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Journal of Bacteriology, August 2004, p . 5160-5166, Vol . 186,
No . 15
Expression of a Functional Secreted YopN-TyeA Hybrid Protein in Yersinia
pestis Is the Result of a +1 Translational Frameshift Event
Franco Ferracci,
James B . Day, ,
Heather J . Ezelle,
and Gregory V . Plano*
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami School of
Medicine, Miami, Florida 33101
Received 20 February 2004/ Accepted 21 April 2004
YopN is a secreted protein that prior to secretion directly interacts
with the cytosolic SycN/YscB chaperone complex and TyeA . This study
identifies a secreted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein that is expressed by
Yersinia pestis, but not by Yersinia enterocolitica .
DNA sequence analysis and site-directed mutagenesis studies
demonstrate that the hybrid protein is the result of a +1 translational
frameshift event .
Yersinia pestis is the causative agent of plague, an invasive
and often fatal disease of animals and humans . The pathogenicity of
Y . pestis primarily results from its ability to avoid the
defenses of its mammalian host while overwhelming it with massive
growth (6) . These capabilities are strictly dependent upon the
presence of a 70-kb plasmid termed pCD1 in Y . pestis KIM (24) .
Plasmid pCD1 and related plasmids (2) in the other human
pathogenic yersiniae (Y . enterocolitica and Y .
pseudotuberculosis) encode a set of secreted antihost proteins
termed Yersinia outer proteins (Yops) and a unique delivery
system, classified as a type III secretion (TTS) system (2,
16) . This system allows extracellular yersiniae to
inject Yops directly into host phagocytic cells (15,
25, 27) . Injected Yops function to prevent
bacterial phagocytosis and block production of proinflammatory
cytokines (22, 23, 30) .
Yop secretion is triggered by contact between a bacterium and the
surface of a targeted host cell . Following cell contact, effector
Yops are injected into the eukaryotic cell and are not found in
substantial amounts in the extracellular milieu, indicating that the
delivery process is polarized (2, 28) . In
vitro, Yop secretion is blocked in the presence of millimolar
levels of extracellular calcium and triggered during growth at 37°C
in the absence of calcium (21, 33) . The
secreted YopN protein (13, 35)
and the cytosolic TyeA (5, 18), SycN (8,
17), YscB (19), and LcrG (20,
29) proteins are required to prevent Yop secretion
in the presence of calcium and prior to contact with a eukaryotic
cell . Mutational inactivation of any one of the five genes encoding
these proteins results in uncontrolled secretion prior to host cell
contact and a loss of polarized injection following cell contact .
SycN and YscB interact with one another to form a SycN/YscB
complex that functions as a TTS chaperone for YopN (8) . The
SycN/YscB complex binds to an N-terminal region of YopN and is
required for efficient YopN secretion (Fig . 1) . TyeA is a
cytosolic protein that binds to a C-terminal region of YopN and
inhibits YopN secretion (4, 7,
18) . The mechanism by which the
YopN-SycN-YscB-TyeA complex regulates Yop secretion is unknown;
however, it has been hypothesized that partially secreted YopN bound
by TyeA directly blocks the secretion channel prior to contact with a
eukaryotic cell (4) . Upon contact with a eukaryotic
cell, an as-yet-unidentified signaling event allows YopN to complete
its secretion, thus clearing the secretion channel for delivery of
the effector Yops . Secreted YopN is directed into the eukaryotic cell
(7); however, no direct antihost function has been
attributed to this protein .
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FIG . 1 . Genetic map of the Y . pestis yopNtyeAsycNyscXY operon .
The DNA sequences of the 3' region of yopN and the 5' region of
tyeA are shown . The location of the putative +1 translational
frameshift site is shown in boldface type and illustrated in the inset
box . The location of the Q274>STOP, K276>STOP, F278>STOP, Q280>STOP,
K286>STOP, and R291>STOP changes used to map the site of the
translational frameshift are indicated (octagons) . Termination codons
(octagons) that eliminate production of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein are
shaded . The location of the T in Y . enterocolitica that inserts a
stop codon immediately upstream of the TyeA start codon is also
indicated (octagon) . The location of the single T residue deleted in
plasmid pYopN-TyeA-FS1 is indicated by an asterisk . DNA fragments used
in the construction of plasmids pYopN2, pYopN-TyeA, and pTyeA1 are
shown.
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Identification of a secreted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein in Y . pestis.
Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)
and immunoblot analysis of cell pellet and culture supernatant
fractions from Y . pestis KIM8-3002 (34), Y .
pseudotuberculosis YPIII (3), and Y .
enterocolitica 8081V (26) with antiserum specific
for YopN identified a ca . 42-kDa secreted protein in the Y .
pestis and Y . pseudotuberculosis strains that was absent from
Y . enterocolitica (Fig . 2A; Y .
pseudotuberculosis data not shown) . The novel secreted protein
was significantly larger than the ca . 32-kDa secreted YopN protein
observed in all three strains . A secreted protein of ca . 42 kDa was
also identified in Y . pestis cell pellet and culture
supernatant fractions probed with antiserum specific for TyeA (Fig.
2C) . This was noteworthy because previous reports
had shown that TyeA is a ca . 10-kDa cytosolic protein (5)
that interacts with cytosolic YopN . The size of the anti-YopN ( -YopN)-
and
-TyeA-reactive
band was approximately the size of a YopN-TyeA heterodimer .
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FIG . 2 . Identification of a secreted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein . Bacterial
strains were grown in TMH medium with (+) or without (–) 2.5 mM CaCl2
for 5 h at 37°C . Individual bacterial cultures were harvested by
centrifugation and dissolved in SDS-PAGE sample buffer volumes
corresponding to equal numbers of bacteria . Respective culture
supernatants were precipitated with 10% trichloroacetic acid and
resuspended in an equivalent volume of sample buffer . Samples were
separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to Immobilon-P membranes, and probed
with antiserum specific for YopN (A and B) or TyeA (C) . (A) Y . pestis
KIM8 and Y . enterocolitica 8081V; (B and C) Y . pestis
KIM8-3002 (parent), KIM8-3002.P8 ( tyeA),
and KIM8-3002.P7 ( yopN).
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The predicted amino acid sequences of YopN and TyeA each contained a
single cysteine residue (YopN Cys140 and TyeA Cys73), indicating that
a YopN-TyeA disulfide-linked heterodimer was possible . The
contribution of disulfide bonds to the formation of the 42-kDa band
was evaluated by analyzing the samples under reducing (5%
ß-mercaptoethanol [ßME]) and nonreducing (–ßME) conditions . No change
in the size or amount of the 42-kDa product in the presence or
absence of 5% ßME was observed (data not shown), indicating that
the 42-kDa band was not a disulfide-linked YopN-TyeA heterodimer .
To assess the role of YopN and TyeA in the formation of the 42-kDa
band, Y . pestis strains deficient in production of full-length
YopN or TyeA were grown under standard conditions (37°C; with or
without calcium), and the cell pellet and supernatant fractions were
analyzed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting with
-YopN
and
-TyeA
antisera (Fig . 2B and C) . Y . pestis KIM8-3002.P8
( tyeA)
contains an in-frame deletion within tyeA eliminating the
coding region for amino acid residues 10 to 55 of the 92-residue TyeA
protein (8) . Y . pestis KIM8-3002.P7 ( yopN)
carries an in-frame deletion within yopN eliminating the
coding sequence for residues 48 to 197 of the 293-residue YopN
protein (19) . The tyeA deletion strain
expressed and secreted full-length YopN (32 kDa) and a ca . 37-kDa
protein that was recognized by both the
-YopN
and
-TyeA
antisera . The yopN deletion strain expressed and secreted a
ca . 26-kDa protein that was recognized by the
-TyeA
antiserum . Thus, deletions within tyeA and yopN that
disrupt the function of TyeA and YopN, respectively, each resulted in
a corresponding reduction in the size of the 42-kDa
-YopN-
and
-TyeA-reactive
band, indicating that this band represents a YopN-TyeA SDS-resistant
complex or hybrid protein .
The 3' end of the yopN open reading frame overlaps the 5' end
of the tyeA open reading frame (–2 or +1 relative to the
yopN open reading frame) by 20 bp (Fig . 1), suggesting
that a –2 or +1 translational frameshift event could produce
a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein . Translational frameshifts occur
when the ribosome shifts its reading frame from the one it initiated
translating to a new reading frame (11) . A shift in the
upstream direction is termed a –1 translational frameshift, whereas
a shift in the downstream direction is termed a +1 translational
frameshift . After a frameshift event has occurred, the ribosome
will continue reading in the new frame until it encounters a
termination codon . Programmed translational frameshift sites
efficiently stimulate frameshifting within transcripts that require
ribosomal frameshifts in order to produce a functional protein . In
contrast, translational frameshift errors usually lead to a
truncated, nonfunctional protein .
