Publications by authors named "Aktories K"

Mono-O-glycosylation of target proteins by bacterial toxins or effector proteins is a well-known mechanism by which bacteria interfere with essential functions of host cells. The respective glycosyltransferases are important virulence factors such as the Clostridioides difficile toxins A and B. Here, we describe two glycosyltransferases of Yersinia species that have a high sequence identity: YeGT from the zoonotic pathogen Yersinia enterocolitica and YkGT from the murine pathogen Yersinia kristensenii.

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Article Synopsis
  • Research on Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) focuses on its dangerous toxins, Toxin A (TcdA) and Toxin B (TcdB), and their contribution to severe diseases like antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis.
  • * Hypervirulent strains of C. difficile may produce an additional toxin, binary toxin CDT, which further complicates treatment and poses a health threat.
  • * Recent studies aim to understand how these toxins work at a molecular level and how they enter cells, with significant research efforts taking place mainly in Europe.
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In the last decade, it was discovered that protein mucin-type O-glycosylation and O-GlcNAcylation modify Tyr residues besides the well explored Thr and Ser amino acids. Several glycoproteomic studies have identified α-GalNAc-O-Tyr modifications, and studies propose that β-GlcNAc-O-Tyr also exists as a new group of posttranslational modifications (PTMs). Specific bacterial toxins have further been identified to modify host GTPases with α-GlcNAc-O-Tyr to promote bacterial virulence.

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Clostridioides bacteria are responsible for life threatening infections. Here, we show that in addition to actin, the binary toxins CDT, C2I, and Iota from , , and , respectively, ADP-ribosylate the actin-related protein Arp2 of Arp2/3 complex and its additional components ArpC1, ArpC2, and ArpC4/5. The Arp2/3 complex is composed of seven subunits and stimulates the formation of branched actin filament networks.

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Selected findings about Clostridioides difficile (formerly Clostridium difficile) toxins are presented in a narrative review. Starting with a personal view on research about G proteins, adenylyl cyclase, and ADP-ribosylating toxins in the laboratory of Günter Schultz in Heidelberg, milestones of C. difficile toxin research are presented with the focus on toxin B (TcdB), covering toxin structure, receptor binding, toxin up-take and refolding, the intracellular actions of TcdB, and the treatment of C.

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Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is an important biomolecule with essential roles at the intersection of energy metabolism, epigenetic regulation and cell signalling. Synthetic analogues of NAD are therefore of great interest as chemical tools for medicinal chemistry, chemical biology and drug discovery. Herein, we report the chemical synthesis and full analytical characterisation of three stereoisomers of 2″-amino NAD, and their biochemical evaluation against two classes of NAD-consuming enzymes: the human sirtuins 1-3, and the bacterial toxin TccC3.

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The intestinal pathogen is a major cause of diarrhea both in hospitals and outpatient in industrialized countries. This bacterium produces two large exotoxins, toxin A (TcdA) and toxin B (TcdB), which are directly responsible for the onset of clinical symptoms of -associated diseases (CDADs), such as antibiotics-associated diarrhea and the severe, life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis. Both toxins are multidomain proteins and taken up into host eukaryotic cells via receptor-mediated endocytosis.

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Photorhabdus luminescens Tc toxins are large tripartite ABC-type toxin complexes, composed of TcA, TcB and TcC proteins. Tc toxins are widespread and have shown a tropism for a variety of targets including insect, mammalian and human cells. However, their receptors and the specific mechanisms of uptake into target cells remain unknown.

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Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) represents a significant burden on the health care system, one that is exacerbated by the emergence of binary toxin (CDT)-producing hypervirulent C. difficile strains. Previous work from our laboratory has shown that Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) recognizes CDT to induce inflammation.

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Infections with the pathogenic bacterium are coming more into focus, in particular in hospitalized patients after antibiotic treatment. produces the exotoxins TcdA and TcdB. Since some years, hypervirulent strains are described, which produce in addition the binary actin ADP-ribosylating toxin CDT.

