RESUMO
DjlA is a bitopic inner membrane protein, which belongs to the DnaJ co-chaperone family in Escherichia coli. Overproduction of DjlA leads to the synthesis of colanic acid, resulting in mucoidy, via the activation of the two-component regulatory system RcsC/B that controls the cps (capsular polysaccharide) operon. This induction requires both the co-chaperone activity of DjlA, in cooperation with DnaK and GrpE, and its unique transmembrane (TM) domain. Here, we show that the TM segment of DjlA acts as a dimerisation domain: when fused to the N-terminal DNA-binding domain of the lambda cI repressor protein, it can substitute for the native C-terminal dimerisation domain of cI, thus generating an active cI repressor. Replacing the TM domain of DjlA by other TM domains, with or without dimerising capacity, revealed that dimerisation is not sufficient for the induction of cps expression, indicating an additional sequence- or structurally specific role for the TM domain. Finally, the conserved glycines present in the TM domain of DjlA are essential for the induction of mucoidy, but not for dimerisation.
Assuntos
Proteínas de Ligação a DNA , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/química , Proteínas de Choque Térmico/química , Sequência de Aminoácidos , Sequência de Bases , DNA Bacteriano/genética , Dimerização , Escherichia coli/genética , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/genética , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Proteínas de Choque Térmico HSP40 , Proteínas de Choque Térmico/genética , Proteínas de Choque Térmico/metabolismo , Óperon Lac , Proteínas de Membrana/química , Proteínas de Membrana/genética , Proteínas de Membrana/metabolismo , Dados de Sequência Molecular , Plasmídeos/genética , Estrutura Terciária de Proteína , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/química , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/genética , Proteínas Recombinantes de Fusão/metabolismo , Proteínas Repressoras/química , Proteínas Repressoras/genética , Proteínas Repressoras/metabolismo , Homologia de Sequência de Aminoácidos , Proteínas Virais , Proteínas Virais Reguladoras e AcessóriasRESUMO
The Rcs two-component pathway is involved in the regulation of capsule production in Escherichia coli. RcsC is predicted to be the sensor component of this two-component pathway, and in this study we present the first genetic data that support the role of RcsC as a hybrid sensor kinase.
