A virulence locus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa encodes a protein secretion apparatus.
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.
Mougous
Joseph D
JD
Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Cuff
Marianne E
ME
Raunser
Stefan
S
Shen
Aimee
A
Zhou
Min
M
Gifford
Casey A
CA
Goodman
Andrew L
AL
Joachimiak
Grazyna
G
Ordoñez
Claudia L
CL
Lory
Stephen
S
Walz
Thomas
T
Joachimiak
Andrzej
A
Mekalanos
John J
JJ
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
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; C507835:RetS protein, Pseudomonas aeruginosa