The YopN-TyeA hybrid protein is the product of a translational
frameshift event. The yopN –2/+1 open reading frame encodes a
TGA stop codon +1 to yopN codon 271 (Fig . 1) .
A –2 or +1 frameshift prior to yopN codon 271 would result in
termination of translation prior to translation of the TyeA open
reading frame . Thus, a translational frameshift event capable of
producing the observed YopN-TyeA hybrid protein must occur after
translation of yopN codon 270 and prior to termination of
translation at the yopN termination codon .
A comparison of the Y . pestis KIM (24) and Y .
enterocolitica 8081V (32) yopN
sequences revealed the presence of a single nucleotide difference
(Fig . 1) in the sequences preceding the TyeA open
reading frame . This A-to-T difference results in the placement of a
TAA termination codon just upstream of the TyeA start codon in Y .
enterocolitica . The presence of this termination codon would
terminate translation of any –2/+1 frameshift event that occurred
prior to translation of yopN codon 287 . The presence of this
termination codon could explain why no YopN-TyeA hybrid protein is
expressed by Y . enterocolitica and suggests that any
translational frameshift event in Y . pestis and Y .
pseudotuberculosis would likely occur after translation of
yopN codon 270 and prior to translation of codon 287 .
To determine if the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein is the result of a
translational frameshift event, we examined the effect of several
termination codons inserted within the yopN sequence on the
production and size of the hybrid protein . To facilitate these
studies, a Y . pestis
yopN
tyeA
deletion strain was constructed using the PCR-ligation-PCR technique
(1) . The in-frame deletion eliminated the coding
sequence for amino acids 6 to 293 of YopN and 1 to 52 of TyeA . The
DNA fragment containing the deletion was inserted into the suicide
plasmid pRE112 (10) and moved into Y . pestis
KIM8-3002 by allelic exchange as previously described (7),
generating Y . pestis KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA) .
Complementation of the deletion with plasmid pYopN-TyeA restored
expression of YopN and of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein (see Fig.
5) .
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FIG . 5 . Expression of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein is not required for
the calcium-dependent regulation of Yop secretion in Y . pestis . Y .
pestis KIM8-3002 (parent) and KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA)
carrying plasmids pYopN2, pTyeA1, pYopN2, and pTyeA1 or carrying
pYopN-TyeA were grown in TMH medium with (+) or without (–) 2.5 mM CaCl2
for 5 h at 37°C . Individual bacterial cultures were harvested by
centrifugation and dissolved in SDS-PAGE sample buffer volumes
corresponding to equal numbers of bacteria . Respective culture
supernatants were precipitated with 10% trichloroacetic acid and
resuspended in an equivalent volume of sample buffer . Samples were
separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to Immobilon-P membranes, and probed
with antiserum specific for YopN ( -YopN)
or YopE ( -YopE).
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A series of pYopN-TyeA plasmids each containing a single nonsense
mutation (termination codon) in the above identified region of
yopN were constructed using the PCR-ligation-PCR technique (Fig.
1) . The resultant plasmids were electroporated into the
Y . pestis yopN tyeA deletion strain and assayed for production
of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein (Fig . 3) . Insertion of a
stop codon upstream of, or within, sequences required for a
translational frameshift event would be expected to terminate
translation at that point and eliminate production of the hybrid
protein . Insertion of a stop codon downstream of the sequences
required for a translational frameshift event would not be expected
to affect the translational frameshift process . However, sequences
at some distance from a translational frameshift site can affect
the efficiency of the translational frameshift process (11) .
Introduction of a termination codon at yopN codon 274 (Q274>STOP),
276 (K276>STOP), or 278 (F278>STOP) eliminated production of
the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein; in contrast, a nonsense mutation at
codon 280 (Q280>STOP) or 286 (K286>STOP) did not affect YopN-TyeA
hybrid protein production (Fig . 3) . The estimated
size of the truncated YopN protein produced by each of the nonsense
mutants corresponded to the size predicted from the location of each
termination codon; however, the sizes of the three YopN-TyeA hybrid
proteins that were expressed failed to show a corresponding change in
size . These data strongly suggest that the observed YopN-TyeA hybrid
protein is the product of a translational frameshift event that
occurs after translation of yopN codon 270 and prior to
translation of yopN codon 281 . The termination codons inserted
at yopN codons 274, 276, and 278 could prevent the translational
frameshift event by terminating translation prior to encountering
the frameshift site or by directly disrupting sequences required
for the frameshift event per se .
