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Leone P, Bebeacua C, Opota O, Kellenberger C, Klaholz B, Orlov I, Cambillau C, Lemaitre B, Roussel A. X-ray and Cryo-electron Microscopy Structures of Monalysin Pore-forming Toxin Reveal Multimerization of the Pro-form. J Biol Chem 2015; 290:13191-201. [PMID: 25847242 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.646109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2015] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
β-Barrel pore-forming toxins (β-PFT), a large family of bacterial toxins, are generally secreted as water-soluble monomers and can form oligomeric pores in membranes following proteolytic cleavage and interaction with cell surface receptors. Monalysin has been recently identified as a β-PFT that contributes to the virulence of Pseudomonas entomophila against Drosophila. It is secreted as a pro-protein that becomes active upon cleavage. Here we report the crystal and cryo-electron microscopy structure of the pro-form of Monalysin as well as the crystal structures of the cleaved form and of an inactive mutant lacking the membrane-spanning region. The overall structure of Monalysin displays an elongated shape, which resembles those of β-pore-forming toxins, such as Aerolysin, but is devoid of a receptor-binding domain. X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, and light-scattering studies show that pro-Monalysin forms a stable doughnut-like 18-mer complex composed of two disk-shaped nonamers held together by N-terminal swapping of the pro-peptides. This observation is in contrast with the monomeric pro-form of the other β-PFTs that are receptor-dependent for membrane interaction. The membrane-spanning region of pro-Monalysin is fully buried in the center of the doughnut, suggesting that upon cleavage of pro-peptides, the two disk-shaped nonamers can, and have to, dissociate to leave the transmembrane segments free to deploy and lead to pore formation. In contrast with other toxins, the delivery of 18 subunits at once, nearby the cell surface, may be used to bypass the requirement of receptor-dependent concentration to reach the threshold for oligomerization into the pore-forming complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philippe Leone
- From the CNRS, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, 13288 Marseille, France, the Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 7257, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Cecilia Bebeacua
- From the CNRS, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, 13288 Marseille, France, the Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 7257, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Onya Opota
- the Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, and
| | - Christine Kellenberger
- From the CNRS, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, 13288 Marseille, France, the Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 7257, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Bruno Klaholz
- the Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI), Department of Integrated Structural Biology, IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), CNRS, UMR 7104/INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Igor Orlov
- the Centre for Integrative Biology (CBI), Department of Integrated Structural Biology, IGBMC (Institute of Genetics and of Molecular and Cellular Biology), CNRS, UMR 7104/INSERM U964/Université de Strasbourg, 1 rue Laurent Fries, 67404 Illkirch, France
| | - Christian Cambillau
- From the CNRS, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, 13288 Marseille, France, the Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 7257, 13288 Marseille, France
| | - Bruno Lemaitre
- the Global Health Institute, School of Life Sciences, École Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland, and
| | - Alain Roussel
- From the CNRS, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques (AFMB), Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 7257, 13288 Marseille, France, the Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, UMR 7257, 13288 Marseille, France,
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Abrami L, van der Goot FG. Plasma membrane microdomains act as concentration platforms to facilitate intoxication by aerolysin. J Cell Biol 1999; 147:175-84. [PMID: 10508864 PMCID: PMC2164982 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.147.1.175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 129] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
It has been proposed that the plasma membrane of many cell types contains cholesterol-sphingolipid-rich microdomains. Here, we analyze the role of these microdomains in promoting oligomerization of the bacterial pore-forming toxin aerolysin. Aerolysin binds to cells, via glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-anchored receptors, as a hydrophilic soluble protein that must polymerize into an amphipathic ring-like complex to form a pore. We first show that oligomerization can occur at >10(5)-fold lower toxin concentration at the surface of living cells than in solution. Our observations indicate that it is not merely the number of receptors on the target cell that is important for toxin sensitivity, but their ability to associate transiently with detergent resistant microdomains. Oligomerization appears to be promoted by the fact that the toxin bound to its glycosyl phosphatidylinositol-anchored receptors, can be recruited into these microdomains, which act as concentration devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurence Abrami
