Publication Abstract from PubMed
Type IV pilin monomers assemble to form fibers called pili that are required for a variety of bacterial functions. Pilin monomers oligomerize due to the interaction of part of their hydrophobic N-terminal alpha-helix. Engineering of a truncated pilin from Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain K122-4, where the first 28 residues are removed from the N terminus, yields a soluble, monomeric protein. This truncated pilin is shown to bind to its receptor and to decrease morbidity and mortality in mice upon administration 15 min before challenge with a heterologous strain of Pseudomonas. The structure of this truncated pilin reveals an alpha-helix at the N terminus that lies across a 4-stranded antiparallel beta-sheet. A model for a pilus is proposed that takes into account both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions of pilin subunits as well as previously published x-ray fiber diffraction data. Our model indicates that DNA or RNA cannot pass through the center of the pilus, however, the possibility exists for small organic molecules to pass through indicating a potential mechanism for signal transduction.
Structure of a pilin monomer from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: implications for the assembly of pili.,Keizer DW, Slupsky CM, Kalisiak M, Campbell AP, Crump MP, Sastry PA, Hazes B, Irvin RT, Sykes BD J Biol Chem. 2001 Jun 29;276(26):24186-93. Epub 2001 Apr 9. PMID:11294863[1]
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
