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Title: PilN binding modulates the structure and binding partners of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IVa pilus protein PilM

Journal Article · · Journal of Biological Chemistry
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [2];  [4];  [4];  [4];  [5];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada); Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON (Canada)
  2. Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON (Canada)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  4. Univ. of Toronto, Toronto, ON (Canada)
  5. McMaster Univ., Hamilton, ON (Canada); Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON (Canada)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that expresses type IVa pili. The pilus assembly system, which promotes surface-associated twitching motility and virulence, is composed of inner and outer membrane subcomplexes, connected by an alignment subcomplex composed of PilMNOP. PilM binds to the N terminus of PilN, and we hypothesize that this interaction causes functionally significant structural changes in PilM. To characterize this interaction, we determined the crystal structures of PilM and a PilM chimera where PilM was fused to the first 12 residues of PilN (PilM·PilN(1–12)). Structural analysis, multiangle light scattering coupled with size exclusion chromatography, and bacterial two-hybrid data revealed that PilM forms dimers mediated by the binding of a novel conserved motif in the N terminus of PilM, and binding PilN abrogates this binding interface, resulting in PilM monomerization. Structural comparison of PilM with PilM·PilN(1–12) revealed that upon PilN binding, there is a large domain closure in PilM that alters its ATP binding site. Using biolayer interferometry, we found that the association rate of PilN with PilM is higher in the presence of ATP compared with ADP. Bacterial two-hybrid data suggested the connectivity of the cytoplasmic and inner membrane components of the type IVa pilus machinery in P. aeruginosa, with PilM binding to PilB, PilT, and PilC in addition to PilN. Pull-down experiments demonstrated direct interactions of PilM with PilB and PilT. As a result, we propose a working model in which dynamic binding of PilN facilitates functionally relevant structural changes in PilM.

Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC00112704
OSTI ID:
1340346
Report Number(s):
BNL-112064-2016-JA
Journal Information:
Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 291, Issue 21; ISSN 0021-9258
Publisher:
American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular BiologyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 29 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (11)

The traffic ATPase PilF interacts with the inner membrane platform of the DNA translocator and type IV pili from Thermus thermophilus journal November 2018
The type IV pilus protein PilU functions as a PilT-dependent retraction ATPase journal September 2019
PilT and PilU are homohexameric ATPases that coordinate to retract type IVa pili journal October 2019
Multiple conformations facilitate PilT function in the type IV pilus journal November 2019
Recent perspectives on the molecular basis of biofilm formation by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and approaches for treatment and biofilm dispersal journal January 2018
The Conserved Tetratricopeptide Repeat-Containing C-Terminal Domain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa FimV Is Required for Its Cyclic AMP-Dependent and -Independent Functions journal June 2016
Interaction of the cyclic-di-GMP binding protein FimX and the Type 4 pilus assembly ATPase promotes pilus assembly journal August 2017
Conserved, unstructured regions in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PilO are important for type IVa pilus function journal February 2018
The molecular mechanism of the type IVa pilus motors posted_content October 2016
Reconstitution of a minimal machinery capable of assembling periplasmic type IV pili journal June 2017
The molecular mechanism of the type IVa pilus motors journal May 2017