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva 4, Switzerland
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Gordon VM, Nelson KL, Buckley JT, Stevens VL, Tweten RK, Elwood PC, Leppla SH. Clostridium septicum alpha toxin uses glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored protein receptors. J Biol Chem 1999; 274:27274-80. [PMID: 10480947 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.274.38.27274] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The alpha toxin produced by Clostridium septicum is a channel-forming protein that is an important contributor to the virulence of the organism. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are sensitive to low concentrations of the toxin, indicating that they contain toxin receptors. Using retroviral mutagenesis, a mutant CHO line (BAG15) was generated that is resistant to alpha toxin. FACS analysis showed that the mutant cells have lost the ability to bind the toxin, indicating that they lack an alpha toxin receptor. The mutant cells are also resistant to aerolysin, a channel-forming protein secreted by Aeromonas spp., which is structurally and functionally related to alpha toxin and which is known to bind to glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins, such as Thy-1. We obtained evidence that the BAG15 cells lack N-acetylglucosaminyl-phosphatidylinositol deacetylase-L, needed for the second step in GPI anchor biosynthesis. Several lymphocyte cell lines lacking GPI-anchored proteins were also shown to be less sensitive to alpha toxin. On the other hand, the sensitivity of CHO cells to alpha toxin was increased when the cells were transfected with the GPI-anchored folate receptor. We conclude that alpha toxin, like aerolysin, binds to GPI-anchored protein receptors. Evidence is also presented that the two toxins bind to different subsets of GPI-anchored proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- V M Gordon
- Oral Infection and Immunity Branch, NIDCR, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA
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Diep DB, Nelson KL, Lawrence TS, Sellman BR, Tweten RK, Buckley JT. Expression and properties of an aerolysin--Clostridium septicum alpha toxin hybrid protein. Mol Microbiol 1999; 31:785-94. [PMID: 10048023 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1999.01217.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Aerolysin is a bilobal channel-forming toxin secreted by Aeromonas hydrophila. The alpha toxin produced by Clostridium septicum is homologous to the large lobe of aerolysin. However, it does not contain a region corresponding to the small lobe of the Aeromonas toxin, leading us to ask what the function of the small lobe is. We fused the small lobe of aerolysin to alpha toxin, producing a hybrid protein that should structurally resemble aerolysin. Unlike aerolysin, the hybrid was not secreted when expressed in Aeromonas salmonicida. The purified hybrid was activated by proteolytic processing in the same way as both parent proteins and, after activation, it formed oligomers that corresponded to the aerolysin heptamer. Like aerolysin, the hybrid was far more active than alpha toxin against human erythrocytes and mouse T lymphocytes. Both aerolysin and the hybrid bound to human glycophorin, and both were inhibited by preincubation with this erythrocyte glycoprotein, whereas alpha toxin was unaffected. We conclude that aerolysin contains two receptor binding sites, one for glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins that is located in the large lobe and is also found in alpha toxin, and a second site, located in the small lobe, that binds a surface carbohydrate determinant.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Diep
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, BC, Canada
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Abrami L, Fivaz M, Decroly E, Seidah NG, Jean F, Thomas G, Leppla SH, Buckley JT, van der Goot FG. The pore-forming toxin proaerolysin is activated by furin. J Biol Chem 1998; 273:32656-61. [PMID: 9830006 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.49.32656] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerolysin is secreted as an inactive dimeric precursor by the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Proteolytic cleavage within a mobile loop near the C terminus of the protoxin is required for oligomerization and channel formation. This loop contains the sequence KVRRAR432, which should be recognized by mammalian proprotein convertases such as furin, PACE4, and PC5/6A. Here we show that these three proteases cleave proaerolysin after Arg-432 in vitro, yielding active toxin. We also