Interaction of phospholipase A of the E. coli outer membrane with the inhibitors of eucaryotic phospholipases A2 and their effect on the Ca²âº-induced permeabilization of the bacterial membrane.

Phospholipase A of the bacterial outer membrane (OMPLA) is a ß-barrel membrane protein which is activated under various stress conditions. The current study examines interaction of inhibitors of eucaryotic phospholipases A2--palmitoyl trifluoromethyl ketone (PACOCF3) and aristolochic acid (AA)--with OMPLA and considers a possible involvement of the enzyme in the Ca²âº-dependent permeabilization of the outer membrane of Escherichia coli. Using the method of molecular docking, it has been predicted that PACOCF3 and AA bind to OMPLA at the same site and with the same affinity as the OMPLA inhibitors, hexadecanesulfonylfluoride and bromophenacyl bromide, and the substrate of the enzyme palmitoyl oleoyl phosphatidylethanolamine. It has also been shown that PACOCF3, AA, and bromophenacyl bromide inhibit the Ca²âº-induced temperature-dependent changes in the permeability of the bacterial membrane for the fluorescent probe propidium iodide and suppressed the transformation of E. coli cells with plasmid DNA induced by Ca²âº and heat shock. The cell viability was not affected by the eucaryotic phospholipases A2 inhibitors. The study discusses a possible involvement of OMPLA in the mechanisms of bacterial transmembrane transport based on the permeabilization of the bacterial outer membrane.