Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5838-5842, Vol. 181, No. 18
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
V6T 1Z3
Received 18 May 1999/Accepted 1 July 1999
BrkA is a 103-kDa outer membrane protein of Bordetella
pertussis that mediates resistance to antibody-dependent killing
by complement. It is proteolytically processed into a 73-kDa N-terminal domain and a 30-kDa C-terminal domain as determined by sodium dodecyl
sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. BrkA is also a member of
the autotransporter family of proteins. Translocation of the N-terminal
domain of the protein across the outer membrane is hypothesized to
occur through a pore formed by the C-terminal domain. To test this
hypothesis, we performed black lipid bilayer experiments with purified
recombinant protein. The BrkA C-terminal protein showed an average
single-channel conductance of 3.0 nS in 1 M KCl. This result strongly
suggests that the C-terminal autotransporter domain of BrkA is indeed
capable of forming a pore.
The autotransporters are a growing
family of extracellular proteins, found in many gram-negative bacteria,
that have many different functions but appear to have the same
mechanism of export (19, 20, 25). Members of this diverse
family include immunoglobulin A proteases from Neisseria
gonorrhoeae (21) and Haemophilus influenzae
(36); VacA (11), a vacuolating cytotoxin from
Helicobacter pylori; the AIDA-I adhesin (28, 43)
from Escherichia coli; IcsA (44) from
Shigella flexneri, which is involved in intracellular spread; the ring-forming protein (32) from
Helicobacter mustelae; Tsh (37), a
temperature-sensitive hemagglutinin from an avian E. coli
strain; EspP (8), an extracellular serine protease from
enterohemorrhagic E. coli; and tracheal colonization factor (17), the adhesin pertactin (10), and serum
resistance protein BrkA (15) from Bordetella
pertussis.
These proteins are grouped together by the following three
characteristics. (i) Most of the mature proteins are proteolytically processed into an approximately 30-kDa C-terminal domain and a much
larger N-terminal domain, (ii) the C-terminal domains are predicted to
form amphipathic In the proposed model of autotransporter secretion (22), an
N-terminal signal sequence enables translocation across the cytoplasmic
membrane. Once the protein is in the periplasm, the signal sequence is
cleaved and the C-terminal domain then inserts itself into the outer
membrane. It presumably forms a pore through which the N-terminal
domain is exported by the formation of a hairpin loop. Cleavage of the
N-terminal domain is thought to occur after translocation through the
outer membrane, either autoproteolytically or by another protease
(12).
In this study, we investigated the putative pore-forming ability of the
C-terminal domain of the B. pertussis autotransporter BrkA
through black lipid bilayer analysis. We found that the purified recombinant BrkA C-terminal protein forms channels in lipid bilayers whereas the BrkA N-terminal protein and the protein from a vector-only clone do not form channels in lipid bilayers.
Construction of clones.
RF1065 and DO218 were subcloned from
RF1066 (16). To construct RF1065 (Fig.
1a), brkA from the
BamHI site to the HindIII site was ligated to
pRSETb (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.), which represents amino acids
(aa) 694 to 1010 of BrkA. This clone contains the C-terminal domain
plus 37 aa that are upstream of the C-terminal processing site, as well
as an N-terminal His tag. JS13 contains pRSETb (Invitrogen) without an
insert. For DO218 (Fig. 1a), brkA from the AflIII
site to the BamHI site was ligated to pET30b (Novagen, Madison, Wis.). This clone contains the first 693 aa of BrkA with N-
and C-terminal His tags. All constructs were transformed into E. coli BL21 (DE3) pLysS cells (Novagen). Cultures were grown at
37°C in Luria broth or on Luria agar supplemented with 100 µg of
ampicillin per ml and 34 µg of chloramphenicol per ml.
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
The C-Terminal Domain of the Bordetella pertussis
Autotransporter BrkA Forms a Pore in Lipid Bilayer Membranes
![]()
ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Text
References
![]()
TEXT
Top
Abstract
Text
References
-barrels in the outer membrane, and (iii) export
through the outer membrane does not require accessory proteins; hence,
the name autotransporters.

View larger version (33K):
[in a new window]
FIG. 1.
