Elongation factor-P at the crossroads of the host-endosymbiont interface

Translation Factor Accelerating Peptide Bond Formation on the Ribosome: EF-P and eIF5A as Entropic Catalysts and a Potential Drug Targets

Elongation factor P (EF-P) and its eukaryotic homolog eIF5A are auxiliary translation factors that facilitate peptide bond formation when several sequential proline (Pro) residues are incorporated into the nascent chain. EF-P and eIF5A bind to the exit (E) site of the ribosome and contribute to favorable entropy of the reaction by stabilizing tRNA binding in the peptidyl transferase center of the ribosome. In most organisms, EF-P and eIF5A carry a posttranslational modification that is crucial for catalysis. The chemical nature of the modification varies between different groups of bacteria and between pro- and eukaryotes, making the EF-P-modification enzymes promising targets for antibiotic development. In this review, we summarize our knowledge of the structure and function of EF-P and eIF5A, describe their modification enzymes, and present an approach for potential drug screening aimed at EarP, an enzyme that is essential for EF-P modification in several pathogenic bacteria.

Backbone and side chain NMR assignments for the ribosome Elongation Factor P (EF-P) from Staphylococcus aureus

Elongation Factor P (EF-P) is a 20.5 kDa protein that provides specialized translation of special stalling amino acid motifs. Proteins with stalling motifs are often involved in various processes, including stress resistance and virulence. Thus it has been shown that the virulent properties of microorganisms can be significantly reduced if the work of EF-P is disrupted. In order to elucidate the structure, dynamics and function of EF-P from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), here we report backbone and side chains ¹H, ¹³C and ¹⁵N chemical shift assignments of EF-P. Analysis of the backbone chemical shifts by TALOS+ suggests that EF-P contains 1 α-helix and 13 β-strands (β1-β2-β3-β4-β5-β6-β7-α1-β8-β9-β10-β11-β12-β13). The solution of the structure of this protein by NMR and X-ray diffraction analysis, as well as the structure of the ribosome complex by cryo-electron microscopy, will allow further screening of highly selective inhibitors of the translation of the pathogenic bacterium S. aureus. Here we report the almost complete ¹H, ¹³C, ¹⁵N backbone and side chain NMR assignment of a 20.5 kDa EF-P.