Mycobacterium tuberculosis synthesizes specific polyketide lipids that interact with the host and are required for virulence. Using a mass spectrometric approach to simultaneously monitor hundreds of lipids, we discovered that the size and abundance of two lipid virulence factors, phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM) and sulfolipid-1 (SL-1), are controlled by the availability of a common precursor, methyl malonyl CoA (MMCoA). Consistent with this view, increased levels of MMCoA led to increased abundance and mass of both PDIM and SL-1. Furthermore, perturbation of MMCoA metabolism attenuated pathogen replication in mice. Importantly, we detected increased PDIM synthesis in bacteria growing within host tissues and in bacteria grown in culture on odd-chain fatty acids. Because M. tuberculosis catabolizes host lipids to grow during infection, we propose that growth of M. tuberculosis on fatty acids in vivo leads to increased flux of MMCoA through lipid biosynthetic pathways, resulting in increased virulence lipid synthesis. Our results suggest that the shift to host lipid catabolism during infection allows for increased virulence lipid anabolism by the bacterium.lipid virulence factor ͉ metabolic flux ͉ pathogenesis ͉ PDIM ͉ sulfolipid-1

pathogenesis ͉ biochemistry ͉ glycolipid ͉ sulfation T he thick Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) cell wall consists of numerous glycolipids that are distinctive to the mycobacterial genus, including phosphatidylinositol mannosides, trehalose mycolates, and lipoarabinomannans (1). These molecules are essential for many of the characteristics that distinguish mycobacterial pathogenesis, such as the inhibition of phagosomal maturation, drug resistance, and alteration of the host immune response (2-6). A family of cell surface sulfated lipids (dubbed sulfatides) were identified in M. tb extracts and correlated to strain virulence (7-9). The most abundant sulfatide, termed Sulfolipid-1 (SL-1), consists of a trehalose core, four fatty acyl groups, and a sulfate ester (Fig. 1A) (10-13). Despite the discovery of SL-1 nearly 50 years ago, the biological function of the molecule is not known. Conflicting reports suggest a role for SL-1 in superoxide (O 2 Ϫ ) release from human neutrophils or monocytes, alteration of trehalose dimycolate toxicity, and inhibition of trehalose dimycolate-induced macrophage recruitment (14-19). The relevance of these studies to the physiological role of SL-1 in M. tb infection is debatable.Although the role of SL-1 remains elusive, advances in genetics and metabolite analysis have sped the discovery of genes, proteins, and intermediates associated with SL-1 biosynthesis (20). Currently, three proteins are known to be involved in SL-1 assembly: Stf0, Pks2, and MmpL8. The sulfotransferase Stf0 sulfates trehalose at the 2-position, forming trehalose-2-sulfate (T2S), thereby initiating SL-1 biosynthesis (21). Meanwhile, the polyketide synthase Pks2 synthesizes the phthioceranoyl and hydroxyphthioceranoyl lipids that occupy the 6-, 6Ј-, and 3Ј-positions of SL-1 (Fig. 1 A) (22). The proteins responsible for transfer of the Pks2 products and the palmitoyl group to the T2S core, and the order in which these lipids are added, have not yet been defined.Insight into the order of lipid addition came from characterization of the putative lipid transporter MmpL8 (23,24). A mutant strain, ⌬mmpL8, lacks SL-1 but accumulates the diacylated intermediate SL 1278 (named for its observed mass) inside the cell (Fig. 1B). This intermediate possesses two of the four SL-1-associated lipids: a hydroxyphthioceranoyl group at the 3Ј-position and a palmitoyl group at the 2Ј-position (24). SL 1278 was recently found to be an immunostimulant in human tuberculosis patients (25). The glycolipid is presented on the surface of M. tb-infected antigen-presenting cells by CD1b, a member of the MHC class I-like CD1 family. Intriguingly, the ⌬mmpL8 mutant, which lacks SL-1 but accumulates SL 1278 , shows attenuated virulence in mice (23,24). By contrast, a ⌬pks2 mutant, which lacks both SL-1 and SL 1278 , is indistinguishable from WT M. tb in mice and guinea pigs (23,26). These observations suggest that SL 1278 , and possibly other SL-1 intermediates, modulate M. tb pathogenesis.In our effort to define the functions of M. tb sulf...

