Moa Lavander

YscP and YscU Regulate Substrate Specificity of the Yersinia Type III Secretion System

Pathogenic Yersinia species use a type III secretion system to inhibit phagocytosis by eukaryotic cells. At 37 degrees C, the secretion system is assembled, forming a needle-like structure on the bacterial cell surface. Upon eukaryotic cell contact, six effector proteins, called Yops, are translocated into the eukaryotic cell cytosol. Here, we show that a yscP mutant exports an increased amount of the needle component YscF to the bacterial cell surface but is unable to efficiently secrete effector Yops. Mutations in the cytoplasmic domain of the inner membrane protein YscU suppress the yscP phenotype by reducing the level of YscF secretion and increasing the level of Yop secretion. These results suggest that YscP and YscU coordinately regulate the substrate specificity of the Yersinia type III secretion system. Furthermore, we show that YscP and YscU act upstream of the cell contact sensor YopN as well as the inner gatekeeper LcrG in the pathway of substrate export regulation. These results further strengthen the strong evolutionary link between flagellar biosynthesis and type III synthesis.

The Role of the Francisella Tularensis Pathogenicity Island in Type VI Secretion, Intracellular Survival, and Modulation of Host Cell Signaling

Francisella tularensis is a highly virulent gram-negative intracellular bacterium that causes the zoonotic disease tularemia. Essential for its virulence is the ability to multiply within host cells, in particular monocytic cells. The bacterium has developed intricate means to subvert host immune mechanisms and thereby facilitate its intracellular survival by preventing phagolysosomal fusion followed by escape into the cytosol, where it multiplies. Moreover, it targets and manipulates numerous host cell signaling pathways, thereby ameliorating the otherwise bactericidal capacity. Many of the underlying molecular mechanisms still remain unknown but key elements, directly or indirectly responsible for many of the aforementioned mechanisms, rely on the expression of proteins encoded by the Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI), suggested to constitute a type VI secretion system. We here describe the current knowledge regarding the components of the FPI and the roles that have been ascribed to them.

Proteolytic Cleavage of the FlhB Homologue YscU of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Is Essential for Bacterial Survival but Not for Type III Secretion

Pathogenic Yersinia species employ a type III secretion system (TTSS) to target antihost factors, Yop proteins, into eukaryotic cells. The secretion machinery is constituted of ca. 20 Ysc proteins, nine of which show significant homology to components of the flagellar TTSS. A key event in flagellar assembly is the switch from secreting-assembling hook substrates to filament substrates, a switch regulated by FlhB and FliK. The focus of this study is the FlhB homologue YscU, a bacterial inner membrane protein with a large cytoplasmic C-terminal domain. Our results demonstrate that low levels of YscU were required for functional Yop secretion, whereas higher levels of YscU lowered both Yop secretion and expression. Like FlhB, YscU was cleaved into a 30-kDa N-terminal and a 10-kDa C-terminal part. Expression of the latter in a wild-type strain resulted in elevated Yop secretion. The site of cleavage was at a proline residue, within the strictly conserved amino acid sequence NPTH. A YscU protein with an in-frame deletion of NPTH was cleaved at a different position and was nonfunctional with respect to Yop secretion. Variants of YscU with single substitutions in the conserved NPTH sequence--i.e., N263A, P264A, or T265A--were not cleaved but retained function in Yop secretion. Elevated expression of these YscU variants did, however, result in severe growth inhibition. From this we conclude that YscU cleavage is not a prerequisite for Yop secretion but is rather required to maintain a nontoxic fold.

