Characterization of the Ruler Protein Interaction Interface on the Substrate Specificity SwitchProtein in the Yersinia Type III Secretion System

• Many pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria use the type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver effector proteins into eukaryotic host cells. In Yersinia the switch to secretion of effector proteins is induced first after that intimate contact between the bacterium and its eukaryotic targetcell has been established and the T3SS proteins YscP and YscU are playing a central role in thisprocess. Here we identify the molecular details of the YscP binding site on YscU by means o fnuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The binding interface is centeredon the C-terminal domain of YscU. Disruptingthe YscU/YscP interaction by introducing point mutations at the interaction interface significantly reduced the secretion of effector proteins and HeLa cell cytotoxicity. Interestingly, the bindingof YscP to the slowly self-cleaving YscU variantP264A conferred significant protection againstauto-proteolysis. The YscP mediated inhibition of YscU auto-proteolysis suggest that the cleavage event may act as a timing switch in the regulationof early vs. late T3SS substrates. We also show that YscUC binds to the inner-rod protein YscI with a Kd of 3.8 μM and with one-to-one stoichiometry. The significant similarity between different members of the YscU, YscP, YscI families suggests that the protein-protein interactions discussed in this study are alsorelevant for other T3SS-containing Gram-negative bacteria.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi -- Biokemi och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences -- Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Biochemistry

biokemi

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