Sortase A substrate specificity in GBS pilus 2a cell wall anchoring

PLoS One. 2011;6(10):e25300. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0025300. Epub 2011 Oct 4.

Abstract

Streptococcus agalactiae, also referred to as Group B Streptococcus (GBS), is one of the most common causes of life-threatening bacterial infections in infants. In recent years cell surface pili have been identified in several Gram-positive bacteria, including GBS, as important virulence factors and promising vaccine candidates. In GBS, three structurally distinct types of pili have been discovered (pilus 1, 2a and 2b), whose structural subunits are assembled in high-molecular weight polymers by specific class C sortases. In addition, the highly conserved housekeeping sortase A (SrtA), whose main role is to link surface proteins to bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan by a transpeptidation reaction, is also involved in pili cell wall anchoring in many bacteria. Through in vivo mutagenesis, we demonstrate that the LPXTG sorting signal of the minor ancillary protein (AP2) is essential for pilus 2a anchoring. We successfully produced a highly purified recombinant SrtA (SrtA(ΔN40)) able to specifically hydrolyze the sorting signal of pilus 2a minor ancillary protein (AP2-2a) and catalyze in vitro the transpeptidation reaction between peptidoglycan analogues and the LPXTG motif, using both synthetic fluorescent peptides and recombinant proteins. By contrast, SrtA(ΔN40) does not catalyze the transpeptidation reaction with substrate-peptides mimicking sorting signals of the other pilus 2a subunits (the backbone protein and the major ancillary protein). Thus, our results add further insight into the proposed model of GBS pilus 2a assembly, in which SrtA is required for pili cell wall covalent attachment, acting exclusively on the minor accessory pilin, representing the terminal subunit located at the base of the pilus.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Aminoacyltransferases / chemistry
  • Aminoacyltransferases / metabolism*
  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Biocatalysis
  • Cell Wall / metabolism*
  • Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid
  • Chromatography, Reverse-Phase
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases / chemistry
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases / metabolism*
  • Fimbriae, Bacterial / metabolism*
  • Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Hydrolases / metabolism
  • Kinetics
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Mutant Proteins / chemistry
  • Mutant Proteins / metabolism
  • Mutation / genetics
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Peptidyl Transferases / metabolism
  • Protein Sorting Signals
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
  • Streptococcus agalactiae / cytology*
  • Streptococcus agalactiae / enzymology*
  • Subcellular Fractions / metabolism
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Mutant Proteins
  • Peptides
  • Protein Sorting Signals
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Aminoacyltransferases
  • sortase A
  • Peptidyl Transferases
  • Hydrolases
  • Cysteine Endopeptidases