2128 TAMU, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2128, USA.
Published: November 2010
AI Article Synopsis
Article Abstract
In contrast to canonical phage endolysins, which require holin-mediated disruption of the membrane to gain access to attack the cell wall, signal anchor release (SAR) endolysins are secreted by the host sec system, where they accumulate in an inactive form tethered to the membrane by their N-terminal SAR domains. SAR endolysins become activated by various mechanisms upon release from the membrane. In its inactive form, the prototype SAR endolysin, Lyz(P1), of coliphage P1, has an active-site Cys covalently blocked by a disulfide bond; activation involves a disulfide bond isomerization driven by a thiol in the newly released SAR domain, unblocking the active-site Cys. Here, we report that Lyz(103), the endolysin of Erwinia phage ERA103, is also a SAR endolysin. Although Lyz(103) does not have a catalytic Cys, genetic evidence suggests that it also is activated by a thiol-disulfide isomerization triggered by a thiol in the SAR domain. In this case, the inhibitory disulfide in nascent Lyz(103) is formed between cysteine residues flanking a catalytic glutamate, caging the active site. Thus, Lyz(P1) and Lyz(103) define subclasses of SAR endolysins that differ in the nature of their inhibitory disulfide, and Lyz(103) is the first enzyme found to be regulated by disulfide bond caging of its active site.
Unlabelled: Phage-induced lysis of Gram-negative bacterial hosts usually requires a set of phage lysis proteins, a holin, an endopeptidase, and a spanin system, to disrupt each of the three cell envelope layers. Genome annotations and previous studies identified a gene region in the prophage LambdaSo, which comprises potential holin- and endolysin-encoding genes but lacks an obvious spanin system. By a combination of candidate approaches, mutant screening, characterization, and microscopy, we found that LambdaSo uses a pinholin/signal-anchor-release (SAR) endolysin system to induce proton leakage and degradation of the cell wall.
Departamento de Genética, Evolução, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP 13083-862, Brazil.
Endolysins are bacteriophage (or phage)-encoded enzymes that catalyse the peptidoglycan breakdown in the bacterial cell wall. The exogenous action of recombinant phage endolysins against Gram-positive organisms has been extensively studied. However, the outer membrane acts as a physical barrier when considering the use of recombinant endolysins to combat Gram-negative bacteria.
Lysis of Gram-negative bacteria by dsDNA phages is accomplished through either the canonical holin-endolysin pathway or the pinholin-SAR endolysin pathway. During lysis, the outer membrane (OM) is disrupted, typically by two-component spanins or unimolecular spanins. However, in the absence of spanins, phages use alternative proteins called Disruptin to disrupt the OM.
Departamento de Genética, Evolução, Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Cidade Universitária Zeferino Vaz, Rua Monteiro Lobato 255, Campinas, São Paulo, 13083-862, Brazil.
Endolysins are bacteriophage-derived lytic enzymes with antimicrobial activity. The action of endolysins against Gram-negative bacteria remains a challenge due to the physical protection of the outer membrane. However, recent research has demonstrated that signal-anchor-release (SAR) endolysins permeate the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria.
Bacteriophage Mu is a paradigm coliphage studied mainly because of its use of transposition for genome replication. However, in extensive nonsense mutant screens, only one lysis gene has been identified, the endolysin gp22. This is surprising because in Gram-negative hosts, lysis by phages has been shown to require proteins which disrupt all three layers of the cell envelope.