Virulent mycobacteria utilize surface-exposed polyketides to interact with host cells, but the mechanism by which these hydrophobic molecules are transported across the cell envelope to the surface of the bacteria is poorly understood. Phthiocerol dimycocerosate (PDIM), a surface-exposed polyketide lipid necessary for Mycobacterium tuberculosis virulence, is the product of several polyketide synthases including PpsE. Transport of PDIM requires MmpL7, a member of the MmpL family of RND permeases. Here we show that a domain of MmpL7 biochemically interacts with PpsE, the first report of an interaction between a biosynthetic enzyme and its cognate transporter. Overexpression of the interaction domain of MmpL7 acts as a dominant negative to PDIM synthesis by poisoning the interaction between synthase and transporter. This suggests that MmpL7 acts in complex with the synthesis machinery to efficiently transport PDIM across the cell membrane. Coordination of synthesis and transport may not only be a feature of MmpL-mediated transport in M. tuberculosis, but may also represent a general mechanism of polyketide export in many different microorganisms.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the causative agent of tuberculosis, is a highly evolved human pathogen characterized by its formidable cell wall. Many unique lipids and glycolipids from the Mtb cell wall are thought to be virulence factors that mediate host–pathogen interactions. An intriguing example is Sulfolipid-1 (SL-1), a sulfated glycolipid that has been implicated in Mtb pathogenesis, although no direct role for SL-1 in virulence has been established. Previously, we described the biochemical activity of the sulfotransferase Stf0 that initiates SL-1 biosynthesis. Here we show that a stf0 -deletion mutant exhibits augmented survival in human but not murine macrophages, suggesting that SL-1 negatively regulates the intracellular growth of Mtb in a species-specific manner. Furthermore, we demonstrate that SL-1 plays a role in mediating the susceptibility of Mtb to a human cationic antimicrobial peptide in vitro , despite being dispensable for maintaining overall cell envelope integrity. Thus, we hypothesize that the species-specific phenotype of the stf0 mutant is reflective of differences in antimycobacterial effector mechanisms of macrophages.

Sulfated molecules have been shown to modulate isotypic interactions between cells of metazoans and heterotypic interactions between bacterial pathogens or symbionts and their eukaryotic host cells. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, produces sulfated molecules that have eluded functional characterization for decades. We demonstrate here that a previously uncharacterized sulfated molecule, termed S881, is localized to the outer envelope of M. tuberculosis and negatively regulates the virulence of the organism in two mouse infection models. Furthermore, we show that the biosynthesis of S881 relies on the universal sulfate donor 3 -phosphoadenosine-5 -phosphosulfate and a previously uncharacterized sulfotransferase, stf3. These findings extend the known functions of sulfated molecules as general modulators of cell-cell interactions to include those between a bacterium and a human host.Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance ͉ hypervirulent ͉ sulfate assimilation ͉ kinase ͉ adenosine-5-phosphosulfate A wide variety of organisms use sulfated molecules to control extracellular events. In mammals, sulfation of tyrosine residues on cell surface proteins is important for the interactions of chemokines with certain chemokine receptors, and for viral binding and entry (1-6). Sulfated glycans modulate processes such as leukocyte homing to lymph nodes, clearance of serum glycoproteins, and blood coagulation (7-9). Members of the glypican family that are modified with sulfated glycosaminoglycans guide organ development in Drosophila by maintaining a morphogen concentration gradient (10).In bacteria, sulfated glycolipids have been shown to serve as extracellular signaling molecules (11). The nitrogen fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti secretes the nodulation factor NodRm-1, a tetrasaccharide bearing both sulfate and lipid modifications (12). This molecule binds a receptor on the host plant, normally alfalfa, and induces root nodule formation. The sulfate group is critical for the function of NodRm-1, because the unsulfated form fails to induce root nodulation in alfalfa. In the rice blight-causing pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae, several genes involved in the synthesis of sulfated metabolites have been identified as avirulence factors with respect to certain host strains (13,14). These examples suggest that bacterial sulfated metabolites can participate in dialogue with eukaryotic hosts, analogous to their role in mammalian cell-cell communication.Mycobacteria produce an unusually complex array of sulfated structures (11). Sulfolipid-1 (SL-1), an abundant component of the cell envelope of M. tuberculosis, is the best characterized of these molecules. SL-1 has generated much interest because of its elaborate structure and the observation that its abundance correlates with strain virulence (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). Advances in M. tuberculosis genetics and genome sequence data facilitated several contemporary studies that addressed aspects of the biosynthesis and the function of SL-1 in v...