(a) Diagram of E. coli BrkA clones used in
this study. Numbers below the boxes refer to amino acids. (b) SDS-PAGE
and Coomassie blue staining showing pooled fractions of BrkA C-terminal
protein obtained by denaturing Ni2+ chromatography after
dialysis. Dialysis was performed slowly at 4°C against decreasing
concentrations of urea and finally against 0.1% Triton X-100-10 mM
Tris (pH 8.0). M, low-molecular-weight markers (Pharmacia) (molecular
sizes are in kilodaltons). (c) Western immunoblot of BrkA C-terminal
protein (same as in panel b). Detection was performed with an anti-BrkA
C-terminal protein monoclonal antibody. Kaleidoscope Prestained
Standards (Bio-Rad) were used for molecular size determination
(molecular sizes are in kilodaltons).
Purification of the BrkA C-terminal domain from RF1065. The RF1065 clone used as the source of our BrkA C-terminal protein is shown in Fig. 1a. Protein was purified from RF1065 by denaturing Ni2+-nitrilotriacetic acid purification using the Xpress System Protein Purification protocol (Invitrogen). In order to renature the protein, elution fractions containing the protein of interest were pooled and then slowly dialyzed against decreasing concentrations of urea in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). Essentially, 8 M urea was diluted at a rate of 1 ml/min by PBS during the dialysis. The final dialysis was done overnight against 0.1% Triton X-100-10 mM Tris (pH 8.0). All dialysis was performed at 4°C.
After dialysis, pooled elution fractions were run on a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-11% polyacrylamide gel (23) and the proteins were visualized following staining with Coomassie brilliant blue. The Low Molecular Weight Electrophoresis Calibration Kit (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Baie d'Urfé, Quebec, Canada) was used to determine the molecular weight. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) (Fig. 1b) revealed a 37-kDa band which corresponds in size to the BrkA C-terminal domain (30 kDa) along with the 37 aa upstream of the processing site (Fig. 1a) and the His tag. Western blot analysis was also performed to confirm the identity of the protein. After electrophoresis was performed (23), the proteins were transferred to an Immobilon-P membrane (Millipore, Bedford, Mass.) at 100 V for 75 min by a wet transfer apparatus (Trans-Blot Electrophoretic Transfer Cell; Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif.) in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions. After transfer, the membrane was blocked with a 5% (wt/vol) skim milk solution in PBS for at least 1 h at room temperature. Washing and antibody incubation were carried out in a PBS solution containing 0.25% skim milk and 0.5% Tween 20. Membranes were incubated with a 1/30 dilution of mouse anti-BrkA C-terminal protein monoclonal antibody (a gift from Roger Parton, University of Glasgow) for 2 h at 37°C and then washed for 30 min. Secondary antibody incubation with a 1/10,000 dilution of goat anti-mouse immunoglobulin G conjugated to horseradish peroxidase (Cappel, ICN Biomedicals, Costa Mesa, Calif.) was carried out for 1 h at room temperature and followed by 30 min of washing. Renaissance Western blot chemiluminescence reagent (NEN Life Science Products, Boston, Mass.) was used for detection. Kaleidoscope Prestained Standards (Bio-Rad) were used for molecular weight determination. The results of this Western blot analysis (Fig. 1c) confirmed that the BrkA C-terminal protein had been isolated.Black lipid bilayer analysis of the BrkA C-terminal protein. The pore-forming ability of the purified BrkA C-terminal protein was assessed through black lipid bilayer experiments, which were performed as previously described (3). Addition of the protein to a 1 M KCl solution bathing a membrane of 1.5% (wt/vol) oxidized cholesterol in n-decane with an applied voltage of 50 mV caused stepwise increases in conductance (Fig. 2a). This indicates that channels were being formed in the membrane. The distribution of these conductance measurements is shown in Fig. 2b. The average single-channel conductance of the BrkA C-terminal protein in 1 M KCl was found to be 3.0 nS. This average was calculated from 127 conductance increases obtained from two separate experiments. Similar-size channels were also observed when BrkA C-terminal protein from a second purification was used.
|
|
Black lipid bilayer analysis of the BrkA N-terminal protein and protein from a vector-only clone. RF1065 overexpresses the BrkA C-terminal protein in the form of inclusion bodies, which necessitated purification under denaturing conditions. Porin proteins may contaminate preparations when proteins are produced in inclusion bodies (9a). In order to ensure that our results were not due to these possible contaminants, we used the BrkA N-terminal protein from DO218 (Fig. 1a) in black lipid bilayer experiments. This protein is also expressed in inclusion bodies, and we purified it in a way similar to that used for the C-terminal protein, except that the final dialysis was against PBS. Addition of the N-terminal protein diluted in 0.1% Triton X-100-10 mM Tris (pH 8.0) caused no increases in conductance (Fig. 4), even when large amounts of the protein were added. Upon addition of the BrkA C-terminal protein to the system (Fig. 4), channels were again observed.
|
|
Discussion. In this study, we demonstrated that the C-terminal autotransporter domain of BrkA is capable of forming a pore. Black lipid bilayer analysis showed the formation of channels upon addition of the BrkA C-terminal protein but not upon addition of the BrkA N-terminal protein or protein from a vector-only clone, all of which had been purified similarly. As well, the BrkA C-terminal protein that had been further purified by being cut out of an SDS-PAGE gel still formed channels.
