Mycobacterium tuberculosis Requires Phosphate-Responsive Gene Regulation To Resist Host Immunity

bThe EspA protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is essential for the type VII ESX-1 protein secretion apparatus, which delivers the principal virulence factors ESAT-6 and CFP-10. In this study, site-directed mutagenesis of EspA was performed to elucidate its influence on the ESX-1 system. Replacing Trp 55 (W55) or Gly 57 (G57) residues in the putative W-X-G motif of EspA with arginines impaired ESAT-6 and CFP-10 secretion in vitro and attenuated M. tuberculosis. Replacing the Phe 50 (F50) and Lys 62 (K62) residues, which flank the W-X-G motif, with arginine and alanine, respectively, destabilized EspA, abolished ESAT-6 and CFP-10 secretion in vitro, and attenuated M. tuberculosis. Likewise, replacing the Phe 5 (F5) and Lys 41 (K41) residues with arginine and alanine, respectively, also destabilized EspA and blocked ESAT-6 and CFP-10 secretion in vitro. However, these two particular mutations did not attenuate M. tuberculosis in cellular models of infection or during acute infection in mice. We have thus identified amino acid residues in EspA that are important for facilitating ESAT-6 and CFP-10 secretion and virulence. However, our data also indicate for the first time that blockage of M. tuberculosis ESAT-6 and CFP-10 secretion in vitro and attenuation are mutually exclusive.

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“…6B). In contrast, an isogenic pstA1 null mutant known to be hypersensitive to SDS (37) grew poorly in the presence of the detergent (Fig. 6B).…”

Section: Enzymes and Reagentsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Phenotypic Profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis EspA Point Mutants Reveals that Blockage of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 Secretion In Vitro Does Not Always Correlate with Attenuation of Virulence

et al. 2013

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“…The M. tuberculosis phosphate starvation-responsive signal transduction system Pst/SenX3-RegX3 is a transcriptional regulatory system that is required for resistance to host immune defenses (33). The SenX3-RegX3 two-component system normally is activated by inorganic phosphate (P i ) starvation.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Resists Stress by Regulating PE19 Expression

et al. 2016

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cMycobacterium tuberculosis requires the phosphate-sensing signal transduction system Pst/SenX3-RegX3 to resist host immune responses. A ⌬pstA1 mutant lacking a Pst phosphate uptake system component is hypersensitive to diverse stress conditions in vitro and is attenuated in vivo due to constitutive expression of the phosphate starvation-responsive RegX3 regulon. Transcriptional profiling of the ⌬pstA1 mutant revealed aberrant expression of certain pe and ppe genes. PE and PPE proteins, defined by conserved N-terminal domains containing Pro-Glu (PE) or Pro-Pro-Glu (PPE) motifs, account for a substantial fraction of the M. tuberculosis genome coding capacity, but their functions are largely uncharacterized. Because some PE and PPE proteins localize to the cell wall, we hypothesized that overexpression of these proteins sensitizes M. tuberculosis to stress by altering cell wall integrity. To test this idea, we deleted pe and ppe genes that were overexpressed by ⌬pstA1 bacteria. Deletion of a single pe gene, pe19, suppressed hypersensitivity of the ⌬pstA1 mutant to both detergent and reactive oxygen species. Ethidium bromide uptake assays revealed increased envelope permeability of the ⌬pstA1 mutant that was dependent on PE19. The replication defect of the ⌬pstA1 mutant in NOS2 ؊/؊ mice was partially reversed by deletion of pe19, suggesting that increased membrane permeability due to PE19 overexpression sensitizes M. tuberculosis to host immunity. Our data indicate that PE19, which comprises only a 99-amino-acid PE domain, has a unique role in the permeability of the M. tuberculosis envelope that is regulated to resist stresses encountered in the host. O ver 15 years ago, the novel PE and PPE protein families were identified in the complete genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; together, these proteins represent over 7% of the genome coding capacity (1). Despite the attention placed on these protein families, their functions remain largely uncharacterized. PE and PPE proteins are defined by conserved N-terminal domains of ϳ110 or ϳ180 amino acids that contain Pro-Glu (PE) or Pro-Pro-Glu (PPE) sequence motifs, respectively (1). Although PE and PPE proteins can be identified in the genomes of all sequenced members of the Mycobacterium genus, their expansion into large multiprotein families is restricted to the slow-growing pathogenic mycobacterial species, including M. tuberculosis, and associated with the expansion of the ESX type VII secretion systems (2). There is evidence that some PE and PPE proteins are exported to the bacterial cell surface or extracellular milieu in an ESX-dependent manner (3-6). ESX-dependent export requires specific sequences within the PE or PPE domain (7, 8), including a recently described YxxxD/E ESX secretion targeting motif located near the C terminus of the ϳ110-amino-acid PE domain (9).The 99 PE proteins and 69 PPE proteins encoded by the M. tuberculosis H37Rv genome can be further divided into subfamilies based on C-terminal sequence motifs (2). The PE_PGRS (polymorphic GC-...

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“…So these findings suggest a strong link between the stringent response and capsular ␣-glucan up-regulation in M. tuberculosis. Interestingly, inactivation of the Pst system is associated with immune modulation and reduced virulence of M. tuberculosis in mice (34,35). This effect might be due to high capsular ␣-glucan levels, which have also been associated with immunomodulation, in these strains (11,13,14,33).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inorganic Phosphate Limitation Modulates Capsular Polysaccharide Composition in Mycobacteria

Weerd

Boot

Maaskant

et al. 2016

Journal of Biological Chemistry

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis is protected by an unusual and highly impermeable cell envelope that is critically important for the successful colonization of the host. The outermost surface of this cell envelope is formed by capsular polysaccharides that play an important role in modulating the initial interactions once the bacillus enters the body. Although the bioenzymatic steps involved in the production of the capsular polysaccharides are emerging, information regarding the ability of the bacterium to modulate the composition of the capsule is still unknown. Here, we study the mechanisms involved in regulation of mycobacterial capsule biosynthesis using a high throughput screen for gene products involved in capsular ␣-glucan production. Utilizing this approach we identified a group of mutants that all carried mutations in the ATP-binding cassette phosphate transport locus pst. These mutants collectively exhibited a strong overproduction of capsular polysaccharides, including ␣-glucan and arabinomannan, suggestive of a role for inorganic phosphate (P i ) metabolism in modulating capsular polysaccharide production. These findings were corroborated by the observation that growth under low P i conditions as well as chemical activation of the stringent response induces capsule production in a number of mycobacterial species. This induction is, in part, dependent on factor E. Finally, we show that Mycobacterium marinum, a model organism for M. tuberculosis, encounters P i stress during infection, which shows the relevance of our findings in vivo.

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis Requires Phosphate-Responsive Gene Regulation To Resist Host Immunity

Cited by 64 publications

References 45 publications

Phenotypic Profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis EspA Point Mutants Reveals that Blockage of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 Secretion In Vitro Does Not Always Correlate with Attenuation of Virulence

Phenotypic Profiling of Mycobacterium tuberculosis EspA Point Mutants Reveals that Blockage of ESAT-6 and CFP-10 Secretion In Vitro Does Not Always Correlate with Attenuation of Virulence

Mycobacterium tuberculosis Resists Stress by Regulating PE19 Expression

Inorganic Phosphate Limitation Modulates Capsular Polysaccharide Composition in Mycobacteria

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