selection. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1741-0126 .- 1741-0134. ; 26:10, s. 635-644
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Affibody molecules are engineered binding proteins, in which the three-helix bundle motif of the Z domain derived from protein A is used as a scaffold for sequence variation. We used phage display to select Affibody binders to staphylococcal protein A itself. The best binder, called ZpA963, binds with similar affinity and kinetics to the five homologous E, D, A, B and C domains of protein A, and to a five-domain protein A construct with an average dissociation constant, K-D, of 20 nM. The structure of ZpA963 in complex with the Z domain shows that it interacts with a surface on Z that is identical in the five protein A domains, which explains the multi-domain affinity. This property allows for high-affinity binding by dimeric Affibody molecules that simultaneously engage two protein A domains in a complex. We studied two ZpA963 dimers in which the subunits were linked by a C-terminal disulfide in a symmetric dimer or head-to-tail in a fusion protein, respectively. The dimers both bind protein A with high affinity, very slow off-rates and with saturation-dependent kinetics that can be understood in terms of dimer binding to multiple sites. The head-to-tail (ZpA963)(2)htt dimer binds with an off-rate of k(off) 5 10(6) s(1) and an estimated K-D 16 pM. The results illustrate how dimers of selected monomer binding proteins can provide an efficient route for engineering of high-affinity binders to targets that contain multiple homologous domains or repeated structural units.
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| 11. |
- Pieper, Jennifer, et al.
(författare)
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Memory T cells specific to citrullinated alpha-enolase are enriched in the rheumatic joint
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Autoimmunity. - : ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. - 0896-8411 .- 1095-9157. ; 92, s. 47-56
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- ACPA-positive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with distinct HLA-DR alleles and immune responses to many citrullinated self-antigens. Herein we investigated the T cell epitope confined within alpha-enolase(326-340) in the context of HLA-DRB1*04:01 and assessed the corresponding CD4(+) T cells in both the circulation and in the rheumatic joint. Comparative crystallographic analyses were performed for the native and citrullinated alpha-enolase(326-340) peptides in complex with HLA-DRB1*04:01. HLA-tetramers assembled with either the native or citrullinated peptide were used for ex vivo and in vitro assessment of a enolase-specific T cells in peripheral blood, synovial fluid and synovial tissue by flow cytometry. The native and modified peptides take a completely conserved structural conformation within the peptide binding cleft of HLA-DRB1*04:01. The citrulline residue-327 was located N-terminally, protruding towards TCRs. The frequencies of T cells recognizing native eno(326-340) were similar in synovial fluid and peripheral blood, while in contrast, the frequency of T cells recognizing cit-eno(326-340) was significantly elevated in synovial fluid compared to peripheral blood (3.6-fold, p = 0.0150). Additionally, citrulline-specific T cells with a memory phenotype were also significantly increased (1.6-fold, p = 0.0052) in synovial fluid compared to peripheral blood. The native T cell epitope confined within alpha-enolase(326-340) does not appear to lead to complete negative selection of cognate CD4(+) T cells. In RA patient samples, only T cells recognizing the citrullinated version of alpha-enolase(326-340) were found at elevated frequencies implicating that neo-antigen formation is critical for breach of tolerance. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Sandberg, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Stabilization of neurotoxic Alzheimer amyloid-beta oligomers by protein engineering
- 2010
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 107:35, s. 15595-15600
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Soluble oligomeric aggregates of the amyloid-beta peptide (Abeta) have been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Although the conformation adopted by Abeta within these aggregates is not known, a beta-hairpin conformation is known to be accessible to monomeric Abeta. Here we show that this beta-hairpin is a building block of toxic Abeta oligomers by engineering a double-cysteine mutant (called Abetacc) in which the beta-hairpin is stabilized by an intramolecular disulfide bond. Abeta(40)cc and Abeta(42)cc both spontaneously form stable oligomeric species with distinct molecular weights and secondary-structure content, but both are unable to convert into amyloid fibrils. Biochemical and biophysical experiments and assays with conformation-specific antibodies used to detect Abeta aggregates in vivo indicate that the wild-type oligomer structure is preserved and stabilized in Abetacc oligomers. Stable oligomers are expected to become highly toxic and, accordingly, we find that beta-sheet-containing Abeta(42)cc oligomers or protofibrillar species formed by these oligomers are 50 times more potent inducers of neuronal apoptosis than amyloid fibrils or samples of monomeric wild-type Abeta(42), in which toxic aggregates are only transiently formed. The possibility of obtaining completely stable and physiologically relevant neurotoxic Abeta oligomer preparations will facilitate studies of their structure and role in the pathogenesis of AD. For example, here we show how kinetic partitioning into different aggregation pathways can explain why Abeta(42) is more toxic than the shorter Abeta(40), and why certain inherited mutations are linked to protofibril formation and early-onset AD.
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| 14. |
- Visentin, Cristina, et al.
(författare)
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Glycosylation Tunes Neuroserpin Physiological and Pathological Properties
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Molecular Sciences. - : MDPI AG. - 1661-6596 .- 1422-0067. ; 21:9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Neuroserpin (NS) is a member of the serine protease inhibitors superfamily. Specific point mutations are responsible for its accumulation in the endoplasmic reticulum of neurons that leads to a pathological condition named familial encephalopathy with neuroserpin inclusion bodies (FENIB). Wild-type NS presents two N-glycosylation chains and does not form polymers in vivo, while non-glycosylated NS causes aberrant polymer accumulation in cell models. To date, all in vitro studies have been conducted on bacterially expressed NS, de facto neglecting the role of glycosylation in the biochemical properties of NS. Here, we report the expression and purification of human glycosylated NS (gNS) using a novel eukaryotic expression system, LEXSY. Our results confirm the correct N-glycosylation of wild-type gNS. The fold and stability of gNS are not altered compared to bacterially expressed NS, as demonstrated by the circular dichroism and intrinsic tryptophan fluorescence assays. Intriguingly, gNS displays a remarkably reduced polymerisation propensity compared to non-glycosylated NS, in keeping with what was previously observed for wild-type NS in vivo and in cell models. Thus, our results support the relevance of gNS as a new in vitro tool to study the molecular bases of FENIB.
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| 15. |
- Yu, Xiaodi, et al.
(författare)
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Allosteric Mechanism Controls Traffic in the Chaperone/Usher Pathway
- 2012
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Ingår i: Structure. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-2126 .- 1878-4186. ; 20, s. 1861-1871
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Many virulence organelles of Gram-negative bacterial pathogens are assembled via the chaperone/usher pathway. The chaperone transports organelle subunits across the periplasm to the outer membrane usher, where they are released and incorporated into growing fibers. Here, we elucidate the mechanism of the usher-targeting step in assembly of the Yersinia pestis F1 capsule at the atomic level. The usher interacts almost exclusively with the chaperone in the chaperone:subunit complex. In free chaperone, a pair of conserved proline residues at the beginning of the subunit-binding loop form a "proline lock" that occludes the usher-binding surface and blocks usher binding. Binding of the subunit to the chaperone rotates the proline lock away from the usher-binding surface, allowing the chaperone-subunit complex to bind to the usher. We show that the proline lock exists in other chaperone/usher systems and represents a general allosteric mechanism for selective targeting of chaperone:subunit complexes to the usher and for release and recycling of the free chaperone.
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