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Publication Abstract from PubMed

Uropathogenic Escherichia coli assemble surface structures termed pili or fimbriae to initiate infection of the urinary tract. P pili facilitate bacterial colonization of the kidney and pyelonephritis. P pili are assembled through the conserved chaperone-usher pathway. Much of the structural and functional understanding of the chaperone-usher pathway has been gained through investigations of type 1 pili, which promote binding to the bladder and cystitis. In contrast, the structural basis for P pilus biogenesis at the usher has remained elusive. This is in part due to the flexible and variable-length P pilus tip fiber, creating structural heterogeneity, and difficulties isolating stable P pilus assembly intermediates. Here, we circumvent these hindrances and determine cryo-electron microscopy structures of the activated PapC usher in the process of secreting two- and three-subunit P pilus assembly intermediates, revealing processive steps in P pilus biogenesis and capturing new conformational dynamics of the usher assembly machine.

Processive dynamics of the usher assembly platform during uropathogenic Escherichia coli P pilus biogenesis.,Du M, Yuan Z, Werneburg GT, Henderson NS, Chauhan H, Kovach A, Zhao G, Johl J, Li H, Thanassi DG Nat Commun. 2021 Sep 1;12(1):5207. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25522-6. PMID:34471127^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.