investigated the potential role of these enzymes in the in vivo activation of the protoxin. We found that Chinese hamster ovary cells were able to convert the protoxin to aerolysin in the absence of exogenous proteases and that activation did not require internalization of the toxin. The furin inhibitor alpha1-antitrypsin Portland reduced the rate of proaerolysin activation in vivo, and proaerolysin processing was even further reduced in furin-deficient FD11 Chinese hamster ovary cells. The cells were also less sensitive to proaerolysin than wild type cells; however, transient transfection of FD11 cells with the cDNA encoding furin conferred normal sensitivity to the protoxin. Together these findings argue that furin catalyzes the cell-surface activation of proaerolysin in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Abrami
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Geneva, 30 Quai E. Ansermet, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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Diep DB, Lawrence TS, Ausio J, Howard SP, Buckley JT. Secretion and properties of the large and small lobes of the channel-forming toxin aerolysin. Mol Microbiol 1998; 30:341-52. [PMID: 9791179 DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.01068.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Aerolysin is a dimeric protein secreted by Aeromonas spp. that binds to glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored receptors on target cells and becomes insertion competent by oligomerizing. The protein comprises two lobes joined by a short arm. The large lobe is thought to be responsible for channel formation, whereas the small lobe is believed to stabilize the dimer, and it may also contain the receptor binding site. We cloned and expressed the DNA for both lobes of the toxin separately and together in A. salmonicida. The large lobe produced alone was secreted, although more poorly than native protein. The small lobe with the arm produced by itself was not secreted. When the large lobe without the arm was co-produced with the small lobe with the arm, both were secreted, and they co-purified as a stoichiometric complex. Analytical ultracentrifugation showed that they form a heterotetramer corresponding to the native dimer. The purified product was nearly as active as aerolysin, but lost activity and became trypsin sensitive above 25 degreesC. The large lobe with the arm was also purified. It was shown to be monomeric, confirming that the small lobe is responsible for dimer stabilization. The large lobe had very low channel-forming activity, although it was correctly processed by trypsin, and it could form stable oligomers. Surprisingly, the large lobe was found to bind to several glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins, indicating that it contains at least part of the receptor-binding domain.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Diep
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Box 3055, Victoria, BC, Canada, V8W 3P6
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Krause KH, Fivaz M, Monod A, van der Goot FG. Aerolysin induces G-protein activation and Ca2+ release from intracellular stores in human granulocytes. J Biol Chem 1998; 273:18122-9. [PMID: 9660770 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.29.18122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Aerolysin is a pore-forming toxin that plays a key role in the pathogenesis of Aeromonas hydrophila infections. In this study, we have analyzed the effect of aerolysin on human granulocytes (HL-60 cells). Proaerolysin could bind to these cells, was processed into active aerolysin, and led to membrane depolarization, indicating that granulocytes are potential targets for this toxin. Fura-2 measurements were used to analyze the effect of aerolysin on cytosolic [Ca2+] homeostasis. As expected for a pore-forming toxin, aerolysin addition led to Ca2+ influx across the plasma membrane. In addition, the toxin triggered Ca2+ release from agonist and thapsigargin-sensitive intracellular Ca2+ stores. This Ca2+ release was independent of the aerolysin-induced Ca2+ influx and occurred in two kinetically distinct phases: an initial rapid and transient phase and a second, more sustained, phase. The first, but not the second phase was sensitive to pertussis toxin. Activation of pertussis toxin-sensitive G-proteins appeared to be a consequence of pore formation, rather than receptor activation through aerolysin-binding, as it: (i) was not observed with a binding competent, insertion-incompetent aerolysin mutant, (ii) had a marked lag time, and (iii) was also observed in response to other bacterial pore-forming toxins (staphylococcal alpha-toxin, streptolysin O) which are thought to bind to different receptors. G-protein activation through pore-forming toxins stimulated cellular functions, as evidenced by pertussis toxin-sensitive chemotaxis. Our results demonstrate that granulocytes are potential target cells for aerolysin and that in these cells, Ca2+ signaling in response to a pore-forming toxin involves G-protein-dependent cell activation and Ca2+ release from intracellular stores.