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FIG . 3 . Expression of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein by Y . pestis
KIM8-3002 (parent) and KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA)
carrying plasmid pYopN-TyeA (K286>STOP), pYopN-TyeA (Q280>STOP),
pYopN-TyeA (F278>STOP), pYopN-TyeA (K276>STOP), or pYopN-TyeA
(Q274>STOP) . Bacterial strains were grown in TMH medium lacking CaCl2
for 5 h at 37°C . Individual bacterial cultures were harvested by
centrifugation and dissolved in SDS-PAGE sample buffer volumes
corresponding to equal numbers of bacteria . Samples were separated by
SDS-PAGE, transferred to Immobilon-P membranes, and probed with
antiserum specific for YopN ( -YopN)
or TyeA ( -TyeA).
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Translational frameshift events are induced by distinct nucleotide
sequences that cause the ribosome to pause over a specific sequence
during translational elongation (11) . The pause allows a
kinetically unfavorable alternative coding event to occur . Scanning
of the identified yopN nucleotide sequence for sequence motifs
previously demonstrated to promote translational frameshift events
revealed the presence of a UUU-UGG dicodon that corresponds to the
UUU-Ynn dicodon sequence motif that has been shown to be highly ( 100-fold
more) frameshift prone in the rightward (+1) direction (14,
31) . A +1 frameshift at this site (Fig . 1)
would generate a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein consisting of the first 278
residues of YopN, 9 residues (GNFFQRVKL) translated from the sequence
upstream of the TyeA open reading frame and residues 1 to 92 of
TyeA . The predicted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein would have a theoretical
molecular weight of 42,713, which is nearly identical to the
molecular weight estimated for the observed YopN-TyeA hybrid protein .
In fact, a frameshift mutation engineered in yopN at the
corresponding site (TTT-TGG; see below and Fig . 6)
resulted in the expression of a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein identical in
size to that expressed via translational frameshifting, strongly
suggesting that this is the site of the translational frameshift
event . Numerous attempts to isolate enough of a truncated
frameshifted YopN-TyeA protein in order to directly obtain the amino
acid sequence at the potential translational frameshift site failed .
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FIG . 6 . Plasmid pYopN-TyeA-FS1 encodes a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein that
restores calcium-dependent regulation of Yop secretion to Y . pestis
KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA) .
(A) Y . pestis KIM8-3002 (parent) and KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA)
carrying plasmids pYopN-TyeA, pYopN-TyeA (Q274>STOP), and pYopN-TyeA-FS1
were grown in TMH medium lacking CaCl2 for 5 h at 37°C .
Individual bacterial cultures were harvested by centrifugation and
dissolved in SDS-PAGE sample buffer volumes corresponding to equal
numbers of bacteria . Samples were separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to
Immobilon-P membranes, and probed with antiserum specific for YopN ( -YopN)
or TyeA ( -TyeA) .
(B) Expression and secretion of YopM by Y . pestis KIM8-3002
(parent) and KIM8-3002.P55 ( yopN
tyeA)
carrying plasmids pYopN-TyeA or pYopN-TyeA-FS1 . Bacteria were grown in
TMH medium with (+) or without (–) 2.5 mM CaCl2 for 5 h at
37°C . Individual bacterial cultures were harvested by centrifugation and
dissolved in SDS-PAGE sample buffer volumes corresponding to equal
numbers of bacteria . Respective culture supernatants were precipitated
with 10% trichloroacetic acid and resuspended in an equivalent volume of
sample buffer . Samples were separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to
Immobilon-P membranes, and probed with antiserum specific for YopM ( -YopM).
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Interaction of TyeA with MBP-YopN and truncated MBP-YopN proteins.
The identified translational frameshift event results in the
expression of a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein lacking the C-terminal 15
residues of YopN . To evaluate whether the truncated YopN protein
might be capable of interacting with TyeA independently of the
proposed translational frameshift event, we constructed a series of
maltose binding protein (MBP)-fusion protein vectors that expressed
either full-length MBP-YopN (MBP-YopN) or C-terminal-truncated
MBP-YopN proteins: MBP-YopN (R291>STOP), MBP-YopN (K286>STOP),
MBP-YopN (Q280>STOP), MBP-YopN (F278>STOP), MBP-YopN (K276>STOP),
MBP-YopN (Q274>STOP), and MBP-YopN (L265>STOP) . TyeA was previously
demonstrated to bind to YopN residues 242 to 293 (18),
a region that includes a predicted coiled-coil region (residues 248
to 272) . The ability of FLAG epitope-tagged TyeA to interact with the
various truncated MBP-YopN proteins was evaluated via the protein
affinity blotting (overlay) technique as previously described (9) .
