title: New insight into transmembrane topology of Staphylococcus aureus histidine kinase AgrC.
abstract: Staphylococcus aureus accessory gene regulator (agr) locus controls the expression of virulence factors through a classical two-component signal transduction system that consists of a receptor histidine protein kinase AgrC and a cytoplasmic response regulator AgrA. An autoinducing peptide (AIP) encoded by agr locus activates AgrC, which transduces extracellular signals into the cytoplasm. Despite extensive investigations to identify AgrC-AIP interaction sites, precise signal recognition mechanisms remain unknown. This study aims to clarify the membrane topology of AgrC by applying the green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion technique and the substituted cysteine accessibility method (SCAM). However, our findings were inconsistent with profile obtained previously by alkaline phosphatase. We report the topology of AgrC shows seven transmembrane segments, a periplasmic N-terminus, and a cytoplasmic C-terminus.
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457 Zhong-shan Road, Dalian 116023, China. Electronic address: wanglina.gucas@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China; The State Ethnic Affairs Commission-Ministry of Education, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China. Electronic address: mikyeken@dlnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Chunshan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China; The State Ethnic Affairs Commission-Ministry of Education, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China. Electronic address: xiongwen-jan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China; The State Ethnic Affairs Commission-Ministry of Education, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China. Electronic address: qxj1229@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Xiaojing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China; The State Ethnic Affairs Commission-Ministry of Education, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China. Electronic address: fsd@dlnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shengdi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, Dalian Nationalities University, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China; The State Ethnic Affairs Commission-Ministry of Education, Economical and Technological Development Zone, Dalian 116600, China. Electronic address: hwz@dlnu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Wenzhong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019943:Amino Acid Substitution; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism*; D003545:Cysteine / Q000378:metabolism*; D005453:Fluorescence; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; C531166:AgrC protein, Staphylococcus; D003545:Cysteine
keywords: AgrC; GFP; SCAM; Staphylococcus aureus; Topology