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PMID: 18435708 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Biosynthesis of the Escherichia coli K1 group 2 polysialic acid capsule occurs within a protected cytoplasmic compartment.

Molecular microbiology ·Vol. 68 ·No. 5 ·2008-06-00 ·Pages 1252-67

Steenbergen SM, Vimr ER

Abstract

Capsular polysaccharides are important virulence determinants in a wide range of invasive infectious diseases. Although capsule synthesis has been extensively investigated, understanding polysaccharide export from the cytoplasm to the external environment has been more difficult. Here we present the results of a novel protection assay indicating that synthesis and export of the Escherichia coli K1 group 2 capsular polysialic acid (K1 antigen) occur within a protected subcellular compartment designated the sialisome. In addition to the polymerase encoded by neuS, localization and complementation analyses indicated that the sialisome includes the accessory membrane protein NeuE. The requirement for NeuE was suppressed by overproducing NeuS, suggesting that NeuE functions by stabilizing the polymerase or facilitating its assembly in the sialisome. Although an interaction between NeuE and NeuS could not be demonstrated with a bacterial two-hybrid system that reconstitutes an intracellular cell-signalling pathway, interactions between NeuS and KpsC as well as other sialisome components were detected. The combined results provide direct evidence for specific protein-protein interactions in the synthesis and export of group 2 capsular polysaccharides under in vivo conditions. The approaches developed here will facilitate further dissection of the sialisome, suggesting similar methodology for understanding the biosynthesis of other group 2 capsules.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Capsules/genetics,metabolism Cytoplasm Escherichia coli/cytology,enzymology,genetics Escherichia coli Proteins/metabolism Genes, Bacterial Multigene Family Polysaccharides, Bacterial/biosynthesis Sialic Acids/biosynthesis Sialyltransferases/chemistry,genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Escherichia coli Proteins Polysaccharides, Bacterial Sialic Acids polysialic acid Sialyltransferases
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Steenbergen Susan M
Laboratory of Sialobiology and Comparative Metabolomics, Department of Pathobiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61802, USA.
Vimr Eric R
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Article Info
Journal
Molecular microbiology
Abbr.
Mol Microbiol
ISSN
1365-2958
DOI
10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06231.x
Published
2008-06-00
Epub
2008-00-08
Pages
1252-67
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8712028
PMCID
PMC2408645
Subset
IM
Grants
NIAID NIH HHS · R01 AI042015 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · R56 AI042015 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · AI042015 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.2008.06231.x PMC Full Text View journal details
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