First structure of the polymyxin resistance proteins

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2007 Oct 5;361(4):1033-7. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2007.07.144. Epub 2007 Aug 2.

Abstract

PmrA/PmrB and PhoP/PhoQ are a pair of two-component systems (TCSs) that allow the Gram-negative bacteria to survive the cationic antimicrobial peptide polymyxin B. The two TCSs are linked by the polymyxin resistance protein, PmrD. The PhoP-activated PmrD protects the phosphorylated response regulator PmrA from dephosphorylation, and promotes the transcription of PmrA-activated genes responsible for polymyxin resistance. PmrD is the first protein identified to mediate the connectivity between two TCSs by protecting the phosphorylated response regulator of the downstream TCS. PmrD shows no homology to proteins with known structures. We present here the solution structure of PmrD from Escherichia coli, the first three-dimensional structure of the PmrD family. Our study provides the structural basis of the novel interacting mechanism of bacterial two-component signal-transduction systems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial
  • Escherichia coli / drug effects
  • Escherichia coli Proteins / chemistry*
  • Models, Molecular*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Biomolecular
  • Polymyxins / pharmacology
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Static Electricity

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Escherichia coli Proteins
  • PmrD protein, E coli
  • Polymyxins
  • pmrA protein, Bacteria