As evidenced by our results, black lipid bilayer analysis can be used to determine the channel-forming capabilities not only of typical trimeric porins but also of a wide variety of proteins, including those involved in protein export (5) and those from mycobacterial (46, 47) and gram-positive (38) cell walls. Some examples of pore-forming proteins and their pore sizes are listed in Table 1.
|
-barrel. Even though all of the outer membrane
proteins examined to date contain this same basic structure
(34), they do not all form pores, which is one reason why
the pore-forming ability of the BrkA C-terminal domain needed to be
tested. The computer-predicted models of these proteins give a general
idea of their structure, but as evidenced by the recently published
structures of OmpA (34) and FepA (9), they can be
wrong. The main structural features of autotransporters that need to be
elucidated are the exact number of strands, whether the extreme
N-terminal strand of the barrel faces in or out, and whether or not the
pore is blocked after export of the N-terminal domain of the protein.
We are currently addressing these questions by mapping the topology of
the BrkA C-terminal domain.
In summary, we have shown that the BrkA C-terminal domain is capable of
forming a pore, which supports the proposed model of autotransporter
export. To our knowledge, this is the first time that pore-forming
ability of the C-terminal domain has ever been demonstrated for a
member of the autotransporter family.
| |
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
This work was supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grant OGP0194599. J.L.S. was a recipient of an NSERC PGS A scholarship.
We thank the R. E. W. Hancock laboratory for assistance with the black lipid bilayer experiments and helpful discussions of the data and, in particular, Fiona Brinkman for critical reading of the manuscript. We thank Roger Parton for the gift of the anti-BrkA C-terminal protein monoclonal antibody and Dave Oliver and Carrie Mathewson for the DO218 protein.
| |
FOOTNOTES |
|---|
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, #300-6174 University Blvd., Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1Z3. Phone: (604) 822-6824. Fax: (604) 822-6041. E-mail: rachelf{at}interchange.ubc.ca.
| |
REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| 1. |
Armstrong, S. K.,
T. R. Parr, Jr.,
C. D. Parker, and R. E. W. Hancock.
1986.
Bordetella pertussis major outer membrane porin protein forms small, anion-selective channels in lipid bilayer membranes.
J. Bacteriol.
166:212-216 |
| 2. | Benz, R., R. P. Darveau, and R. E. W. Hancock. 1984. Outer-membrane protein PhoE from Escherichia coli forms anion-selective pores in lipid-bilayer membranes. Eur. J. Biochem. 140:319-324[Medline]. |
| 3. | Benz, R., and R. E. W. Hancock. 1981. Properties of the large ion-permeable pores formed from protein F of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in lipid bilayer membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 646:298-308[Medline]. |
| 4. | Benz, R., J. Ishii, and T. Nakae. 1980. Determination of ion permeability through the channels made of porins from the outer membrane of Salmonella typhimurium in lipid bilayer membranes. J. Membr. Biol. 56:19-29[Medline]. |
| 5. | Benz, R., E. Maier, and I. Gentschev. 1993. TolC of Escherichia coli functions as an outer membrane channel. Zentbl. Bakteriol. 278:187-196. |
| 6. |
Benz, R.,
A. Schmid, and R. E. W. Hancock.
1985.
Ion selectivity of gram-negative bacterial porins.
