title: Uncovering new signaling proteins and potential drug targets through the interactome analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Analysis of the pathogen interactome is a powerful approach for dissecting potential signal transduction and virulence pathways. It also offers opportunities for exploring new drug targets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv was constructed using a homogenous protein mapping method, which has shown molecular chaperones, ribosomal proteins and ABC transporters to be highly interconnected proteins. A further analysis of this network unraveled the function of hypothetical proteins as well as a potential signaling pathway. A hypothetical protein, Rv2752c, which was linked to a metal cation-transporting ATPase, was characterized as a metal-beta-lactamase, through domain analysis in combination with an in vitro activity experiment. A second hypothetical protein, Rv1354c, and an unknown protein kinase, PknK, interacted with a similar group of inner membrane-associated ABC transporters in the PPI network. The interactions of Rv1354 with these proteins were also confirmed by a further bacterial two-hybrid analysis. According to protein domain structures, the unique M. tuberculosis Rv1354c gene was proposed, for the first time, to be responsible for the turnover of cyclic-di-GMP, a second messenger molecule in this bacterium. A further structure-based inhibitors screening for Rv1354c was also performed in silicon.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We constructed a comprehensive protein-protein interaction network for M. tuberculosis consisting of 738 proteins and 5639 interaction pairs. Our analysis unraveled the function of hypothetical proteins as well as a potential signaling pathway. The group of ABC transporters, PknK, and Rv1354c were proposed to constitute a potential membrane-associated signaling pathway that cooperatively responds to environmental stresses in M. tuberculosis. The study therefore provides valuable clues in exploring new signaling proteins, virulence pathways, and drug targets.
authors.affiliation: National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Center for Proteomics Research, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, PR China. wascm@webmail.hzau.edu.cn
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xizhou
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zheng-Guo
authors.initials: ZG
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019295:Computational Biology; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D025941:Protein Interaction Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D020543:Proteome / Q000235:genetics; D040901:Proteomics; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D001618:beta-Lactamases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; D001618:beta-Lactamases