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Anthrax toxin is the major virulence factor secreted by Bacillus anthracis, causing high mortality in humans and other mammals. It consists of a membrane translocase, known as protective antigen (PA), that catalyzes the unfolding of its cytotoxic substrates lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF), followed by translocation into the host cell. Substrate recruitment to the heptameric PA pre-pore and subsequent translocation, however, are not well understood.

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We identified a glucosyltransferase (YGT) and an ADP-ribosyltransferase (YART) in , highly related to glucosylating toxins from , the cause of antibiotics-associated enterocolitis. Both toxins consist of an amino-terminal enzyme domain, an autoprotease domain activated by inositol hexakisphosphate, and a carboxyl-terminal translocation domain. YGT -acetylglucosaminylates Rab5 and Rab31 at Thr and Thr, respectively, thereby inactivating the Rab proteins.

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The human pathogenic bacterium Clostridioides difficile produces two exotoxins TcdA and TcdB, which inactivate Rho GTPases thereby causing C. difficile-associated diseases (CDAD) including life-threatening pseudomembranous colitis. Hypervirulent strains produce additionally the binary actin ADP-ribosylating toxin CDT.

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Engineering delivery systems for proteins and peptides into mammalian cells is an ongoing challenge for cell biological studies as well as for therapeutic approaches. toxin complex (PTC) is a heterotrimeric protein complex able to deliver diverse protein toxins into mammalian cells. We engineered the syringe-like nanomachine for delivery of protein toxins from different species.

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The human disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is a rare and highly disabling disorder of extensive heterotopic bone growth that is caused by a point mutation (R206H) in the activation domain of Alk2, a BMP (bone morphogenic protein) type 1 receptor. The mutation leads to extensive BMP-signaling induced by Activin A, which is normally an antagonist for wildtype receptors, resulting in excessive and uncontrolled bone formation. Here, we studied the effects of Pasteurella multocida toxin (PMT), which activates osteoclasts and inhibits osteoblast activity, in C2C12 myoblasts expressing the mutant Alk2(R206H) receptor as model of FOP.

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Karl H. Jakobs, former editor-in-chief of Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's Archives of Pharmacology and renowned molecular pharmacologist, passed away in April 2018. In this article, his scientific achievements regarding G protein-mediated signal transduction and regulation of canonical pathways are summarized.

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The antibiotic bacitracin (Bac) inhibits cell wall synthesis of gram-positive bacteria. Here, we discovered a totally different activity of Bac: the neutralization of bacterial exotoxins. Bac prevented intoxication of mammalian cells with the binary enterotoxins Clostridium botulinum C2, C.

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Clostridium difficile is associated with antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis in humans. Its 2 major toxins, toxins A and B, enter host cells and inactivate GTPases of the Ras homologue/rat sarcoma family by glucosylation. Pore formation of the toxins in the endosomal membrane enables the translocation of their glucosyltransferase domain into the cytosol, and membrane cholesterol is crucial for this process.

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causes Legionnaires' disease, a severe form of pneumonia. translocates more than 300 effectors into host cells via its Dot/Icm (Defective in organelle trafficking/Intracellular multiplication) type IV secretion system to enable its replication in target cells. Here, we studied the effector LtpM, which is encoded in a recombination hot spot in Paris.

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The nematode mutualistic bacterium produces a large virulence-associated multifunctional protein toxin named PaTox. A glycosyltransferase domain and a deamidase domain of this large toxin function as effectors that specifically target host Rho GTPases and heterotrimeric G proteins, respectively. Modification of these intracellular regulators results in toxicity toward insects and mammalian cells.

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Photorhabdus luminescens Tc toxins consist of the cell-binding component TcA, the linker component TcB, and the enzyme component TcC. TccC3, a specific isoform of TcC, ADP-ribosylates actin and causes redistribution of the actin cytoskeleton. TccC5, another isoform of TcC, ADP-ribosylates and activates Rho proteins.

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