J. Bacteriol.
162:722-727 |
| 7. | Benz, R., A. Schmid, C. Maier, and E. Bremer. 1988. Characterization of the nucleoside-binding site inside the Tsx channel of Escherichia coli outer membrane: reconstitution experiments with lipid bilayer membranes. Eur. J. Biochem. 176:699-705[Medline]. |
| 8. | Brunder, W., H. Schmidt, and H. Karch. 1997. EspP, a novel extracellular serine protease of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 cleaves human coagulation factor V. Mol. Microbiol. 24:767-778[Medline]. |
| 9. | Buchanan, S. K., B. S. Smith, L. Venkatramani, D. Xia, L. Esser, M. Palnitkar, R. Chakraborty, D. van der Helm, and J. Deisenhofer. 1999. Crystal structure of the outer membrane active transporter FepA from Escherichia coli. Nat. Struct. Biol. 6:56-63[Medline]. |
| 9a. | Hancock, R. E. W. Personal communication. |
| 10. | Charles, I., N. Fairweather, D. Pickard, J. Beesley, R. Anderson, G. Dougan, and M. Roberts. 1994. Expression of the Bordetella pertussis P.69 pertactin adhesin in Escherichia coli: fate of the carboxy-terminal domain. Microbiology 140:3301-3308[Abstract]. |
| 11. |
Cover, T. L.,
M. K. R. Tummuru,
P. Cao,
S. A. Thompson, and M. J. Blaser.
1994.
Divergence of genetic sequences for the vacuolating cytotoxin among Helicobacter pylori strains.
J. Biol. Chem.
269:10566-10573 |
| 12. | Egile, C., H. d'Hauteville, C. Parsot, and P. J. Sansonetti. 1997. SopA, the outer membrane protease responsible for polar localization of IcsA in Shigella flexneri. Mol. Microbiol. 23:1063-1073[Medline]. |
| 13. |
Egli, C.,
W. K. Leung,
K-H. Müller,
R. E. W. Hancock, and B. C. McBride.
1993.
Pore-forming properties of the major 53-kilodalton surface antigen from the outer sheath of Treponema denticola.
Infect. Immun.
61:1694-1699 |
| 14. |
Fajardo, D. A.,
J. Cheung,
C. Ito,
E. Sugawara,
H. Nikaido, and R. Misra.
1998.
Biochemistry and regulation of a novel Escherichia coli K-12 porin protein, OmpG, which produces unusually large channels.
J. Bacteriol.
180:4452-4459 |
| 15. |
Fernandez, R. C., and A. A. Weiss.
1994.
Cloning and sequencing of a Bordetella pertussis serum resistance locus.
Infect. Immun.
62:4727-4738 |
| 16. | Fernandez, R. C., and A. A. Weiss. 1998. Serum resistance in bvg-regulated mutants of Bordetella pertussis. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 163:57-63[Medline]. |
| 17. | Finn, T. M., and L. A. Stevens. 1995. Tracheal colonization factor: a Bordetella pertussis secreted virulence determinant. Mol. Microbiol. 16:625-634[Medline]. |
| 18. |
Gabay, J. E.,
M. Blake,
W. D. Niles, and M. A. Horwitz.
1985.
Purification of Legionella pneumophila major outer membrane protein and demonstration that it is a porin.
J. Bacteriol.
162:85-91 |
| 19. | Henderson, I. R., F. Navarro-Garcia, and J. P. Nataro. 1998. The great escape: structure and function of the autotransporter proteins. Trends Microbiol. 6:370-378[Medline]. |
| 20. | Jose, J., F. Jähnig, and T. F. Meyer. 1995. Common structural features of IgA1 protease-like outer membrane protein autotransporters. Mol. Microbiol. 18:377-382[Medline]. |
| 21. |
Klauser, T.,
J. Krämer,
K. Otzelberger,
J. Pohlner, and T. F. Meyer.
1993.
Characterization of the Neisseria Iga -core, the essential unit for outer membrane targeting and extracellular protein secretion.
J. Mol. Biol.
234:579-593[Medline].
|
| 22. | Klauser, T., J. Pohlner, and T. F. Meyer. 1993. The secretion pathway of IgA protease-type proteins in gram-negative bacteria. Bioessays 15:799-805[Medline]. |
| 23. | Laemmli, U. K. 1970. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227:680-685[Medline]. |
| 24. |
Liu, J.,
J. M. Rutz,
J. B. Feix, and P. E. Klebba.
1993.
Permeability properties of a large gated channel within the ferric enterobactin receptor, FepA.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
90:10653-10657 |
| 25. | Loveless, B. J., and M. H. Saier, Jr. 1997. A novel family of channel-forming, autotransporting, bacterial virulence factors. Mol. Membr. Biol. 14:113-123[Medline]. |
| 26. | Lutwyche, P., M. M. Exner, R. E. W. Hancock, and T. J. Trust. 1995. A conserved Aeromonas salmonicida porin provides protective immunity to rainbow trout. Infect. Immun. 63:3137-3142[Abstract]. |
| 27. |
Maier, C., and E. Bremer.
1988.
Pore-forming activity of the Tsx protein from the outer membrane of Escherichia coli: Demonstration of a nucleoside-specific binding site.
