title: NemR is a bleach-sensing transcription factor.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about how bacteria sense or respond to reactive chlorine species, such as bleach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  NemR is a redox-regulated transcription factor which senses bleach.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NemR controls expression of genes encoding electrophile detoxification enzymes, which increase bleach resistance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrate a bleach-sensing bacterial response system and a new mechanism contributing to bacterial bleach survival. Hypochlorous acid (HOCl), the active component of household bleach, also functions as a powerful antimicrobial during the innate immune response. Despite its widespread use, surprisingly little is known about how cells sense or respond to HOCl. We now demonstrate that Escherichia coli NemR is a redox-regulated transcriptional repressor, which uses the oxidation status of HOCl-sensitive cysteine residues to respond to bleach and related reactive chlorine species. NemR controls bleach-mediated expression of two enzymes required for detoxification of reactive electrophiles: glyoxalase I and N-ethylmaleimide reductase. Both enzymes contribute to bacterial bleach survival. These results provide evidence that bleach resistance relies on the capacity of organisms to specifically sense reactive chlorine species and respond with the up-regulation of enzymes dedicated to detoxification of methylglyoxal and other reactive electrophiles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gray
authors.forename: Wei-Yun
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Wholey
authors.forename: Benjamin W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Parker
authors.forename: Minwook
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Ursula
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Jakob
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D003545:Cysteine / Q000737:chemistry; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D006997:Hypochlorous Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016877:Oxidants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011485:Protein Binding / Q000187:drug effects; D017433:Protein Structure, Secondary; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004202:Disinfectants; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C531319:NemR protein, E coli; D016877:Oxidants; D014157:Transcription Factors; D006997:Hypochlorous Acid; D003545:Cysteine
keywords: Bacteria; Gene Expression; GloA; Hypochlorous Acid; NemR; Oxidative Stress; Reactive Chlorine Species; Redox Regulation; Transcription Repressor
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