Mechanisms of substrate recognition by a typhoid toxin secretion-associated muramidase

Regulation and Functionality of a Holin/Endolysin Pair Involved in Killing of Galleria mellonella and Caenorhabditis elegans by Yersinia enterocolitica

The insecticidal toxin complex (Tc) proteins are produced by several insect-associated bacteria, including Yersinia enterocolitica strain W22703, which oscillates between two distinct pathogenicity phases in invertebrates and humans. The mechanism by which this high-molecular-weight toxin is released into the extracellular surrounding, however, has not been deciphered. In this study, we investigated the regulation and functionality of a phage-related holin/endolysin (HE) cassette located within the insecticidal pathogenicity island Tc-PAIYe of W22703. Using the Galleria mellonella infection model and luciferase reporter fusions, we revealed that quorum sensing contributes to the insecticidal activity of W22703 upon influencing the transcription of tcaR2, which encodes an activator of the tc and HE genes. In contrast, a lack of the Yersinia modulator, YmoA, stimulated HE gene transcription, and mutant W22703 ΔymoA exhibited a stronger toxicity toward insect larvae than did W22703. A luciferase reporter fusion demonstrated transcriptional activation of the HE cassette in vivo, and a significantly larger extracellular amount of subunit TcaA was found in W22703 ΔymoA relative to its ΔHE mutant. Using competitive growth assays, we demonstrated that at least in vitro, the TcaA release upon HE activity is not mediated by cell lysis of a significant part of the population. Oral infection of Caenorhabditis elegans with a HE deletion mutant attenuated the nematocidal activity of the wild type, similar to the case with a mutant lacking a Tc subunit. We conclude that the dual holin/endolysin cassette of yersiniae is a novel example of a phage-related function adapted for the release of a bacterial toxin. IMPORTANCE Members of the genus Yersinia cause gastroenteritis in humans but also exhibit toxicity toward invertebrates. A virulence factor required for this environmental life cycle stage is the multisubunit toxin complex (Tc), which is distinct from the insecticidal toxin of Bacillus thuringiensis and has the potential to be used in pest control. The mechanism by which this high-molecular-weight Tc is secreted from bacterial cells has not been uncovered. Here, we show that a highly conserved phage-related holin/endolysin pair, which is encoded by the genes holY and elyY located between the Tc subunit genes, is essential for the insecticidal activity of Y. enterocolitica and that its activation increases the amount of Tc subunits in the supernatant. Thus, the dual holY-elyY cassette of Y. enterocolitica constitutes a new example for a type 10 secretion system to release bacterial toxins.

Mechanistic Insights into the Activities of Major Families of Enzymes in Bacterial Peptidoglycan Assembly and Breakdown

Serving as an exoskeletal scaffold, peptidoglycan is a polymeric macromolecule that is essential and conserved across all bacteria, yet is absent in mammalian cells; this has made bacterial peptidoglycan a well-established excellent antibiotic target. In addition, soluble peptidoglycan fragments derived from bacteria are increasingly recognised as key signalling molecules in mediating diverse intra- and inter-species communication in nature, including in gut microbiota-host crosstalk. Each bacterial species encodes multiple redundant enzymes for key enzymatic activities involved in peptidoglycan assembly and breakdown. In this review, we discuss recent findings on the biochemical activities of major peptidoglycan enzymes, including peptidoglycan glycosyltransferases (PGT) and transpeptidases (TPs) in the final stage of peptidoglycan assembly, as well as peptidoglycan glycosidases, lytic transglycosylase (LTs), amidases, endopeptidases (EPs) and carboxypeptidases (CPs) in peptidoglycan turnover and metabolism. Biochemical characterisation of these enzymes provides valuable insights into their substrate specificity, regulation mechanisms and potential modes of inhibition.

Occurrence and potential mechanism of holin-mediated non-lytic protein translocation in bacteria

Holins are generally believed to generate large membrane lesions that permit the passage of endolysins across the cytoplasmic membrane of prokaryotes, ultimately resulting in cell wall degradation and cell lysis. However, there are more and more examples known for non-lytic holin-dependent secretion of proteins by bacteria, indicating that holins somehow can transport proteins without causing large membrane lesions. Phage-derived holins can be used for a non-lytic endolysin translocation to permeabilize the cell wall for the passage of secreted proteins. In addition, clostridia, which do not possess the Tat pathway for transport of folded proteins, most likely employ non-lytic holin-mediated transport also for secretion of toxins and bacteriocins that are incompatible with the general Sec pathway. The mechanism for non-lytic holin-mediated transport is unknown, but the recent finding that the small holin TpeE mediates a non-lytic toxin secretion in Clostridium perfringens opened new perspectives. TpeE contains only one short transmembrane helix that is followed by an amphipathic helix, which is reminiscent of TatA, the membrane-permeabilizing component of the Tat translocon for folded proteins. Here we review the known cases of non-lytic holin-mediated transport and then focus on the structural and functional comparison of TatA and TpeE, resulting in a mechanistic model for holin-mediated transport. This model is strongly supported by a so far not recognized naturally occurring holin-endolysin fusion protein.

