title: A virulence locus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a protein secretion apparatus.
abstract: Bacterial pathogens frequently use protein secretion to mediate interactions with their hosts. Here we found that a virulence locus (HSI-I) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a protein secretion apparatus. The apparatus assembled in discrete subcellular locations and exported Hcp1, a hexameric protein that forms rings with a 40 angstrom internal diameter. Regulatory patterns of HSI-I suggested that the apparatus functions during chronic infections. We detected Hcp1 in pulmonary secretions of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients and Hcp1-specific antibodies in their sera. Thus, HSI-I likely contributes to the pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa in CF patients. HSI-I-related loci are widely distributed among bacterial pathogens and may play a general role in mediating host interactions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Mougous
authors.forename: Marianne E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cuff
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raunser
authors.forename: Aimee
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Casey A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gifford
authors.forename: Andrew L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Grazyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Joachimiak
authors.forename: Claudia L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Ordoñez
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lory
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Walz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Joachimiak
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mekalanos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D051381:Rats; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C507835:RetS protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa