Structural basis of cell wall cleavage by a staphylococcal autolysin.
| Autor: | Sebastian Zoll, Bernhard Pätzold, Martin Schlag, Friedrich Götz, Hubert Kalbacher, Thilo Stehle |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2010 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | PLoS Pathogens, Vol 6, Iss 3, p e1000807 (2010) |
| Druh dokumentu: | article |
| ISSN: | 1553-7366 1553-7374 |
| DOI: | 10.1371/journal.ppat.1000807 |
| Popis: | The major autolysins (Atl) of Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. aureus play an important role in cell separation, and their mutants are also attenuated in virulence. Therefore, autolysins represent a promising target for the development of new types of antibiotics. Here, we report the high-resolution structure of the catalytically active amidase domain AmiE (amidase S. epidermidis) from the major autolysin of S. epidermidis. This is the first protein structure with an amidase-like fold from a bacterium with a gram-positive cell wall architecture. AmiE adopts a globular fold, with several alpha-helices surrounding a central beta-sheet. Sequence comparison reveals a cluster of conserved amino acids that define a putative binding site with a buried zinc ion. Mutations of key residues in the putative active site result in loss of activity, enabling us to propose a catalytic mechanism. We also identified and synthesized muramyltripeptide, the minimal peptidoglycan fragment that can be used as a substrate by the enzyme. Molecular docking and digestion assays with muramyltripeptide derivatives allow us to identify key determinants of ligand binding. This results in a plausible model of interaction of this ligand not only for AmiE, but also for other PGN-hydrolases that share the same fold. As AmiE active-site mutations also show a severe growth defect, our findings provide an excellent platform for the design of specific inhibitors that target staphylococcal cell separation and can thereby prevent growth of this pathogen. |
| Databáze: | Directory of Open Access Journals |
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