A Conserved α-Helix Essential for a Type VI Secretion-Like System of Francisella tularensis

Francisella tularensis harbors genes with similarity to genes encoding components of a type VI secretion system (T6SS) recently identified in several gram-negative bacteria. These genes include iglA and iglB encoding IglA and IglB, homologues of which are conserved in most T6SSs. We used a yeast two-hybrid system to study the interaction of the Igl proteins of F. tularensis LVS. We identified a region of IglA, encompassing residues 33 to 132, necessary for efficient binding to IglB, as well as for IglAB protein stability and intramacrophage growth. In particular, residues 103 to 122, overlapping a highly conserved alpha-helix, played an absolutely essential role. Point mutations within this domain caused modest defects in IglA-IglB binding in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae but markedly impaired intramacrophage replication and phagosomal escape, resulting in severe attenuation of LVS in mice. Thus, IglA-IglB complex formation is clearly crucial for Francisella pathogenicity. This interaction may be universal to type VI secretion, since IglAB homologues of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, and Escherichia coli were also shown to interact in yeast, and the interaction was dependent on preservation of the same alpha-helix. Heterologous interactions between nonnative IglAB proteins further supported the notion of a conserved binding site. Thus, IglA-IglB complex formation is clearly crucial for Francisella pathogenicity, and the same interaction is conserved in other human pathogens.

DotU and VgrG, Core Components of Type VI Secretion Systems, Are Essential for Francisella LVS Pathogenicity

The Gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis causes tularemia, a disease which requires bacterial escape from phagosomes of infected macrophages. Once in the cytosol, the bacterium rapidly multiplies, inhibits activation of the inflammasome and ultimately causes death of the host cell. Of importance for these processes is a 33-kb gene cluster, the Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI), which is believed to encode a type VI secretion system (T6SS). In this study, we analyzed the role of the FPI-encoded proteins VgrG and DotU, which are conserved components of type VI secretion (T6S) clusters. We demonstrate that in F. tularensis LVS, VgrG was shown to form multimers, consistent with its suggested role as a trimeric membrane puncturing device in T6SSs, while the inner membrane protein DotU was shown to stabilize PdpB/IcmF, another T6SS core component. Upon infection of J774 cells, both ΔvgrG and ΔdotU mutants did not escape from phagosomes, and subsequently, did not multiply or cause cytopathogenicity. They also showed impaired activation of the inflammasome and marked attenuation in the mouse model. Moreover, all of the DotU-dependent functions investigated here required the presence of three residues that are essentially conserved among all DotU homologues. Thus, in agreement with a core function in T6S clusters, VgrG and DotU play key roles for modulation of the intracellular host response as well as for the virulence of F. tularensis.

Unique Substrates Secreted by the Type VI Secretion System of Francisella tularensis during Intramacrophage Infection

Gram-negative bacteria have evolved sophisticated secretion machineries specialized for the secretion of macromolecules important for their life cycles. The Type VI secretion system (T6SS) is the most widely spread bacterial secretion machinery and is encoded by large, variable gene clusters, often found to be essential for virulence. The latter is true for the atypical T6SS encoded by the Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI) of the highly pathogenic, intracellular bacterium Francisella tularensis. We here undertook a comprehensive analysis of the intramacrophage secretion of the 17 FPI proteins of the live vaccine strain, LVS, of F. tularensis. All were expressed as fusions to the TEM β-lactamase and cleavage of the fluorescent substrate CCF2-AM, a direct consequence of the delivery of the proteins into the macrophage cytosol, was followed over time. The FPI proteins IglE, IglC, VgrG, IglI, PdpE, PdpA, IglJ and IglF were all secreted, which was dependent on the core components DotU, VgrG, and IglC, as well as IglG. In contrast, the method was not directly applicable on F. novicida U112, since it showed very intense native β-lactamase secretion due to FTN_1072. Its role was proven by ectopic expression in trans in LVS. We did not observe secretion of any of the LVS substrates VgrG, IglJ, IglF or IglI, when tested in a FTN_1072 deficient strain of F. novicida, whereas IglE, IglC, PdpA and even more so PdpE were all secreted. This suggests that there may be fundamental differences in the T6S mechanism among the Francisella subspecies. The findings further corroborate the unusual nature of the T6SS of F. tularensis since almost all of the identified substrates are unique to the species.

