Extending the aerolysin family: from bacteria to vertebrates

PLoS One. 2011;6(6):e20349. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0020349. Epub 2011 Jun 8.

Abstract

A number of bacterial virulence factors have been observed to adopt structures similar to that of aerolysin, the principal toxin of Aeromonas species. However, a comprehensive description of architecture and structure of the aerolysin-like superfamily has not been determined. In this study, we define a more compact aerolysin-like domain--or aerolysin fold--and show that this domain is far more widely spread than anticipated since it can be found throughout kingdoms. The aerolysin-fold could be found in very diverse domain and functional contexts, although a toxic function could often be assigned. Due to this diversity, the borders of the superfamily could not be set on a sequence level. As a border-defining member, we therefore chose pXO2-60--a protein from the pathogenic pXO2 plasmid of Bacillus anthracis. This fascinating protein, which harbors a unique ubiquitin-like fold domain at the C-terminus of the aerolysin-domain, nicely illustrates the diversity of the superfamily. Its putative role in the virulence of B. anthracis and its three dimensional model are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Bacteria*
  • Bacterial Toxins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Toxins / metabolism*
  • Conserved Sequence
  • Humans
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / chemistry*
  • Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / metabolism*
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Sequence Alignment
  • Species Specificity
  • Vertebrates*

Substances

  • Bacterial Toxins
  • Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins
  • aerolysin