CCT chaperonin complex is required for efficient delivery of anthrax toxin into the cytosol of host cells

Cryo-EM structure of the fully-loaded asymmetric anthrax lethal toxin in its heptameric pre-pore state

Anthrax toxin is the major virulence factor secreted by Bacillus anthracis, causing high mortality in humans and other mammals. It consists of a membrane translocase, known as protective antigen (PA), that catalyzes the unfolding of its cytotoxic substrates lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF), followed by translocation into the host cell. Substrate recruitment to the heptameric PA pre-pore and subsequent translocation, however, are not well understood. Here, we report three high-resolution cryo-EM structures of the fully-loaded anthrax lethal toxin in its heptameric pre-pore state, which differ in the position and conformation of LFs. The structures reveal that three LFs interact with the heptameric PA and upon binding change their conformation to form a continuous chain of head-to-tail interactions. As a result of the underlying symmetry mismatch, one LF binding site in PA remains unoccupied. Whereas one LF directly interacts with a part of PA called α-clamp, the others do not interact with this region, indicating an intermediate state between toxin assembly and translocation. Interestingly, the interaction of the N-terminal domain with the α-clamp correlates with a higher flexibility in the C-terminal domain of the protein. Based on our data, we propose a model for toxin assembly, in which the relative position of the N-terminal α-helices in the three LFs determines which factor is translocated first.

Effects of ricin on primary pulmonary alveolar macrophages

Objective

We systematically investigated the cytotoxic effects of ricin in primary pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAMs).

Methods

Primary PAMs were isolated from BALB/c mice. The cytotoxic effects of ricin were investigated in vitro by optical and transmission electron microscopy, detection of the inflammatory cytokine response, proteomic analysis, and subsequent biological functional analysis.

Results

Ricin induced shrinkage, apoptosis, vacuolization, and multi-organelle lesions in primary PAMs as demonstrated by optical and transmission electron microscopy. Ricin also induced a pronounced pro-inflammatory cytokine response in primary PAMs, including induction of tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2, IL-6, IL-12, C-C motif chemokine ligand 2, and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2, while the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 were less affected. Proteomic analysis and subsequent biological functional analysis identified eight proteins that were up/downregulated by ricin treatment and which might thus contribute to ricin toxicity. These proteins were involved in various functions, including redox, molecular chaperone, glycolysis, protein translation, and protein degradation functions.

Conclusion

The results of the present study further our understanding of the pathogenic mechanism of inhalational ricin poisoning.

The chaperonin TRiC/CCT is essential for the action of bacterial glycosylating protein toxins like Clostridium difficile toxins A and B

Various bacterial protein toxins, including Clostridium difficile toxins A (TcdA) and B (TcdB), attack intracellular target proteins of host cells by glucosylation. After receptor binding and endocytosis, the toxins are translocated into the cytosol, where they modify target proteins (e.g., Rho proteins). Here we report that the activity of translocated glucosylating toxins depends on the chaperonin TRiC/CCT. The chaperonin subunits CCT4/5 directly interact with the toxins and enhance the refolding and restoration of the glucosyltransferase activities of toxins after heat treatment. Knockdown of CCT5 by siRNA and HSF1A, an inhibitor of TRiC/CCT, blocks the cytotoxic effects of TcdA and TcdB. In contrast, HSP90, which is involved in the translocation and uptake of ADP ribosylating toxins, is not involved in uptake of the glucosylating toxins. We show that the actions of numerous glycosylating toxins from various toxin types and different species depend on TRiC/CCT. Our data indicate that the TRiC/CCT chaperonin system is specifically involved in toxin uptake and essential for the action of various glucosylating protein toxins acting intracellularly on target proteins.

Structure of anthrax lethal toxin prepore complex suggests a pathway for efficient cell entry

Anthrax toxin comprises three soluble proteins: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). PA must be cleaved by host proteases before it oligomerizes and forms a prepore, to which LF and EF bind. After endocytosis of this tripartite complex, the prepore transforms into a narrow transmembrane pore that delivers unfolded LF and EF into the host cytosol. Here, we find that translocation of multiple 90-kD LF molecules is rapid and efficient. To probe the molecular basis of this translocation, we calculated a three-dimensional map of the fully loaded (PA63)7-(LF)3 prepore complex by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The map shows three LFs bound in a similar way to one another, via their N-terminal domains, to the surface of the PA heptamer. The model also reveals contacts between the N- and C-terminal domains of adjacent LF molecules. We propose that this molecular arrangement plays an important role in the maintenance of translocation efficiency through the narrow PA pore.

