Quantitative monitoring of His and Asp phosphorylation in a bacterial signaling system by using Phos-tag Magenta/Cyan fluorescent dyes.

In the bacterial signaling mechanisms known as two-component systems (TCSs), signals are generally conveyed by means of a His-Asp phosphorelay. Each system consists of a histidine kinase (HK) and its cognate response regulator. Because of the labile nature of phosphorylated His and Asp residues, few approaches are available that permit a quantitative analysis of their phosphorylation status. Here, we show that the Phos-tag dye technology is suitable for the fluorescent detection of His- and Asp-phosphorylated proteins separated by SDS-PAGE. The dynamics of the His-Asp phosphorelay of recombinant EnvZ-OmpR, a TCS derived from Escherichia coli, were examined by SDS-PAGE followed by simple rapid staining with Phos-tag Magenta fluorescent dye. The technique permitted not only the quantitative monitoring of the autophosphorylation reactions of EnvZ and OmpR in the presence of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) or acetyl phosphate, respectively, but also that of the phosphotransfer reaction from EnvZ to OmpR, which occurs within 1 min in the presence of ATP. Furthermore, we demonstrate profiling of waldiomycin, an HK inhibitor, by using the Phos-tag Cyan gel staining. We believe that the Phos-tag dye technology provides a simple and convenient fluorometric approach for screening of HK inhibitors that have potential as new antimicrobial agents.

A connecter-like factor, CacA, links RssB/RpoS and the CpxR/CpxA two-component system in Salmonella.

BACKGROUND: Bacteria integrate numerous environmental stimuli when generating cellular responses. Increasing numbers of examples describe how one two-component system (TCS) responds to signals detected by the sensor of another TCS. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain poorly defined. RESULTS: Here, we report a connector-like factor that affects the activity of the CpxR/CpxA two-component system in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. We isolated a clone that induced the expression of a cpxP-lac gene fusion from a high-copy-number plasmid pool of random Salmonella genomic fragments. A 63-amino acid protein, CacA, was responsible for the CpxA/CpxR-dependent activation of the cpxP gene. The CpxR-activated genes cpxP and spy exhibited approximately 30% and 50% reductions in transcription, respectively, in a clean cacA deletion mutant strain in comparison to wild-type. From 33 response regulator (RR) deletion mutants, we identified that the RssB regulator represses cacA transcription. Substitution mutations in a conserved -10 region harboring the RNA polymerase recognition sequence, which is well conserved with a known RpoS -10 region consensus sequence, rendered the cacA promoter RpoS-independent. The CacA-mediated induction of cpxP transcription was affected in a trxA deletion mutant, which encodes thioredoxin 1, suggesting a role for cysteine thiol-disulfide exchange(s) in CacA-dependent Cpx activation. CONCLUSIONS: We identified CacA as an activator of the CpxR/CpxA system in the plasmid clone. We propose that CacA may integrate the regulatory status of RssB/RpoS into the CpxR/CpxA system. Future investigations are necessary to thoroughly elucidate how CacA activates the CpxR/CpxA system.

A short-chain dehydrogenase involved in terpene metabolism from Zingiber zerumbet.

The rhizome oil of Zingiber zerumbet Smith contains an exceptionally high content of sesquiterpenoids with zerumbone, a predominating potential multi-anticancer agent. Biosynthetic pathways of zerumbone have been proposed, and two genes ZSS1 and CYP71BA1 that encode the enzymes catalyzing the first two steps have been cloned. In this paper, we isolated a cDNA clone (ZSD1) that encodes an alcohol dehydrogenase capable of catalyzing the final step of zerumbone biosynthesis. ZSD1 has an open reading frame of 804 bp that encodes a 267-residue enzyme with a calculated molecular mass of 28.7 kDa. After expression in Escherichia coli, the recombinant enzyme was found to catalyze 8-hydroxy-α-humulene into zerumbone. ZSD1 is a member of the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase superfamily (SDR) and shares high identities with other plant SDRs involved in secondary metabolism, stress responses and phytosteroid biosynthesis. In contrast to the transcripts of ZSS1 and CYP71BA1, which are almost exclusively expressed in rhizomes, ZSD1 transcripts are detected in leaves, stems and rhizomes, suggesting that ZSD1 may also be involved in other biological processes. Consistent with its proposed flexible substrate-binding pocket, ZSD1 also converts borneol to camphor with K(m) and k(cat) values of 22.8 µm and 4.1 s(-1) , displaying its bisubstrate feature.

Zingiber zerumbet CYP71BA1 catalyzes the conversion of α-humulene to 8-hydroxy-α-humulene in zerumbone biosynthesis.

