TriABC-OpmH is an efflux pump from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with an unusual substrate specificity and protein composition. When overexpressed, this pump confers a high level of resistance to the biocide triclosan and the detergent SDS, which are commonly used in combinations for antimicrobial treatments. This activity requires an RND transporter (TriC), an outer membrane channel (OpmH), and two periplasmic membrane fusion proteins (TriA and TriB) with nonequivalent functions. In the active complex, TriA is responsible for the recruitment of OpmH, while TriB is responsible for stimulation of the transporter TriC. Here, we used the functional and structural differences between the two membrane fusion proteins to link their functional roles to specific interactions with OpmH. Our results provide evidence that the TriB-dependent stimulation of the TriC transporter is coupled to opening of the OpmH aperture through binding to the interprotomer groove of OpmH.
IMPORTANCEMultidrug efflux transporters are important contributors to intrinsic and acquired antibiotic resistance in clinics. In Gram-negative bacteria, these transporters have a characteristic tripartite architecture spanning the entire two-membrane cell envelope. How such complexes are assembled and how the reactions separated in two different membranes are coupled to provide efficient efflux of various compounds across the cell envelope remain unclear. This study addressed these questions, and the results suggest a mechanism for functional integration of drug efflux by the inner membrane transporter and opening of the channel for transport across the outer membrane.
In Gram-negative bacteria, polyspecific transporters detoxify the inner membrane and periplasm of noxious compounds and contribute to clinical antibiotic resistance (1). A characteristic structural feature of these transporters is the formation of tripartite complexes spanning both the inner and outer membranes of Gram-negative cell envelopes. Located in the outer membrane are proteins belonging to the outer membrane factor (OMF) family that act as channels for substrate expulsion across the low-permeability barrier of the outer membrane. OMFs show very little sequence similarity to one another but are structurally similar (2). OMF structures comprise both a -barrel domain, a common structural feature of other outer membrane proteins, and a large ␣-helical barrel (3) (Fig. 1A). The periplasmic tip of the ␣-helical barrel converges to form a closed aperture that prevents leakage of the periplasmic content and uptake of various molecules from the external medium (Fig. 1B). Large extracellular loops on the external side of the -barrel domain also help with blocking noxious chemicals from entering the cell. At the aperture, a series of ionic bridges act as the locking gate of the aperture and disruption of these causes a "leaky" phenotype (4, 5). A secondary gate of aspartate or, in a few cases, a ring of hydrophobic residues acts additionally to keep the aperture locked.In the resting state,...