The chaperonin TRiC forms an oligomeric complex in the malaria parasite cytosol

The malaria parasite exports numerous proteins into its host red blood cell (RBC). The trafficking of these exported effectors is complex. Proteins are first routed through the secretory system, into the parasitophorous vacuole (PV), a membranous compartment enclosing the parasite. Proteins are then translocated across the PV membrane in a process requiring ATP and unfolding. Once in the RBC compartment the exported proteins are then refolded and further trafficked to their final localizations. Chaperones are important in the unfolding and refolding processes. Recently, it was suggested that the parasite TRiC chaperonin complex is exported, and that it is involved in trafficking of exported effectors. Using a parasite-specific antibody and epitope-tagged transgenic parasites we could observe no export of Plasmodium TRiC into the RBC. We tested the importance of the parasite TRiC by creating a regulatable knockdown line of the TRiC-θ subunit. Loss of the parasite TRiC-θ led to a severe growth defect in asexual development, but did not alter protein export into the RBC. These observations indicate that the TRiC proteins play a critical role in parasite biology, though their function, within the parasite, appears unrelated to protein trafficking in the RBC compartment.

New insights into host-parasite ubiquitin proteome dynamics in P. falciparum infected red blood cells using a TUBEs-MS approach

Malaria, caused by Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), ranks as one of the most baleful infectious diseases worldwide. New antimalarial treatments are needed to face existing or emerging drug resistant strains. Protein degradation appears to play a significant role during the asexual intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) of P. falciparum. Inhibition of the ubiquitin proteasome system (UPS), a major intracellular proteolytic pathway, effectively reduces infection and parasite replication. P. falciparum and erythrocyte UPS coexist during IDC but the nature of their relationship is largely unknown. We used an approach based on Tandem Ubiquitin-Binding Entities (TUBEs) and 1D gel electrophoresis followed by mass spectrometry to identify major components of the TUBEs-associated ubiquitin proteome of both host and parasite during ring, trophozoite and schizont stages. Ring-exported protein (REX1), a P. falciparum protein located in Maurer's clefts and important for parasite nutrient import, was found to reach a maximum level of ubiquitylation in trophozoites stage. The Homo sapiens (H. sapiens) TUBEs associated ubiquitin proteome decreased during the infection, whereas the equivalent P. falciparum TUBEs-associated ubiquitin proteome counterpart increased. Major cellular processes such as DNA repair, replication, stress response, vesicular transport and catabolic events appear to be regulated by ubiquitylation along the IDC P. falciparum infection.

BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

In this work we analyze for the first time the interconnection between Plasmodium and human red blood cells ubiquitin-regulated proteins in the context of infection. We identified a number of human and Plasmodium proteins whose ubiquitylation pattern changes during the asexual infective stage. We demonstrate that ubiquitylation of REX1, a P. falciparum protein located in Maurer's clefts and important for parasite nutrient import, peaks in trophozoites stage. The ubiquitin-proteome from P. falciparum infected red blood cells (iRBCs) revealed a significant host-parasite crosstalk, underlining the importance of ubiquitin-regulated proteolytic activities during the intraerythrocytic developmental cycle (IDC) of P. falciparum. Major cellular processes defined from gene ontology such as DNA repair, replication, stress response, vesicular transport and catabolic events appear to be regulated by ubiquitylation along the IDC P. falciparum infection. Given the importance of ubiquitylation in the development of infectious diseases, this work provides a number of potential drug-target candidates that should be further explored.

Anthrax Susceptibility: Human Genetic Polymorphisms Modulating ANTXR2 Expression

Anthrax toxin causes anthrax pathogenesis and expression levels of ANTXR2 (anthrax toxin receptor 2) are strongly correlated with anthrax toxin susceptibility. Previous studies found that ANTXR2 transcript abundance varies considerably in individuals of different ethnic/geographical groups, but no eQTLs (expression quantitative trait loci) have been identified. By using 3C (chromatin conformation capture), CRISPR-mediated genomic deletion and dual-luciferase reporter assay, gene loci containing cis-regulatory elements of ANTXR2 were localized. Two SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphism) at the conserved CREB-binding motif, rs13140055 and rs80314910 in the promoter region of the gene, modulating ANTXR2 promoter activity were identified. Combining these two regulatory SNPs with a previously reported SNP, rs12647691, for the first time, a statistically significant correlation between human genetic variations and anthrax toxin sensitivity was observed. These findings further our understanding of human variability in ANTXR2 expression and anthrax toxin susceptibility.

