Download MendeleyYersinia virulence depends on mimicry of host rho-family nucleotide dissociation inhibitors.
Prehna, G., Ivanov, M.I., Bliska, J.B., Stebbins, C.E.(2006) Cell 126: 869-880
- PubMed: 16959567
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2006.06.056
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
2H7O, 2H7V - PubMed Abstract:
Yersinia spp. cause gastroenteritis and the plague, representing historically devastating pathogens that are currently an important biodefense and antibiotic resistance concern. A critical virulence determinant is the Yersinia protein kinase A, or YpkA, a multidomain protein that disrupts the eukaryotic actin cytoskeleton. Here we solve the crystal structure of a YpkA-Rac1 complex and find that YpkA possesses a Rac1 binding domain that mimics host guanidine nucleotide dissociation inhibitors (GDIs) of the Rho GTPases. YpkA inhibits nucleotide exchange in Rac1 and RhoA, and mutations that disrupt the YpkA-GTPase interface abolish this activity in vitro and impair in vivo YpkA-induced cytoskeletal disruption. In cell culture experiments, the kinase and the GDI domains of YpkA act synergistically to promote cytoskeletal disruption, and a Y. pseudotuberculosis mutant lacking YpkA GDI activity shows attenuated virulence in a mouse infection assay. We conclude that virulence in Yersinia depends strongly upon mimicry of host GDI proteins by YpkA.
Organizational Affiliation:
Laboratory of Structural Microbiology, Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10021, USA.
