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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2006, p. 389-398, Vol. 188, No. 2
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.188.2.389-398.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Purification and Characterization of LPXTGase from Staphylococcus aureus: the Amino Acid Composition Mirrors That Found in the Peptidoglycan

Sung G. Lee and Vincent A. Fischetti*

Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10021

Received 25 August 2005/ Accepted 23 October 2005

Bacterial surface proteins are important molecules in the infectivity and survival of pathogens. Surface proteins on gram-positive bacteria have been shown to attach via a transpeptidase, termed sortase, that cleaves an LPXTG sequence found close to the C termini of nearly all surface proteins on these bacteria. We previously identified a unique enzyme (LPXTGase) from Streptococcus pyogenes that also cleaves the LPXTG motif with a catalytic activity higher than that of sortase, suggesting that it plays an important role in the attachment process. We have now purified and characterized an LPXTGase from Staphylococcus aureus and found that it has both similar and unique features compared to the S. pyogenes enzyme. The S. aureus enzyme is glycosylated and contains unusual amino acids, like its streptococcal counterpart. Like the streptococcal enzyme, staphylococcal LPXTGase has an overrepresentation of amino acids found in the peptidoglycan, i.e., glutamine/glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, and lysine, and furthermore, we find that these amino acids are present in the enzyme at precisely the same ratio at which they are found in the peptidoglycan for the respective organism. This suggests that enzymes responsible for wall assembly may also play a role in the construction of LPXTGase.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, NY 10021. Phone: (212) 327-8166. Fax: (212) 327-7584. E-mail: vaf{at}rockefeller.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2006, p. 389-398, Vol. 188, No. 2
0021-9193/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.188.2.389-398.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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