A Heterologous Reporter Defines the Role of the Tetanus Toxin Interchain Disulfide in Light-Chain Translocation

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs) and tetanus toxin (TeNT) are the most potent toxins for humans and elicit unique pathologies due to their ability to traffic within motor neurons. BoNTs act locally within motor neurons to elicit flaccid paralysis, while retrograde TeNT traffics to inhibitory neurons within the central nervous system (CNS) to elicit spastic paralysis. BoNT and TeNT are dichain proteins linked by an interchain disulfide bond comprised of an N-terminal catalytic light chain (LC) and a C-terminal heavy chain (HC) that encodes an LC translocation domain (HCT) and a receptor-binding domain (HCR). LC translocation is the least understood property of toxin action, but it involves low pH, proteolysis, and an intact interchain disulfide bridge. Recently, Pirazzini et al. (FEBS Lett 587:150-155, 2013, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2012.11.007) observed that inhibitors of thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) blocked TeNT and BoNT action in cerebellar granular neurons. In the current study, an atoxic TeNT LC translocation reporter was engineered by fusing β-lactamase to the N terminus of TeNT [βlac-TeNT(RY)] to investigate LC translocation in primary cortical neurons and Neuro-2a cells. βlac-TeNT(RY) retained the interchain disulfide bond, showed ganglioside-dependent binding to neurons, required acidification to promote βlac translocation, and was sensitive to auranofin, an inhibitor of thioredoxin reductase. Mutation of βlac-TeNT(RY) at C439S and C467S eliminated the interchain disulfide bond and inhibited βlac translocation. These data support the requirement of an intact interchain disulfide for LC translocation and imply that disulfide reduction is a prerequisite for LC delivery into the host cytosol. The data also support a model that LC translocation proceeds from the C to the N terminus. βlac-TeNT(RY) is the first reporter system to measure translocation by an AB single-chain toxin in intact cells.

TCP1 complex proteins interact with phosphorothioate oligonucleotides and can co-localize in oligonucleotide-induced nuclear bodies in mammalian cells

Phosphorothioate (PS) antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) have been successfully developed as drugs to reduce the expression of disease-causing genes. PS-ASOs can be designed to induce degradation of complementary RNAs via the RNase H pathway and much is understood about that process. However, interactions of PS-ASOs with other cellular proteins are not well characterized. Here we report that in cells transfected with PS-ASOs, the chaperonin T-complex 1 (TCP1) proteins interact with PS-ASOs and enhance antisense activity. The TCP1-β subunit co-localizes with PS-ASOs in distinct nuclear structures, termed phosphorothioate bodies or PS-bodies. Upon Ras-related nuclear protein (RAN) depletion, cytoplasmic PS-body-like structures were observed and nuclear concentrations of PS-ASOs were reduced, suggesting that TCP1-β can interact with PS-ASOs in the cytoplasm and that the nuclear import of PS-ASOs is at least partially through the RAN-mediated pathway. Upon free uptake, PS-ASOs co-localize with TCP1 proteins in cytoplasmic foci related to endosomes/lysosomes. Together, our results indicate that the TCP1 complex binds oligonucleotides with TCP1-β subunit being a nuclear PS-body component and suggest that the TCP1 complex may facilitate PS-ASO uptake and/or release from the endocytosis pathway.

Bacterial toxins and small molecules elucidate endosomal trafficking

Bacterial toxins and small molecules are useful tools for studying eukaryotic cell biology. In a recent issue of PNAS, Gillespie and colleagues describe a novel small molecule inhibitor of bacterial toxins and virus trafficking through the endocytic pathway, 4-bromobenzaldehyde N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)semicarbazone (EGA), that prevents transport from early to late endosomes.

Hijacking multivesicular bodies enables long-term and exosome-mediated long-distance action of anthrax toxin

Anthrax lethal toxin is a classical AB toxin comprised of two components: protective antigen (PA) and lethal factor (LF). Here, we show that following assembly and endocytosis, PA forms a channel that translocates LF, not only into the cytosol, but also into the lumen of endosomal intraluminal vesicles (ILVs). These ILVs can fuse and release LF into the cytosol, where LF can proteolyze and disable host targets. We find that LF can persist in ILVs for days, fully sheltered from proteolytic degradation, both in vitro and in vivo. During this time, ILV-localized LF can be transmitted to daughter cells upon cell division. In addition, LF-containing ILVs can be delivered to the extracellular medium as exosomes. These can deliver LF to the cytosol of naive cells in a manner that is independent of the typical anthrax toxin receptor-mediated trafficking pathway, while being sheltered from neutralizing extracellular factors of the immune system.