title: The Yersinia adhesin YadA binds to a collagenous triple-helical conformation but without sequence specificity.
abstract: The Yersinia adhesin A (YadA) is a collagen-binding trimeric autotransporter of Yersinia enterocolitica, an enteropathogen that causes a range of gastroenteric and systemic diseases, and YadA is essential for Y. enterocolitica virulence. Although previous studies suggest a specific binding site in collagen for YadA, we found that recombinant YadA binds to both major cyanogen bromide fragments of collagen type II and the collagen-like model peptide (Pro-Hyp-Gly)(10) [(POG)(10)]. To further characterise the YadA-collagen interaction, we investigated the binding of YadA to (POG)(10) and three other model peptides, (Pro-Pro-Gly)(10) which lacks the hydroxyl groups of (POG)(10), T3-785 which contains a stretch of the collagen type III sequence and Gly(-) which is similar to (POG)(10) but lacks the central glycine. All the peptides except Gly(-) adopt a collagen-like triple-helical conformation at room temperature. All three triple-helical peptides bound to YadA, with (POG)(10) being the tightest, whereas binding of Gly(-) was hardly detectable. The affinity of (POG)(10) for YadA was 0.28 microM by isothermal titration calorimetry and 0.17 microM by surface plasmon resonance (SPR), similar to that of collagen type I. Our results show that a collagen-like triple-helical conformation, strengthened by the presence of hydroxyproline residues, is both necessary and sufficient for YadA binding.
authors.affiliation: Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography Group, Structural Biology and Biophysics, Haartman Institute and Laboratory Diagnostics, Helsinki University Central Hospital, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Jack C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Leo
authors.forename: Heli
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elovaara
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Brodsky
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Skurnik
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goldman
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D009154:Mutation; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D024043:Collagen Type II; D010455:Peptides; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C064832:YadA protein, Yersinia