Bacterial AB toxins and host-microbe interactions

AB toxins are protein virulence factors secreted by many bacterial pathogens, contributing to the pathogenicity of the cognate bacteria. AB toxins consist of two functionally distinct components: the enzymatic "A" component for pathogenicity and the receptor-binding "B" component for toxin delivery. Consistently, unlike other virulence factors such as effectors, AB toxins do not require additional systems to deliver them to the target host cells. Target host cells are located in the infection site and/or located distantly from infected host cells. The first part of this review discusses the structural and functional features of single-peptide and multiprotein AB toxins in the context of host-microbe interactions, using several well-characterized examples. The second part of this review discusses toxin neutralization strategies, as well as applications of AB toxins relevant to developing intervention strategies against diseases.

Delivery, structure, and function of bacterial genotoxins

Bacterial genotoxins are peptide or protein virulence factors produced by several pathogens, which make single-strand breaks (SSBs) and/or double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) in the target host cells. If host DNA inflictions are not resolved on time, host cell apoptosis, cell senescence, and/or even bacterial pathogen-related cancer may occur. Two multi-protein AB toxins, cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) produced by over 30 bacterial pathogens and typhoid toxin from Salmonella Typhi, as well as small polyketide-peptides named colibactin that causes the DNA interstrand cross-linking and subsequent DSBs is the most well-characterized bacterial genotoxins. Using these three examples, this review discusses the mechanisms by which these toxins deliver themselves into the nucleus of the target host cells and exert their genotoxic functions at the structural and functional levels.

Typhoid toxin sorting and exocytic transport from Salmonella Typhi-infected cells

Typhoid toxin is an essential virulence factor for Salmonella Typhi, the cause of typhoid fever in humans. This toxin has an unusual biology in that it is produced by Salmonella Typhi only when located within host cells. Once synthesized, the toxin is secreted to the lumen of the Salmonella-containing vacuole from where it is transported to the extracellular space by vesicle carrier intermediates. Here, we report the identification of the typhoid toxin sorting receptor and components of the cellular machinery that packages the toxin into vesicle carriers, and exports it to the extracellular space. We found that the cation-independent mannose-6-phosphate receptor serves as typhoid toxin sorting receptor and that the coat protein COPII and the GTPase Sar1 mediate its packaging into vesicle carriers. Formation of the typhoid toxin carriers requires the specific environment of the Salmonella Typhi-containing vacuole, which is determined by the activities of specific effectors of its type III protein secretion systems. We also found that Rab11B and its interacting protein Rip11 control the intracellular transport of the typhoid toxin carriers, and the SNARE proteins VAMP7, SNAP23, and Syntaxin 4 their fusion to the plasma membrane. Typhoid toxin's cooption of specific cellular machinery for its transport to the extracellular space illustrates the remarkable adaptation of an exotoxin to exert its function in the context of an intracellular pathogen.

Molecular Insights into the Assembly and Functional Diversification of Typhoid Toxin

Typhoid toxin is an A₂B₅ protein toxin and an important virulence factor for the human-adapted bacterial pathogen Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, the causative agent of typhoid fever. Typhoid toxin contains two enzymatic subunits, PltA and CdtB, which dock onto a pentameric delivery platform composed of the protein PltB. It was recently reported that the same enzymatic subunits can assemble with a different delivery platform composed of the protein PltC, forming a distinct version of typhoid toxin. However, the differences in structure and receptor specificity between the PltC and PltB typhoid toxins remain unknown. Here, we determined atomic-level structures of the pentameric PltC subunit, the fully assembled PltC typhoid toxin, and the PltC pentamers in complex with glycan receptors. Biochemical and structural analyses indicate that PltB and PltC are unable to form heteromeric delivery complexes due to electrostatic repulsion at the subunit interface and thus form separate toxins only. We further observed that, despite low sequence similarity between PltB and PltC, they interact with PltA in a similar manner but that PltC exhibits stronger electrostatic interactions with PltA, enabling it to outcompete PltB in toxin assembly. The ligand-bound atomic structures of PltC show an additional glycan binding site not found in PltB and glycan array analysis indicates that PltB and PltC exhibit significant differences in glycan binding specificity. Collectively, this study offers atomic-level insights into how S. Typhi produces two distinct versions of typhoid toxin, thereby generating functional diversity in this key virulence factor. IMPORTANCE Typhoid fever is a devastating disease that kills more than 115,000 people every year and is caused by Salmonella Typhi. Typhoid toxin, exclusively produced by S. Typhi, was demonstrated to be responsible for the pathogenesis of typhoid fever. Typhoid toxin consists of a pentameric delivery B subunit to transport the catalytic A subunits into the host cell through binding of the glycan receptors. Recent study shows that S. Typhi encodes two homologous delivery B subunits that are able to associate with the same active subunits to produce alternative toxins with distinct functional characteristics. Here, we show that the two delivery subunits can form only homopentameric delivery platforms that compete to associate with typhoid toxin's active subunits and that the two resulting toxins have distinct glycan-binding properties that confer distinct functional traits. These findings highlight the unique assembly and functional diversification of typhoid toxins.