The MBP-YopN proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE, transferred to
Immobilon-P membranes, and probed with the cytosolic (soluble)
fraction obtained from Escherichia coli BL21 carrying
pFLAG-CTC-TyeA . FLAG-tagged TyeA bound strongly to full-length
MBP-YopN, MBP-YopN (R291>STOP), and MBP-YopN (K286>STOP) (Fig.
4) . MBP-YopN (Q280>STOP) and all further truncated
versions of this hybrid protein failed to bind TyeA . These data
indicate that the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein expressed by Y . pestis
carrying pYopN-TyeA (Q280>STOP) (Fig . 3) is
unlikely to be due to an SDS-resistant protein-protein interaction,
since YopN (Q280>STOP) is not competent for interaction with TyeA by
affinity blot analysis . These data also indicate that YopN
truncations missing only the C-terminal 14 residues of YopN are
unable to interact with TyeA, confirming that the extreme C-terminal
region of YopN is required for this interaction .
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FIG . 4 . Binding of TyeA-FLAG to MBP-YopN and C-terminal-truncated
MBP-YopN proteins . Cell pellet fractions from E . coli BL21 cells
expressing MBP, MBP-YopN, MBP-YopN (R291>STOP), MBP-YopN (K286>STOP),
MBP-YopN (Q280>STOP), MBP-YopN (F278>STOP), MBP-YopN (K276>STOP),
MBP-YopN (Q274>STOP), or MBP-YopN (L265>STOP) were separated by SDS-PAGE
and transferred to Immobilon-P membranes . (A) Expression of MBP and MBP
derivatives detected by immunoblot analysis with antiserum specific for
MBP ( -MBP) .
(B) Duplicate Immobilon-P membrane probed with cytosolic extract from
E . coli BL21 cells carrying plasmid pFLAG-CTC-TyeA . Bound TyeA-FLAG
was detected with the FLAG M2 monoclonal antibody (Sigma).
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Role of the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein in the regulation of Yop secretion.
Translational frameshift events can be required for the production of
a functional protein (programmed translational frameshifts) or can
result in the production of a truncated and/or nonfunctional protein
(translational frameshift errors) (11) . Interestingly,
a database search revealed that several bacteria are predicted
to exclusively express a secreted protein with an N-terminal domain
homologous to YopN and a C-terminal domain homologous to TyeA (a
YopN-TyeA-like hybrid protein) . These proteins (CopN of Chlamydia
spp . [12] and BopN of Bordetella spp . [36])
are also predicted to function in the regulation of TTS . These data
suggest that a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein could be functional . To
begin to examine the functional significance of the YopN-TyeA hybrid
protein in Y . pestis, we measured the calcium-regulated
secretion of YopE, a translocated effector Yop, in strains expressing
or not expressing the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein (Fig . 5) .
The Y . pestis yopN tyeA deletion strain was transformed with
plasmids expressing YopN (pYopN2 [7]), TyeA (pTyeA1 [8]),
YopN and TyeA (pYopN2 and pTyeA1, and also YopN and TyeA with the
YopN-TyeA hybrid protein [pYopN-TyeA]) . By expressing YopN and
TyeA from separate plasmids (pYopN2 and pTyeA1), we were able to
express wild-type YopN and TyeA without expression of the YopN-TyeA
hybrid protein . The parent strain (Y . pestis KIM8-3002) and
the yopN tyeA deletion strain carrying plasmid pYopN-TyeA both
expressed the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein, whereas the other strains, as
expected, did not express this protein (Fig . 5) . As
previously shown, failure to express either YopN or TyeA resulted in
constitutive secretion of YopE in the presence and absence of calcium
(13, 18) . Complementation with either
pYopN-TyeA or pYopN2 and pTyeA1 restored the calcium-dependent
regulation of Yop secretion, indicating that the YopN-TyeA hybrid
protein was not required for the calcium-dependent regulation of Yop
secretion (Fig . 5) . These data indicate that the
translational frameshift event is not required for the regulation of
Yop secretion in Y . pestis but do not rule on whether the
YopN-TyeA hybrid is functional . These results are consistent with the
fact that Y . enterocolitica shows calcium-regulated secretion
but does not produce a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein .
