title: Brucella TIR Domain-containing Protein Mimics Properties of the Toll-like Receptor Adaptor Protein TIRAP.
abstract: Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play essential roles in the activation of innate immune responses against microbial infections. TLRs and downstream adaptor molecules contain a conserved cytoplasmic TIR domain. TIRAP is a TIR domain-containing adaptor protein that recruits the signaling adaptor MyD88 to a subset of TLRs. Many pathogenic microorganisms subvert TLR signaling pathways to suppress host immune responses to benefit their survival and persistence. Brucella encodes a TIR domain-containing protein (TcpB) that inhibits TLR2- and TLR4-mediated NF-kappaB activation. Sequence analysis indicated a moderate level of similarity between TcpB and the TLR adaptor molecule TIRAP. We found that TcpB could efficiently block TIRAP-induced NF-kappaB activation. Subsequent studies revealed that by analogy to TIRAP, TcpB interacts with phosphoinositides through its N-terminal domain and colocalizes with the plasma membrane and components of the cytoskeleton. Our findings suggest that TcpB targets the TIRAP-mediated pathway to subvert TLR signaling. In vivo mouse studies indicated that TcpB-deficient Brucella is defective in systemic spread at the early stages of infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Girish K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Radhakrishnan
authors.forename: Qiqi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Jerome S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.forename: Gary A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Splitter
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D002002:Brucella / Q000378:metabolism*; D002460:Cell Line; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism*; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols / Q000737:chemistry; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D017472:Receptors, Interleukin-1 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000502:physiology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; D016328:NF-kappa B; D010716:Phosphatidylinositols; D017472:Receptors, Interleukin-1; C434984:TIRAP protein, human; C499045:TIRAP protein, mouse