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Affiliation(s)
- K H Krause
- Infectious Diseases Division, University Hospital, 1211 Geneva 14, Switzerland
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Rossjohn J, Feil SC, McKinstry WJ, Tsernoglou D, van der Goot G, Buckley JT, Parker MW. Aerolysin--a paradigm for membrane insertion of beta-sheet protein toxins? J Struct Biol 1998; 121:92-100. [PMID: 9615432 DOI: 10.1006/jsbi.1997.3947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The determination of the crystal structure of the bacterial protein proaerolysin provided the first view of a pore-forming toxin constructed mainly from beta-sheet. The structure that was obtained and subsequent crystallographic and biochemical studies have together allowed us to explain how the toxin is transformed from a water-soluble dimer to a heptameric transmembrane pore. Recent discoveries of structural similarities between aerolysin and other toxins suggest that the structure/function studies we have made may prove useful in understanding the actions of a number of pore-forming proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- J Rossjohn
- Ian Potter Foundation Protein Crystallography Laboratory, St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research, Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia
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Abrami L, Fivaz M, Glauser PE, Parton RG, van der Goot FG. A pore-forming toxin interacts with a GPI-anchored protein and causes vacuolation of the endoplasmic reticulum. J Cell Biol 1998; 140:525-40. [PMID: 9456314 PMCID: PMC2140172 DOI: 10.1083/jcb.140.3.525] [Citation(s) in RCA: 171] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
In this paper, we have investigated the effects of the pore-forming toxin aerolysin, produced by Aeromonas hydrophila, on mammalian cells. Our data indicate that the protoxin binds to an 80-kD glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein on BHK cells, and that the bound toxin is associated with specialized plasma membrane domains, described as detergent-insoluble microdomains, or cholesterol-glycolipid "rafts." We show that the protoxin is then processed to its mature form by host cell proteases. We propose that the preferential association of the toxin with rafts, through binding to GPI-anchored proteins, is likely to increase the local toxin concentration and thereby promote oligomerization, a step that it is a prerequisite for channel formation. We show that channel formation does not lead to disruption of the plasma membrane but to the selective permeabilization to small ions such as potassium, which causes plasma membrane depolarization. Next we studied the consequences of channel formation on the organization and dynamics of intracellular membranes. Strikingly, we found that the toxin causes dramatic vacuolation of the ER, but does not affect other intracellular compartments. Concomitantly we find that the COPI coat is released from biosynthetic membranes and that biosynthetic transport of newly synthesized transmembrane G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus is inhibited. Our data indicate that binding of proaerolysin to GPI-anchored proteins and processing of the toxin lead to oligomerization and channel formation in the plasma membrane, which in turn causes selective disorganization of early biosynthetic membrane dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Abrami
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Geneva, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland
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Diep DB, Nelson KL, Raja SM, Pleshak EN, Buckley JT. Glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchors of membrane glycoproteins are binding determinants for the channel-forming toxin aerolysin. J Biol Chem 1998; 273:2355-60. [PMID: 9442081 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.273.4.2355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 148] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Cells that are sensitive to the channel-forming toxin aerolysin contain surface glycoproteins that bind the toxin with high affinity. Here we show that a common feature of aerolysin receptors is the presence of a glycosylphosphatidylinositol anchor, and we present evidence that the anchor itself is an essential part of the toxin binding determinant. The glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored T-lymphocyte protein Thy-1 is an example of a protein that acts as an aerolysin receptor. This protein retained its ability to bind aerolysin when it was expressed in Chinese hamster ovary cells, but could not bind the toxin when expressed in Escherichia coli, where the GPI anchor is absent. An unrelated GPI-anchored protein, the variant surface glycoprotein of trypanosomes, was shown to bind aerolysin with similar affinity to Thy-1, and this binding ability was significantly reduced when the anchor was removed chemically. Cathepsin D, a protein with no affinity for aerolysin, was converted to an aerolysin binding form when it was expressed as a GPI-anchored hybrid in COS cells. Not all GPI-anchored proteins bind aerolysin. In some cases this may be due to differences in the structure of the anchor itself. Thus the GPI-anchored proteins procyclin of Trypanosoma congolense and gp63 of Leishmania major did not bind aerolysin, but when gp63 was expressed with a mammalian GPI anchor in Chinese hamster ovary cells, it bound the toxin.
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Affiliation(s)
- D B Diep
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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Abstract
We describe a simple subcellular fractionation scheme aimed at separating early endosomes from the plasma membrane in view of studying the possible arrival of plasma membrane-bound toxins, proteins or other extracellular ligands in endosomes. Plasma membrane proteins were labeled with the impermeable reagent sulfosuccinimidyl-6-(biotinamido)hexanoate (NHS-LC) biotin at 4 degrees C. In a separate set of cells, early endosomes were labeled by internalization of horseradish peroxidase from the medium for 5 min. The first step of the purification, which consists of a step sucrose gradient, led to three fractions, respectively: enriched in biosynthetic membranes (interface 3), in plasma membrane and early endosomes (interface 2), and in late endosomes (interface 1). The second step, in which interface 2 was loaded at the bottom of a 17% Percoll gradient, led to the separation of the plasma membrane, including caveolae and cholesterol-glycolipid rafts, from early endosomes. Western blot analysis of the fractions from the Percoll gradient showed that the transferrin receptor, the small GTPases rab5 and Arf6, as well as annexin II were present both at the plasma membrane and in early endosomes, whereas the caveolar marker caveolin, 1co, migrated only with the biotinylated plasma membrane proteins. We used this fractionation procedure to show that the pore-forming toxin aerolysin does not reach the endocytic compartments of baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells. The procedure should be generally useful in rapidly determining whether extracellular proteins or ligands reach endosomes.
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Ferguson MR, Xu XJ, Houston CW, Peterson JW, Coppenhaver DH, Popov VL, Chopra AK. Hyperproduction, purification, and mechanism of action of the cytotoxic enterotoxin produced by Aeromonas hydrophila. Infect Immun 1997; 65:4299-308. [PMID: 9317040 PMCID: PMC175616 DOI: 10.1128/iai.65.10.4299-4308.1997] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
A gene encoding the cytotoxic enterotoxin (Act) from Aeromonas hydrophila was hyperexpressed with the pET, pTRX, and pGEX vector systems. Maximum toxin yield was obtained with the pTRX vector. Approximately 40 to 60% of Act was in a soluble form with the pTRX and pET vector systems. The toxin protein was purified to homogeneity by a combination of ammonium sulfate precipitation and fast protein liquid chromatography-based column chromatographies, including hydrophobic, anion-exchange, sizing, and hydroxylapatite chromatographies. Purified mature toxin migrated as a 52-kDa polypeptide on a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)polyacrylamide gel that reacted with Act-specific antibodies in immunoblots. The minimal amount of toxin needed to cause fluid secretion in rat ileal loops was 200 ng, and the 50% lethal dose for mice was 27.5 ng when injected intravenously. Binding of the toxin to erythrocytes was temperature dependent, with no binding occurring at 4 degrees C. However, at 37 degrees C the toxin bound to erythrocytes within 1 to 2 min. It was determined that the mechanism of action of the toxin involved the formation of pores in erythrocyte membranes, and the diameter of the pores was estimated to be 1.14 to 2.8 nm, as determined by the use of saccharides of different sizes and by electron microscopy. Calcium chloride prevented lysis of erythrocytes by the toxin; however, it did not affect the binding and pore-forming capabilities of the toxin. A dose-dependent reduction in hemoglobin release from erythrocytes was observed when Act was preincubated with cholesterol, but not with myristylated cholesterol. With 14C-labeled cholesterol and gel filtration, the binding of cholesterol to Act was demonstrated. None of the other phospholipids and glycolipids tested reduced the hemolytic activity of Act. The toxin also appeared to undergo aggregation when preincubated with cholesterol, as determined by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electorphoresis. As a result of this aggregation, Act's capacity to form pores in the erythrocyte membrane was inhibited.
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Affiliation(s)
- M R Ferguson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-1070, USA
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Abstract
Channel-forming bacterial toxins undergo a series of remarkable changes in solubility, oligomerization state, structure and dynamics during the processes of membrane binding, assembly, membrane insertion and channel formation. Recent high-resolution crystal structures of channel-forming toxins, in both water-soluble and membrane-bound, channel-formed states, have brought a wealth of new information to bear on issues of structure, mechanism and function.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Gouaux
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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Nelson KL, Raja SM, Buckley JT. The glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored surface glycoprotein Thy-1 is a receptor for the channel-forming toxin aerolysin. J Biol Chem 1997; 272:12170-4. [PMID: 9115289 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.272.18.12170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Aerolysin is a channel-forming protein secreted by virulent Aeromonas spp. Some eucaryotic cells, including T-lymphocytes, are sensitive to very low concentrations of the toxin (<10(-9) M). Here we show that aerolysin binds selectively and with high affinity to the glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored surface protein Thy-1, which is found on T-lymphocyte populations as well as in brain. Less than 1 ng of purified Thy-1 could be detected by probing Western blots with the toxin. Mutant T-cell lines that lack the ability to add GPI anchors to Thy-1 and other surface proteins were much less sensitive to aerolysin, as were wild-type cells that were pretreated with phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C to remove GPI-anchored proteins. Phosphatidylcholine/cholesterol liposomes containing purified Thy-1 in their membranes were much more sensitive to aerolysin than protein-free liposomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- K L Nelson
- Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia V8W 3P6, Canada
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Lesieur C, Vécsey-Semjén B, Abrami L, Fivaz M, Gisou van der Goot F. Membrane insertion: The strategies of toxins (review). Mol Membr Biol 1997; 14:45-64. [PMID: 9253764 DOI: 10.3109/09687689709068435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 130] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Protein toxins are soluble molecules secreted by pathogenic bacteria which act at the plasma membrane or in the cytoplasm of target cells. They must therefore interact with a membrane at some point, either to modify its permeability properties or to reach the cytoplasm. As a consequence, toxins have the built-in capacity to adopt two generally incompatible states: water-soluble and transmembrane. Irrespective of their origin or function, the membrane interacting domain of most protein toxins seems to have adopted one out of two structural strategies to be able to undergo this metamorphosis. In the first group of toxins the membrane interacting domain has the structural characteristics of most known membrane proteins, i.e. it contains hydrophobic and amphipathic alpha-helices long enough to span a membrane. To render this 'membrane protein' water-soluble during the initial part of its life the hydrophobic helices are sheltered from the solvent by a barrel of amphipathic helices. In the second group of toxins the opposite strategy is adopted. The toxin is an intrinsically soluble protein and is composed mainly of beta-structure. These toxins manage to become membrane proteins by oligomerizing in order to combine amphipathic beta-sheet to generate sufficient hydrophobicity for membrane insertion to occur. Toxins from this latter group are thought to perforate the lipid bilayer as a beta-barrel such as has been described for bacterial porins, and has recently been shown for staphylococcal alpha-toxin. The two groups of toxins will be described in detail through the presentation of examples. Particular attention will be given to the beta-structure toxins, since four new structures have been solved over the past year: the staphyloccocal alpha-toxin channel, the anthrax protective antigen protoxin, the anthrax protective antigen-soluble heptamer and the CytB protoxin. Structural similarities with mammalian proteins implicated in the immune response and apoptosis will be discussed. Peptide toxins will not be covered in this review.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Lesieur
- Département de Biochimie, Faculté des Sciences, Genève, Switzerland
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Moniatte M, van der Goot FG, Buckley JT, Pattus F, van Dorsselaer A. Characterisation of the heptameric pore-forming complex of the Aeromonas toxin aerolysin using MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. FEBS Lett 1996; 384:269-72. [PMID: 8617369 DOI: 10.1016/0014-5793(96)00328-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Aerolysin, a virulence factor secreted by Aeromonas hydrophila, is representative of a group of beta-sheet toxins that must form stable homooligomers in order to be able to insert into biological membranes and generate channels. Electron microscopy and image analysis of two-dimensional membrane crystals had previously revealed a structure with 7-fold symmetry suggesting that aerolysin forms heptameric oligomers [Wilmsen et al. (1992) EMBO J. 11, 2457-2463]. However, this unusual molecularity of the channel remained to be confirmed by an independent method since low-resolution electron crystallography had led to artefactual data for other pore-forming toxins. In this study, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS) was used to measure the mass of the aerolysin oligomer preparation. A mass of 333 850 Da was measured, fitting very well with a heptameric complex (expected mass: 332 300 Da). These results confirm the earlier evidence that the aerolysin oligomer is a heptamer and also show that MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry could be a valuable tool to study non-covalent association of proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Moniatte
- Laboratoire de Spectrometrie de Masse Bio-Organique associe au CNRS, Universite Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg, France
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Gruber HJ, Wilmsen HU, Schurga A, Pilger A, Schindler H. Measurement of intravesicular volumes by salt entrapment. BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA 1995; 1240:266-76. [PMID: 8541298 DOI: 10.1016/0005-2736(95)00189-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Internal volume is a very sensitive parameter of vesicle morphology. Measurement of captured volumes by solute entrapment is legitimate for most types of vesicles (Perkin, W.R. et al. (1993) Chem. Phys. Lipids 64, 197-217). In this study chloride was selected as the most convenient marker ion because the ubiquity of Cl- in physiological buffers eliminates prelabeling with exogenous markers and because minute concentrations of trapped chloride are well detectable in the presence of large extravesicular nitrate concentrations. Perfect exchange of external chloride for nitrate was shown to be accomplished by gel filtration, dialysis, or sucrose gradient flotation-but only after significant technical improvements and/or elimination of experimental pitfalls. Reliability was cross-checked by simultaneous entrapment of Cl- and K+. Diafiltration and ion exchange chromatography appeared inapplicable for exchange of extravesicular salt. When a representative variety of vesicle preparations was analyzed for internal volume (as well as for external surface and size) unexpected features of vesicle morphology were discovered. This emphasizes the genuine role of macroscopic vesicle characterization in complementing information from electron microscopy.
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Affiliation(s)
- H J Gruber
- Institute of Biophysics, J. Kepler University, Linz, Austria
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