Title
Signal Transmission in Escherichia coli Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein for Survival in Extreme Acidic Conditions
Date Issued
12 October 2021
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Knapp J.
Zandarashvili L.
Esadze A.
White M.A.
Gribenko A.V.
Lee J.C.
Publisher(s)
American Chemical Society
Abstract
During the life cycle of enteric bacterium Escherichia coli, it encounters a wide spectrum of pH changes. The asymmetric dimer of the cAMP receptor protein, CRP, plays a key role in regulating the expressions of genes and the survival of E. coli. To elucidate the pH effects on the mechanism of signal transmission, we present a combination of results derived from ITC, crystallography, and computation. CRP responds to a pH change by inducing a differential effect on the affinity for the binding events to the two cAMP molecules, ensuing in a reversible conversion between positive and negative cooperativity at high and low pH, respectively. The structures of four crystals at pH ranging from 7.8 to 6.5 show that CRP responds by inducing a differential effect on the structures of the two subunits, particularly in the DNA binding domain. Employing the COREX/BEST algorithm, computational analysis shows the change in the stability of residues at each pH. The change in residue stability alters the connectivity between residues including those in cAMP and DNA binding sites. Consequently, the differential impact on the topology of the connectivity surface among residues in adjacent subunits is the main reason for differential change in affinity; that is, the pH-induced differential change in residue stability is the biothermodynamic basis for the change in allosteric behavior. Furthermore, the structural asymmetry of this homodimer amplifies the differential impact of any perturbations. Hence, these results demonstrate that the combination of these approaches can provide insights into the underlying mechanism of an apparent complex allostery signal and transmission in CRP.
Start page
2987
End page
3006
Volume
60
Issue
40
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Epidemiología Biología celular, Microbiología Parasitología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85117236646
PubMed ID
Source
Biochemistry
ISSN of the container
0006-2960
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported, in whole or in part, by the National Institutes of Health Grant GM-77551 and by the Robert A. Welch Foundation H-0013 (J.C.L.). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. The authors are grateful for critical suggestions by Joon Park and Dr. Whitney Y.W. Yin.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus