title: Role of Escherichia coli curli operons in directing amyloid fiber formation.
abstract: Amyloid is associated with debilitating human ailments including Alzheimer's and prion diseases. Biochemical, biophysical, and imaging analyses revealed that fibers produced by Escherichia coli called curli were amyloid. The CsgA curlin subunit, purified in the absence of the CsgB nucleator, adopted a soluble, unstructured form that upon prolonged incubation assembled into fibers that were indistinguishable from curli. In vivo, curli biogenesis was dependent on the nucleation-precipitation machinery requiring the CsgE and CsgF chaperone-like and nucleator proteins, respectively. Unlike eukaryotic amyloid formation, curli biogenesis is a productive pathway requiring a specific assembly machinery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Microbiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, Box 8230, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Chapman
authors.forename: Lloyd S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.forename: Jerome S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Pinkner
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heuser
authors.forename: Marten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hammar
authors.forename: Staffan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Normark
authors.forename: Scott J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hultgren
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000682:Amyloid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D001704:Biopolymers; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D003224:Congo Red / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009154:Mutation; D009876:Operon; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D021122:Protein Subunits
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000682:Amyloid; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001704:Biopolymers; C109182:CsgB protein, E coli; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D021122:Protein Subunits; C489688:csgA protein, E coli; C077481:Crl protein, Bacteria; D003224:Congo Red