Curcumin Analogues as a Potential Drug against Antibiotic Resistant Protein, β-Lactamases and L, D-Transpeptidases Involved in Toxin Secretion in Salmonella typhi: A Computational Approach

Typhoid fever caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi gained resistance through multidrug-resistant S. typhi strains. One of the reasons behind β-lactam antibiotic resistance is -lactamase. L, D-Transpeptidases is responsible for typhoid fever as it is involved in toxin release that results in typhoid fever in humans. A molecular modeling study of these targeted proteins was carried out by various methods, such as homology modeling, active site prediction, prediction of disease-causing regions, and by analyzing the potential inhibitory activities of curcumin analogs by targeting these proteins to overcome the antibiotic resistance. The five potent drug candidate compounds were identified to be natural ligands that can inhibit those enzymes compared to controls in our research. The binding affinity of both the Go-Y032 and NSC-43319 were found against β-lactamase was −7.8 Kcal/mol in AutoDock, whereas, in SwissDock, the binding energy was −8.15 and −8.04 Kcal/mol, respectively. On the other hand, the Cyclovalone and NSC-43319 had an equal energy of −7.60 Kcal/mol in AutoDock, whereas −7.90 and −8.01 Kcal/mol in SwissDock against L, D-Transpeptidases. After the identification of proteins, the determination of primary and secondary structures, as well as the gene producing area and homology modeling, was accomplished. The screened drug candidates were further evaluated in ADMET, and pharmacological properties along with positive drug-likeness properties were observed for these ligand molecules. However, further in vitro and in vivo experiments are required to validate these in silico data to develop novel therapeutics against antibiotic resistance.

Complete Genome Sequence of Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Strain ISP2825

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi ISP2825, isolated in 1983 from a Chilean patient, is one of the major S. Typhi strains used for research, along with strains Ty2, CT18, and H58. The complete genome sequence of ISP2825, consisting of a 4,774,014-bp circular chromosome, will help us understand typhoid pathogenesis and evolution.

Structure and Function of the Autolysin SagA in the Type IV Secretion System of Brucella abortus

A recent genetic study with Brucella abortus revealed the secretion activator gene A (SagA) as an autolysin component creating pores in the peptidoglycan (PGN) layer for the type IV secretion system (T4SS) and peptidoglycan hydrolase inhibitor A (PhiA) as an inhibitor of SagA. In this study, we determined the crystal structures of both SagA and PhiA. Notably, the SagA structure contained a PGN fragment in a space between the N- and C-terminal domains, showing the substrate-dependent hinge motion of the domains. The purified SagA fully hydrolyzed the meso-diaminopimelic acid (DAP)-type PGN, showing a higher activity than hen egg-white lysozyme. The PhiA protein exhibiting tetrameric assembly failed to inhibit SagA activity in our experiments. Our findings provide implications for the molecular basis of the SagA-PhiA system of B. abortus. The development of inhibitors of SagA would further contribute to controlling brucellosis by attenuating the function of T4SS, the major virulence factor of Brucella.

LD-transpeptidases: the great unknown among the peptidoglycan cross-linkers

The peptidoglycan (PG) cell wall is an essential polymer for the shape and viability of bacteria. Its protective role is in great part provided by its mesh-like character. Therefore, PG-cross-linking enzymes like the penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are among the best targets for antibiotics. However, while PBPs have been in the spotlight for more than 50 years, another class of PG-cross-linking enzymes called LD-transpeptidases (LDTs) seemed to contribute less to PG synthesis and, thus, has kept an aura of mystery. In the last years, a number of studies have associated LDTs with cell wall adaptation to stress including β-lactam antibiotics, outer membrane stability, and toxin delivery, which has shed light onto the biological meaning of these proteins. Furthermore, as some species display a great abundance of LD-cross-links in their cell wall, it has been hypothesized that LDTs could also be the main synthetic PG-transpeptidases in some bacteria. In this review, we introduce these enzymes and their role in PG biosynthesis and we highlight the most recent advances in understanding their biological role in diverse species.

A holin/peptidoglycan hydrolase-dependent protein secretion system

Gram-negative bacteria have evolved numerous pathways to secrete proteins across their complex cell envelopes. Here, we describe a protein secretion system that uses a holin membrane protein in tandem with a cell wall-editing enzyme to mediate the secretion of substrate proteins from the periplasm to the cell exterior. The identity of the cell wall-editing enzymes involved was found to vary across biological systems. For instance, the chitinase secretion pathway of Serratia marcescens uses an endopeptidase to facilitate secretion, whereas the secretion of Typhoid toxin in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi relies on a muramidase. Various families of holins are also predicted to be involved. Genomic analysis indicates that this pathway is conserved and implicated in the secretion of hydrolytic enzymes and toxins for a range of bacteria. The pairing of holins from different families with various types of peptidoglycan hydrolases suggests that this secretion pathway evolved multiple times. We suggest that the complementary bodies of evidence presented is sufficient to propose that the pathway be named the Type 10 Secretion System (TXSS).