title: Recognition of peptidoglycan and β-lactam antibiotics by the extracellular domain of the Ser/Thr protein kinase StkP from Streptococcus pneumoniae.
abstract: The eukaryotic-type serine/threonine kinase StkP from Streptococcus pneumoniae is an important signal-transduction element that regulates the expression of numerous pneumococcal genes. We have expressed the extracellular C-terminal domain of StkP kinase (C-StkP), elaborated a three-dimensional structural model and performed a spectroscopical characterization of its structure and stability. Biophysical experiments show that C-StkP binds to synthetic samples of the cell wall peptidoglycan (PGN) and to β-lactam antibiotics, which mimic the terminal portions of the PGN stem peptide. This is the first experimental report on the recognition of a minimal PGN unit by a PASTA-containing kinase, suggesting that non-crosslinked PGN may act as a signal for StkP function and pointing to this protein as an interesting target for β-lactam antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular, Universidad Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain.
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maestro
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Novaková
authors.forename: Dusan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hesek
authors.forename: Mijoon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leyva
authors.forename: Shahriar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mobashery
authors.forename: Jesús M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Branny
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001665:Binding Sites; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000737:chemistry; D008958:Models, Molecular; D010457:Peptidoglycan / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D013057:Spectrum Analysis; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000201:enzymology*; D047090:beta-Lactams / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010457:Peptidoglycan; D047090:beta-Lactams; D017346:Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases