Ultrasensitivity and heavy-metal selectivity of the allosterically modulated MerR transcription complex.

The MerR metalloregulatory protein is a heavy-metal receptor that functions as the repressor and Hg(II)-responsive transcription activator of the prokaryotic mercury-resistance (mer) genes. We demonstrate that this allosterically modulated regulatory protein is sensitive to HgCl2 concentrations of 1.0 +/- 0.3 x 10(-8) M in the presence of 1.0 x 10(-3) M dithiothreitol for half-maximal induction of transcription of the mer promoter by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase in vitro. Transcription mediated by MerR increases from 10% to 90% of maximum in response to a 7-fold change in concentration of HgCl2, consistent with a threshold phenomenon known as ultrasensitivity. In addition, MerR exhibits a high degree of selectivity. Cd(II), Zn(II), Ag(I), Au(I), and Au(III) have been found to partially stimulate transcription in the presence of MerR, but concentrations at least two to three orders of magnitude greater than for Hg(II) are required. The molecular basis of the ultrasensitivity and selectivity phenomena are postulated to arise from the unusual topology of the transcription complex and a rare trigonal mercuric ion coordination environment, respectively. This mercuric ion-induced switch is to our knowledge the only known example of ultrasensitivity in a signal-responsive transcription mechanism.

Metalloregulatory proteins and molecular mechanisms of heavy metal signal transduction.

This review has considered what is known about the precise chemical mechanisms involved in the signal transduction of heavy metal ions. By reviewing what is known about general modes of signal transduction, we may draw parallels with the detection of and response to metal ions. In all forms of signal transduction, sensors and transducers are required. Yet, it is apparent that each system has unique features which undoubtedly are critical for the specific signal at hand. Within the context of metal-responsive systems, regardless of whether or not the metal ion is being sequestered, directly utilized, removed or otherwise, several examples of specific metalloregulatory proteins have been elucidated and are summarized in Table II. A close inspection of Table II reveals that in most signal transduction pathways for heavy metals, the presence of the metal ion causes a marked change in the nucleic acid binding capacity of the metalloregulatory protein. For example, the presence of iron results in the dissociation of a protein from iron responsive elements, thereby derepressing ferritin translation. In other instances, metal binding allows a metalloregulatory protein to associate with DNA to activate or repress transcription, as with ACE1 and Fur, respectively. In fact, to the authors' knowledge, it appears that all characterized ligand-responsive transcription factors change nucleic acid binding activity upon ligand binding. This change in affinity is a major feature of the mechanism for activation or repression by these receptors. In contrast, the mercuric ion metalloregulatory protein, MerR, operates by an entirely different transduction mechanism. MerR remains bound to its operator sequence in the presence and absence of mercuric ion, with only a slight increase in the dissociation rate constant in the presence of Hg(II). Furthermore, the site of MerR binding to the DNA is in a novel position for a prokaryotic activator, directly between the two sets of recognition sequences for RNA polymerase. Analysis of the protein-DNA interactions and transcriptional activity has demonstrated that MerR forms a complex with RNA polymerase in the absence of Hg(II) that is unstable and transcriptionally repressed. When Hg(II) is present in greater than nanomolar concentrations, a highly active transcription complex is formed at PT and a distortion at the center of the palindromic MerR binding site is detectable. Kinetic analysis has determined that, although no change in the binding of RNAP to PT is apparent, the presence of Hg(II) stimulates the rate of isomerization from the closed to the open transcription complex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

The MerR heavy metal receptor mediates positive activation in a topologically novel transcription complex.

Several physical and chemical signals from the extracellular environment are known to be transduced into changes in gene expression through multiple step pathways; however, mechanisms for triggering cellular responses to heavy metal stress have yet to be elucidated. We demonstrate here one such mechanism that employs a single heavy metal receptor protein, MerR, to directly activate transcription of the bacterial mercuric ion resistance operon. The mercuric ion-MerR complex and E. coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme synergistically bind to the metal responsive promoter in an unprecedented spatial relationship to form transcriptionally competent complexes. The activator binds adjacent to and overlaps with the polymerase molecule between the consensus -35 and -10 promoter regions. Our results support a model for transcriptional activation that includes both effector-induced protein-protein interactions and activator-induced alteration in DNA structure.