title: Crystal structure of the functional region of Uro-adherence factor A from Staphylococcus saprophyticus reveals participation of the B domain in ligand binding.
abstract: Staphylococci use cell wall-anchored proteins as adhesins to attach to host tissues. Staphylococcus saprophyticus, a uropathogenic species, has a unique cell wall-anchored protein, uro-adherence factor A (UafA), which shows erythrocyte binding activity. To investigate the mechanism of adhesion by UafA, we determined the crystal structure of the functional region of UafA at 1.5 Å resolution. The structure was composed of three domains, designated as the N2, N3, and B domains, arranged in a triangular relative configuration. Hemagglutination inhibition assay with domain-truncated mutants indicated that both N and B domains were necessary for erythrocyte binding. Based on these results, a novel manner of ligand binding in which the B domain acts as a functional domain was proposed as the adhesion mechanism of S. saprophyticus.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Life Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Eriko
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuroda
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shouji
authors.forename: Toshiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohta
authors.forename: Isao
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D006385:Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests; D008024:Ligands; D008958:Models, Molecular; D009154:Mutation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012756:Sheep; D057790:Staphylococcus saprophyticus / Q000737:chemistry*; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D008024:Ligands