Autotransporter passenger domain secretion requires a hydrophobic cavity at the extracellular entrance of the ß-domain pore.

Whooping cough (pertussis) is a highly contagious acute respiratory illness of humans caused by the Gram-negative bacterial pathogen Bordetella pertussis. The AT (autotransporter) BrkA (Bordetella serum-resistance killing protein A) is an important B. pertussis virulence factor that confers serum resistance and mediates adherence. In the present study, we have solved the crystal structure of the BrkA ß-domain at 3 Å (1 Å=0.1 nm) resolution. Special features are a hairpin-like structure formed by the external loop L4, which is observed fortuitously sitting inside the pore of the crystallographic adjacent ß-domain, and a previously undiscovered hydrophobic cavity formed by patches on loop L4 and ß-strands S5 and S6. This adopts a ubiquitous structure characteristic of all AT ß-domains. Mutagenesis studies have demonstrated that the hairpin-like structure and hydrophobic cavity are crucial for BrkA passenger domain (virulence effector) translocation. This structure helps in understanding the molecular mechanism of AT assembly and secretion and provides a potential target for anti-pertussis drug design.

Crystal structures of all-alpha type membrane proteins.

Integral membrane proteins are involved in a wide range of essential biological functions and the determination of their three-dimensional structures plays a central role in understanding their function. This review focuses on the structures of one class of integral membrane proteins: the functionally diverse all-alpha type membrane proteins. It gives an overview of all the structures determined by X-ray crystallography, describing each system and structure in turn. It shows that the structures of all-alpha type membrane proteins have made valuable contributions to understanding structure-function relationships in membrane proteins. These range from the first insights into the function of exciting individual proteins to an in-depth knowledge of protein function from entire biological systems.

Structure-function dissection of D6, an atypical scavenger receptor.

Chemokines direct leukocyte migration by activating intracellular signalling pathways through G-protein coupled chemokine receptors. However, they also bind to other surface proteins, including a group of molecules which we refer to as 'atypical' chemokine receptors. One such molecule is D6. D6 is structurally-related to other chemokine receptors, and binds specific pro-inflammatory chemokines with high affinity, but surprisingly, when expressed in heterologous cell lines, it is unable to transduce signals after chemokine engagement. Instead, by using the approaches outlined in this chapter, evidence has emerged that D6 acts as a chemokine scavenger which uses unique intracellular trafficking properties to continuously sequester extracellular chemokines into cells. It is envisaged that this suppresses inflammation in vivo by limiting pro-inflammatory chemokine bioavailability, and indeed, D6 deficient mice show exaggerated inflammatory responses to a variety of challenges. In addition to the in vitro functional studies, we also describe the methods we have used to express, purify and analyse large quantities of D6 protein. The unusually high stability of D6 and its broad subcellular distribution enables D6 to be expressed to very high levels in transfected cells, making it possible, at least in principal, to produce enough D6 to allow for purification of quantities suitable for crystallisation. This is a key step on the path towards generating a three-dimensional structure of the molecule. Thus, the protocols we outline have helped establish chemokine scavenging as a novel paradigm in chemokine biology, and may also ultimately provide unprecedented insight into the structure of D6 and other chemokine receptors.

Crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of P30, the transmembrane domain of pertactin, an autotransporter from Bordetella pertussis.

P30, the 32 kDa transmembrane C-terminal domain of pertactin from Bordetella pertussis, is supposed to form a beta-barrel inserted into the outer membrane for the translocation of the passenger domain. P30 was cloned and expressed in inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. After refolding and purification, the protein was crystallized using the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method at 292 K. The crystals diffract to a resolution limit of 3.5 A using synchrotron radiation and belong to the hexagonal space group P6(1)22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 123.27, c = 134.43 A.