Daniel J. Echelman

CnaA domains in bacterial pili are efficient dissipaters of large mechanical shocks

Significance Bacteria colonizing the oropharynx must adhere despite mechanical challenges from coughing, sneezing, and chewing; however, little is known about how Gram-positive organisms achieve this feat. We studied the pilus adhesive proteins from two Gram-positive organisms and report a conserved mechanism for dissipating the energy of a mechanical perturbation. The two proteins are stable up to forces of 525 pN and 690 pN, respectively, making these proteins the most mechanically stable proteins known. After a perturbation, the proteins refold rapidly at low force, resulting in a large hysteresis with most of the unfolding energy lost as heat. The work presents an initial model whereby transient unfolding at forces of 500–700 pN dissipates mechanical energy and protects covalent bonds from cleavage. Pathogenic bacteria adhere despite severe mechanical perturbations induced by the host, such as coughing. In Gram-positive bacteria, extracellular protein appendages termed pili are necessary for adherence under mechanical stress. However, little is known about the behavior of Gram-positive pili under force. Here, we demonstrate a mechanism by which Gram-positive pili are able to dissipate mechanical energy through mechanical unfolding and refolding of isopeptide bond-delimited polypeptide loops present in Ig-type CnaA domains. Using single-molecule force spectroscopy, we find that these loops of the pilus subunit SpaA of the SpaA-type pilus from Corynebacterium diphtheriae and FimA of the type 2 pilus from Actinomyces oris unfold and extend at forces that are the highest yet reported for globular proteins. Loop refolding is limited by the hydrophobic collapse of the polypeptide and occurs in milliseconds. Remarkably, both SpaA and FimA initially refold to mechanically weaker intermediates that recover strength with time or ligand binding. Based on the high force extensibility, CnaA-containing pili can dissipate ∼28-fold as much energy compared with their inextensible counterparts before reaching forces sufficient to cleave covalent bonds. We propose that efficient mechanical energy dissipation is key for sustained bacterial attachment against mechanical perturbations.

Mechanical forces regulate the reactivity of a thioester bond in a bacterial adhesin

Bacteria must withstand large mechanical shear forces when adhering to and colonizing hosts. Recent structural studies on a class of Gram-positive bacterial adhesins have revealed an intramolecular Cys-Gln thioester bond that can react with surface-associated ligands to covalently anchor to host surfaces. Two other examples of such internal thioester bonds occur in certain anti-proteases and in the immune complement system, both of which react with the ligand only after the thioester bond is exposed by a proteolytic cleavage. We hypothesized that mechanical forces in bacterial adhesion could regulate thioester reactivity to ligand analogously to such proteolytic gating. Studying the pilus tip adhesin Spy0125 of Streptococcus pyogenes, we developed a single molecule assay to unambiguously resolve the state of the thioester bond. We found that when Spy0125 was in a folded state, its thioester bond could be cleaved with the small-molecule nucleophiles methylamine and histamine, but when Spy0125 was mechanically unfolded and subjected to forces of 50–350 piconewtons, thioester cleavage was no longer observed. For folded Spy0125 without mechanical force exposure, thioester cleavage was in equilibrium with spontaneous thioester reformation, which occurred with a half-life of several minutes. Functionally, this equilibrium reactivity allows thioester-containing adhesins to sample potential substrates without irreversible cleavage and inactivation. We propose that such reversible thioester reactivity would circumvent potential soluble inhibitors, such as histamine released at sites of inflammation, and allow the bacterial adhesin to selectively associate with surface-bound ligands.

Mechanical deformation accelerates protein ageing

A hallmark of tissue ageing is the irreversible oxidative modification of its proteins. We show that single proteins, kept unfolded and extended by a mechanical force, undergo accelerated ageing in times scales of minutes to days. A protein forced to be continuously unfolded completely loses its ability to contract by folding, becoming a labile polymer. Ageing rates vary among different proteins, but in all cases they lose their mechanical integrity. Random oxidative modification of cryptic side chains exposed by mechanical unfolding can be slowed by the addition of antioxidants such as ascorbic acid, or accelerated by oxidants. By contrast, proteins kept in the folded state and probed over week-long experiments show greatly reduced rates of ageing. We demonstrate a novel approach whereby protein ageing can be greatly accelerated: the constant unfolding of a protein for hours to days is equivalent to decades of exposure to free radicals under physiological conditions.

DsbA is a switchable mechanical chaperone

In bacteria, many toxins and virulence factors pass through a translocon pore as unfolded polypeptides en route to the periplasm where they first encounter DsbA, a ubiquitous bacterial oxidoreductase enzyme that introduces disulphide bonds into nascent proteins. Here, using magnetic tweezers based single molecule force spectroscopy, we demonstrate for the first time that DsbA can also accelerate folding of cysteine-free proteins by using the globular domain of the protein L super-antigen as a substrate. This chaperone activity is tuned by the oxidation state of DsbA: oxidized DsbA is a strong promoter of folding, but the effect is weakened by reduction of the catalytic CXXC motif. We further localize the chaperone binding site of DsbA using a seven residue peptide which effectively blocks the foldase activity. DsbA assisted folding of proteins in the periplasm generates enough mechanical work to decrease the ATP consumption needed for periplasmic translocation by up to 33%. In turn, pharmacologic inhibition of this chaperone activity may open up a new class of anti-virulence agents.

CHAPTER 1.3:Real-time Detection of Thiol Chemistry in Single Proteins

Thiol chemistry provides a way for proteins to alter their form and function rapidly and reversibly. Although a variety of bulk techniques have been developed to ascertain the oxidation state and bonding of cysteine thiols, these methods may destroy the sample or lead to unwanted side reactions. Single-molecule force spectroscopy harnesses the ability to track protein folding and unfolding pathways with angstrom precision to detect changes in thiol chemistry in a real-time and non-destructive manner. As the oxidation state of the thiol changes, owing to intramolecular disulfide bonding or post-translational modification, changes to the protein topology and stability can be detected by unfolding of single-protein domains using the atomic force microscope. Not only does this provide a means to probe the mechanism of covalent bond scission by small nucleophiles and enzymes, but also a tool by which to monitor the activity of single oxidoreductase molecules as they introduce and rearrange disulfide bonds while protein substrates fold. Although a carnivores bite damages tissue by tearing apart molecular bonds, nature has provided enzymatic machinery to repair the bonds, a process that can be directly observed using single-molecule techniques.