To determine if the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein can function to
regulate Yop secretion, we forced a +1 frameshift at the predicted
site of the translational frameshift event by deleting a single T
from the sequence TTT-TGG-C (new sequence, TTT-GGC) in plasmid
pYopN-TyeA by using the PCR-ligation-PCR technique (1) (Fig .
1) . The resultant plasmid, termed pYopN-TyeA-FS1, was
moved into the Y . pestis yopN tyeA deletion strain and
analyzed for expression of YopN, TyeA, and the YopN-TyeA hybrid
protein, as well as for secretion of YopM (Fig . 6) .
The yopN tyeA deletion strain carrying pYopN-TyeA-FS1
expressed a YopN-TyeA hybrid protein of the same size as that
expressed by the parent Y . pestis strain (Fig .
6A) . No wild-type-size YopN was present in this strain; however,
as expected, TyeA was expressed (data not shown) . The yopN tyeA
deletion strain expressing the frameshifted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein
showed calcium-regulated YopM and YopE secretion (YopE data not
shown), suggesting that the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein was functional
in regards to the regulation of Yop secretion (Fig . 6B) .
A small amount of YopM was secreted in the presence of calcium;
however, the calcium-dependent block in secretion associated with the
frameshifted YopN-TyeA protein was nearly complete . It is unlikely
that free TyeA binding to the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein is responsible
for the calcium-dependent regulation of Yop secretion, since TyeA
does not interact with either MBP-YopN (F278>STOP) or MBP-YopN
(Q280>STOP) (Fig . 4) . Further, plasmids pYopN-TyeA
(F278>STOP) and pYopN-TyeA (Q280>STOP) were unable to restore
calcium-dependent regulation of secretion to either a Y . pestis
yopN or yopN tyeA deletion strain (data not shown),
indicating that YopN truncated following translation of yopN
codons 277 or 279 is not functional unless directly fused to TyeA by
a frameshift mutation or a translational frameshift event . These data
suggest that the translational frameshift event that generates the
secreted YopN-TyeA hybrid protein results in the production of a
functional YopN-TyeA hybrid protein that can be secreted via the TTS
system . In addition to a possible role in the regulation of Yop
secretion, the YopN-TyeA hybrid protein could have a
not-yet-identified role in TTS, translocation, or virulence .
The results presented confirm that Y . pestis expresses and secretes
a functional YopN-TyeA hybrid protein that is the product of a
translational frameshift event . The identification of this hybrid
protein explains the presence of the unique ca . 42-kDa band observed
in culture supernatants isolated from Y . pestis and Y .
pseudotuberculosis, but not in those from Y . enterocolitica .
The expression and secretion of this hybrid protein may have
led to some of the initial conflicting results on whether TyeA was
cytosolic or cell surface associated (5, 18) .
Our results support the current hypothesis that TyeA is a cytosolic
protein that directly interacts with YopN and remains cytosolic
following secretion of YopN .
The identification of a functional secreted YopN-TyeA hybrid
protein in Y . pestis suggests that the reversible binding of
TyeA to YopN per se is not the key event controlling the opening and
closing of the secretion channel . Although both TyeA and YopN are
essential for the regulation of Yop secretion, it appears that they
can function if expressed independently or as a single hybrid
protein . These findings also suggest that the YopN-TyeA-like hybrid
proteins expressed by Chlamydia spp . (CopN) and Bordetella
spp . (BopN) are also likely to function in the regulation of
TTS . At this point it is unclear why these bacteria express a
YopN-TyeA-like hybrid protein instead of two separate interacting
proteins . As more is learned about the Chlamydia spp . and Bordetella
spp . TTS systems and the signals that control secretion by these
systems, light may be shed on the advantages and/or disadvantages
of expressing these key regulatory proteins as a single protein .
This work was supported by Public Health Service grants AI 39575 and
AI 50552 from the National Institutes of Health to G.P .
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami School of Medicine, P.O . Box
016960 (R-138), Miami, FL 33101 . Phone: (305) 243-6310 . Fax: (305) 243-4623 .
E-mail: gplano@med.miami.edu.
F.F., J.B.D., and H.E . contributed equally to this work .
Present address: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food
and Drug Administration, College Park, MD 20740 .
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