title: Interaction between FtsZ and FtsW of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: The recruitment of FtsZ to the septum and its subsequent interaction with other cell division proteins in a spatially and temporally controlled manner are the keys to bacterial cell division. In the present study, we have tested the hypothesis that FtsZ and FtsW of Mycobacterium tuberculosis could be binding partners. Using gel renaturation, pull-down, and solid-phase assays, we confirm that FtsZ and FtsW interact through their C-terminal tails, which carry extensions absent in their Escherichia coli counterparts. Crucial to these interactions is the cluster of aspartate residues Asp(367) to Asp(370) of FtsZ, which most likely interact with a cluster of positively charged residues in the C-terminal tail of FtsW. Mutations of the aspartate residues 367-370 showed that changing three aspartate residues to alanine resulted in complete loss of interaction. This is the first demonstration of the direct interaction between FtsZ and FtsW. We speculate that this interaction between FtsZ and FtsW could serve to anchor FtsZ to the membrane and link septum formation to peptidoglycan synthesis in M. tuberculosis. The findings assume particular significance in view of the global efforts to explore new targets in M. tuberculosis for chemotherapeutic intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Bose Institute, 93/1 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Road, Kolkata 700009, India.
authors.forename: Pratik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: Arunava
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dasgupta
authors.forename: Sanjib
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhakta
authors.forename: Joyoti
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Basu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; C071525:FtsZ protein, Bacteria; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C061684:FtsW protein, Bacteria