The Twin Arginine Translocation System Is Essential for Virulence of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

ABSTRACT Yersinia species pathogenic to humans have been extensively characterized with respect to type III secretion and its essential role in virulence. This study concerns the twin arginine translocation (Tat) pathway utilized by gram-negative bacteria to secrete folded proteins across the bacterial inner membrane into the periplasmic compartment. We have shown that the Yersinia Tat system is functional and required for motility and contributes to acid resistance. A Yersinia pseudotuberculosis mutant strain with a disrupted Tat system (tatC) was, however, not affected in in vitro growth or more susceptible to high osmolarity, oxidative stress, or high temperature, nor was it impaired in type III secretion. Interestingly, the tatC mutant was severely attenuated via both the oral and intraperitoneal routes in the systemic mouse infection model and highly impaired in colonization of lymphoid organs like Peyers patches and the spleen. Our work highlights that Tat secretion plays a key role in the virulence of Y. pseudotuberculosis.

IglG and IglI of the Francisella Pathogenicity Island Are Important Virulence Determinants of Francisella tularensis LVS

ABSTRACT The Gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis is the causative agent of tularemia, a disease intimately associated with the multiplication of the bacterium within host macrophages. This in turn requires the expression of Francisella pathogenicity island (FPI) genes, believed to encode a type VI secretion system. While the exact functions of many of the components have yet to be revealed, some have been found to contribute to the ability of Francisella to cause systemic infection in mice as well as to prevent phagolysosomal fusion and facilitate escape into the host cytosol. Upon reaching this compartment, the bacterium rapidly multiplies, inhibits activation of the inflammasome, and ultimately causes apoptosis of the host cell. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of the FPI-encoded proteins IglG, IglI, and PdpE to the aforementioned processes in F. tularensis LVS. The ΔpdpE mutant behaved similarly to the parental strain in all investigated assays. In contrast, ΔiglG and ΔiglI mutants, although they were efficiently replicating in J774A.1 cells, both exhibited delayed phagosomal escape, conferred a delayed activation of the inflammasome, and exhibited reduced cytopathogenicity as well as marked attenuation in the mouse model. Thus, IglG and IglI play key roles for modulation of the intracellular host response and also for the virulence of F. tularensis.

Autoproteolysis of YscU of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Is Important for Regulation of Expression and Secretion of Yop Proteins

YscU of Yersinia can be autoproteolysed to generate a 10-kDa C-terminal polypeptide designated YscU(CC). Autoproteolysis occurs at the conserved N downward arrowPTH motif of YscU. The specific in-cis-generated point mutants N263A and P264A were found to be defective in proteolysis. Both mutants expressed and secreted Yop proteins (Yops) in calcium-containing medium (+Ca(2+) conditions) and calcium-depleted medium (-Ca(2+) conditions). The level of Yop and LcrV secretion by the N263A mutant was about 20% that of the wild-type strain, but there was no significant difference in the ratio of the different secreted Yops, including LcrV. The N263A mutant secreted LcrQ regardless of the calcium concentration in the medium, corroborating the observation that Yops were expressed and secreted in Ca(2+)-containing medium by the mutant. YscF, the type III secretion system (T3SS) needle protein, was secreted at elevated levels by the mutant compared to the wild type when bacteria were grown under +Ca(2+) conditions. YscF secretion was induced in the mutant, as well as in the wild type, when the bacteria were incubated under -Ca(2+) conditions, although the mutant secreted smaller amounts of YscF. The N263A mutant was cytotoxic for HeLa cells, demonstrating that the T3SS-mediated delivery of effectors was functional. We suggest that YscU blocks Yop release and that autoproteolysis is required to relieve this block.

Characterisation of the type III secretion protein YscU in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. YscU cleavage--dispensable for TTSS but essential for survival.

The YscU/FlhB protein family is very highly conserved, amino acid sequence homologies between the cytoplasmic domains being particularly high. Here we investigated a feature common to YscU and FlhB, i. e. the cleavage of the proteins within the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail. We could conclude that the cleavage is not connected to TTSS regulation. Nor is it required for YscU function in Yersinia type III secretion, since the uncleavable YscU variants are able to restore Yop secretion to a yscU null mutant strain. However, if YscU is not cleaved within the cytoplasmic tail, it has a toxic effect on the bacteria. The fact that Yersinia strains expressing the uncleavable YscU point mutant proteins are seriously inhibited for growth shows that the cleavage is required for survival of the bacterium.