Plant cytochrome P450s are involved in the biosynthesis of various classes of secondary metabolites. To elucidate the biosynthesis of zerumbone, a sesquiterpenoid with multiple potential anticancer properties, a family of P450 genes expressed in rhizomes of Zingiber zerumbet Smith, were cloned using a PCR-based cloning strategy. After functional expression in yeast, one of these P450s was found to convert α-humulene into 8-hydroxy-α-humulene, a proposed intermediate of zerumbone biosynthesis. This P450 has been designated CYP71BA1, a new member of the CYP71 family. CYP71BA1 transcripts were detected almost exclusively in rhizomes and showed a similar expression pattern to ZSS1 transcripts during rhizome development. Coexpression of a gene cluster encoding four enzymes of the mevalonate pathway with CYP71BA1 and ZSS1 in Escherichia coli leads to the production of 8-hydroxy-α-humulene in the presence of mevalonate, suggesting the possibility of microbial production of this zerumbone intermediate from a relatively simple carbon source by metabolic engineering.

Ascochytatin, a novel bioactive spirodioxynaphthalene metabolite produced by the marine-derived fungus, Ascochyta sp. NGB4.

Ascochytatin, a new spirodioxynaphthalene metabolite produced by a marine-derived fungus, was found from a screening program focused on the bacterial two-component regulatory system. The structure of ascochytatin was determined by spectroscopic methods, including NMR and MS. The relative stereochemistry was determined by an X-ray crystallographic analysis, and the absolute stereochemistry was determined by the modified Mosher's method.

Negative regulation of DNA repair gene (uvrA) expression by ArcA/ArcB two-component system in Escherichia coli.

The ArcA/ArcB two-component signal transduction system of Escherichia coli regulates gene expression in response to the redox conditions of growth. In this study, uvrA gene expression was repressed when ArcA was induced in E. coli. Transcription of uvrA increased in DeltaarcA and DeltaarcB strains more than in the wild-type strain, whose trend was remarkable under the anaerobic condition. In the wild-type strain grown in the presence of DTT (10 mM), the uvrA gene expression was also repressed. Furthermore, the results of in vitro transcription and DNase I footprinting experiments indicated that ArcA specifically bound to the ArcA box [(A/T)GTTAATTA(A/T)] in the uvrA promoter and represses its transcription. These results suggest that the ArcA/ArcB two-component system works to negatively regulate uvrA gene expression.

Functional characterization in vitro of all two-component signal transduction systems from Escherichia coli.

Bacteria possess a signal transduction system, referred to as a two-component system, for adaptation to external stimuli. Each two-component system consists of a sensor protein-histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR), together forming a signal transduction pathway via histidyl-aspartyl phospho-relay. A total of 30 sensor HKs, including as yet uncharacterized putative HKs (BaeS, BasS, CreC, CusS, HydH, RstB, YedV, and YfhK), and a total of 34 RRs, including putative RRs (BaeR, BasR, CreB, CusR, HydG, RstA, YedW, YfhA, YgeK, and YhjB), have been suggested to exist in Escherichia coli. We have purified the carboxyl-terminal catalytic domain of 27 sensor HKs and the full-length protein of all 34 RRs to apparent homogeneity. Self-phosphorylation in vitro was detected for 25 HKs. The rate of self-phosphorylation differed among HKs, whereas the level of phosphorylation was generally co-related with the phosphorylation rate. However, the phosphorylation level was low for ArcB, HydH, NarQ, and NtrB even though the reaction rate was fast, whereas the level was high for the slow phosphorylation species BasS, CheA, and CreC. By using the phosphorylated HKs, we examined trans-phosphorylation in vitro of RRs for all possible combinations. Trans-phosphorylation of presumed cognate RRs by HKs was detected, for the first time, for eight pairs, BaeS-BaeR, BasS-BasR, CreC-CreB, CusS-CusR, HydH-HydG, RstB-RstA, YedV-YedW, and YfhK-YfhA. All trans-phosphorylation took place within less than 1/2 min, but the stability of phosphorylated RRs differed, indicating the involvement of de-phosphorylation control. In addition to the trans-phosphorylation between the cognate pairs, we detected trans-phosphorylation between about 3% of non-cognate HK-RR pairs, raising the possibility that the cross-talk in signal transduction takes place between two-component systems.

P-glycoprotein mediates resistance to histidine kinase inhibitors.

Histidine kinase inhibitors are being developed as a new class of antimicrobial drugs. We recently demonstrated the activity of a class of histidine kinase inhibitors against a mammalian enzyme, elongation factor-2 kinase (eEF-2K), and the effect of these compounds on cancer cell viability (Arora et al., 2003). To further characterize these compounds, we studied their interaction with ATP-binding cassette transporters, which are known to mediate resistance to a variety of chemotherapeutic agents. The 24 compounds studied belong to three structural series of derivatives of 2-methylimidazolium iodide. We focused this work on a representative compound (NH125) because we found it to be most potent against both histidine kinase and eEF-2K among the series. Cell lines that expressed P-glycoprotein (P-gp) were 2- to 5-fold resistant to NH125. NH125 increased accumulation of P-gp substrates such as paclitaxel and doxorubicin but had no effect on the accumulation of non-P-gp substrates. P-gp modulators verapamil and trans-flupenthixol and MDR1-targeted siRNA increased sensitivity of multidrug-resistant cell lines to NH125. The presence of a benzyl group on the N-3 position of the 2-methylimidazolium iodide was important for the interaction with P-gp. C6-NH, an NH125-resistant cell line, markedly overexpressed P-gp compared with the parental cell line. In animal models, we found that NH125 increased by 129% the survival of sensitive P388 cells bearing mice but had no effect on mice harboring the resistant cell line. These observations indicate that certain histidine kinase inhibitors are substrates for P-gp and hence an important consideration in development of these agents as potential antimicrobial and anticancer agents.

Identification and characterization of an inhibitor of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 kinase against human cancer cell lines.

Recent evidence suggests that the machinery of protein synthesis may provide novel targets for anticancer drugs. For example, aberrations in protein synthesis are commonly encountered in established cancers, and disruption by mutation or overexpression of translation factors can cause cellular transformation. We previously demonstrated that the activity of eukaryotic elongation factor 2 (eEF-2) kinase was markedly increased in several forms of malignancy and that nonspecific inhibitors of this enzyme promoted cell death. On the basis of the predicted amino acid sequence of eEF-2 kinase deduced from the cloned cDNA, we hypothesized that inhibitors of prokaryotic histidine kinases might also inhibit the activity of eEF-2 kinase. We describe herein the screening of a series of imidazolium histidine kinase inhibitors and the identification of an active lead compound, NH125. NH125 inhibited eEF-2 kinase activity (IC(50) = 60 nM) in vitro, blocked the phosphorylation of eEF-2 in intact cells, and showed relative selectivity over other protein kinases: protein kinase C (IC(50) = 7.5 microM), protein kinase A (IC(50) = 80 microM), and calmodulin-dependent kinase II (IC(50) > 100 microM). NH125 decreased the viability of 10 cancer cell lines with IC(50)s ranging from 0.7 to 4.7 microM. Forced overexpression of eEF-2 kinase in a glioma cell line produced 10-fold resistance to NH125. In conclusion, these results suggest that identification of potent inhibitors of eEF-2 kinase may lead to the development of new types of anticancer drugs.

Novel mode of transcription regulation of divergently overlapping promoters by PhoP, the regulator of two-component system sensing external magnesium availability.

PhoP is a response regulator of the PhoQ-PhoP two-component system controlling a set of the Mg(II)-response genes in Escherichia coli. Here we demonstrate the mode of transcription regulation by phosphorylated PhoP of divergently transcribed mgtA and treR genes, each encoding a putative Mg(II) transporter and a repressor for the trehalose utilization operon respectively. Under Mg(II)-limiting conditions in vivo, two promoters, the upstream constitutive P2 and the downstream inducible P1, were detected for the mgtA gene. Gel-shift analysis in vitro using purified PhoP indicates its binding to a single DNA target, centred between -43 and -24 of the mgtAP1 promoter. This region includes the PhoP box, which consists of a direct repeat of the heptanucleotide sequence (T)G(T)TT(AA). Site-directed mutagenesis studies indicate the critical roles for T (position 3), T (position 4) and A (position 6) for PhoP-dependent transcription from mgtAP1. DNase I footprinting assays reveal weak binding of PhoP to this PhoP box, but the binding becomes stronger in the simultaneous presence of RNA polymerase. Likewise the RNA polymerase binding to the P1 promoter becomes stronger in the presence of PhoP. For the PhoP-assisted formation of open complex at the mgtAP1 promoter, however, the carboxy-terminal domain of alpha subunit (alpha CTD) is not needed. For transcription in vivo of the treR gene, four promoters were identified. The most upstream promoter treRP4 divergently overlaps with the mgtAP1 promoter, sharing the same sequence as the respective -10 signal in the opposite direction. In vitro transcription using mutant promoters support this prediction. In the presence of PhoP, transcription from the promoter treRP3 was repressed with concomitant activation of mgtAP1 transcription. The PhoP box is located between -46 and -30 with respect to treRP3, and the alpha CTD is needed for this repression.