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Journal of Bacteriology, December 2001, p. 7273-7284, Vol. 183, No. 24
Abteilung für Molekulare Genetik und
Präparative Molekularbiologie, Institut für Mikrobiologie
und Genetik, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen,
D-37077 Göttingen, Germany
Received 12 June 2001/Accepted 25 September 2001
Intimins are members of a family of bacterial adhesins from
pathogenic Escherichia coli which specifically interact
with diverse eukaryotic cell surface receptors. The EaeA intimin from
enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7 contains an N-terminal
transporter domain, which resides in the bacterial outer membrane and
promotes the translocation of four C-terminally attached passenger
domains across the bacterial cell envelope. We investigated whether
truncated EaeA intimin lacking two carboxy-terminal domains could be
used as a translocator for heterologous passenger proteins. We found
that a variant of the trypsin inhibitor Ecballium
elaterium trypsin inhibitor II (EETI-II), interleukin 4, and
the Bence-Jones protein REIv were displayed on the surface
of E. coli K-12 via fusion to truncated intimin. Fusion
protein net accumulation in the outer membrane could be regulated over
a broad range by varying the cellular amount of suppressor tRNA that is
necessary for translational readthrough at an amber
codon residing within the truncated eaeA gene.
Intimin-mediated adhesion of the bacterial cells to eukaryotic target
cells could be mimicked by surface display of a short fibrinogen receptor binding peptide containing an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid
sequence motif, which promoted binding of E. coli K-12
to human platelets. Cells displaying a particular epitope sequence fused to truncated intimin could be enriched 200,000-fold by
immunofluorescence staining and fluorescence-activated cell sorting in
three sorting rounds. These results demonstrate that truncated intimin
can be used as an anchor protein that mediates the translocation of
various passenger proteins through the cytoplasmic and outer membranes of E. coli and their exposure on the cell surface.
Intimin display may prove a useful tool for future protein
translocation studies with interesting biological and biotechnological ramifications.
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.24.7273-7284.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Display of Passenger Proteins on the Surface of
Escherichia coli K-12 by the Enterohemorrhagic E.
coli Intimin EaeA
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Abteilung
für Molekulare Genetik, Grisebachstr. 8, D-37077 Göttingen,
Germany. Phone: 49 551 39 9657. Fax: 49 551 39 3805. E-mail:
HKolmar{at}Uni-MolGen.gwdg.de.
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