Proteolysis and multimerization regulate signaling along the two-component regulatory system AdeRS.
Ouyang, Z., Zheng, F., Zhu, L., Felix, J., Wu, D., Wu, K., Gutsche, I., Wu, Y., Hwang, P.M., She, J., Wen, Y.(2021) iScience 24: 102476-102476
- PubMed: 34113820 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102476
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
7CCH, 7CCI - PubMed Abstract: 
Bacterial two-component regulatory systems are ubiquitous environment-sensing signal transducers involved in pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance. The Acinetobacter baumannii two-component regulatory system AdeRS is made up of a sensor histidine kinase AdeS and a cognate response regulator AdeR, which together reduce repression of the multidrug-resistant efflux pump AdeABC. Herein we demonstrate that an N-terminal intrinsically disordered tail in AdeR is important for the upregulation of adeABC expression, although it greatly increases the susceptibility of AdeR to proteasome-mediated degradation. We also show that AdeS assembles into a hexameric state that is necessary for its full histidine kinase activity, which appears to occur via cis autophosphorylation. Taken together, this study demonstrates new structural mechanisms through which two-component systems can transduce environmental signals to impact gene expression and enlightens new potential antimicrobial approach by targeting two-component regulatory systems.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Talent Highland and Center for Gut Microbiome Research of Med-X Institute, The First Affiliated Hospital, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China.