J. Biol. Chem.
263:2493-2499 |
| 28. |
Maurer, J.,
J. Jose, and T. F. Meyer.
1997.
Autodisplay: one-component system for efficient surface display and release of soluble recombinant proteins from Escherichia coli.
J. Bacteriol.
179:794-804 |
| 29. |
Mukhopadhyay, S.,
D. Basu, and P. Chakrabarti.
1997.
Characterization of a porin from Mycobacterium smegmatis.
J. Bacteriol.
179:6205-6207 |
| 30. | Nikaido, H. 1992. Porins and specific channels of bacterial outer membranes. Mol. Microbiol. 6:435-442[Medline]. |
| 31. |
Nikaido, H.,
K. Nikaido, and S. Harayama.
1991.
Identification and characterization of porins in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
J. Biol. Chem.
266:770-779 |
| 32. | O'Toole, P. W., J. W. Austin, and T. J. Trust. 1994. Identification and molecular characterization of a major ring-forming surface protein from the gastric pathogen Helicobacter mustelae. Mol. Microbiol. 11:349-361[Medline]. |
| 33. |
Page, W. J.,
G. Huyer,
M. Huyer, and E. A. Worobec.
1989.
Characterization of the porins of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli and implications for antibiotic susceptibility.
Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
33:297-303 |
| 34. | Pautsch, A., and G. E. Schulz. 1998. Structure of the outer membrane protein A transmembrane domain. Nat. Struct. Biol. 5:1013-1017[Medline]. |
| 35. | Pautsch, A., J. Vogt, K. Model, C. Siebold, and G. E. Schulz. 1999. Strategy for membrane protein crystallization exemplified with OmpA and OmpX. Proteins 34:167-172[Medline]. |
| 36. |
Poulsen, K.,
J. Brandt,
J. P. Hjorth,
H. C. Thøgersen, and M. Kilian.
1989.
Cloning and sequencing of the immunoglobulin A1 protease gene (iga) of Haemophilus influenzae serotype b.
Infect. Immun.
57:3097-3105 |
| 37. | Provence, D. L., and R. Curtiss III. Isolation and characterization of a gene involved in hemagglutination by an avian pathogenic Escherichia coli strain. Infect. Immun. 62:1369-1380. |
| 38. | Rieß, F. G., T. Lichtinger, R. Cseh, A. F. Yassin, K. P. Schaal, and R. Benz. 1998. The cell wall porin of Nocardia farcinica: biochemical identification of the channel-forming protein and biophysical characterization of the channel properties. Mol. Microbiol. 29:139-150[Medline]. |
| 39. | Saint, N., E. De, S. Julien, N. Orange, and G. Molle. 1993. Ionophore properties of OmpA of Escherichia coli. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1145:119-123[Medline]. |
| 40. | Saxena, K., V. Drosou, E. Maier, R. Benz, and B. Ludwig. 1999. Ion selectivity reversal and induction of voltage-gating by site-directed mutations in the Paracoccus denitrificans porin. Biochemistry 38:2206-2212[Medline]. |
| 41. | Schmid, B., L. Maveyraud, M. Krömer, and G. E. Schulz. 1998. Porin mutants with new channel properties. Protein Sci. 7:1603-1611[Abstract]. |
| 42. |
Sugawara, E., and H. Nikaido.
1992.
Pore-forming activity of OmpA protein of Escherichia coli.
J. Biol. Chem.
267:2507-2511 |
| 43. |
Suhr, M.,
I. Benz, and M. A. Schmidt.
1996.
Processing of the AIDA-I precursor: removal of AIDAc and evidence for the outer membrane anchoring as a -barrel structure.
Mol. Microbiol.
22:31-42[Medline].
|
| 44. |
Suzuki, T.,
M. Lett, and C. Sasakawa.
1995.
Extracellular transport of VirG protein in Shigella.
J. Biol. Chem.
270:30874-30880 |
| 45. |
Thanassi, D. G.,
E. T. Saulino,
M. Lombardo,
R. Roth,
J. Heuser, and S. J. Hultgren.
1998.
The PapC usher forms an oligomeric channel: implications for pilus biogenesis across the outer membrane.
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
95:3146-3151 |
| 46. | Trias, J., and R. Benz. 1994. Permeability of the cell wall of Mycobacterium smegmatis. Mol. Microbiol. 14:283-290[Medline]. |
| 47. |
Trias, J.,
V. Jarlier, and R. Benz.
1992.
Porins in the cell wall of mycobacteria.
Science
258:1479-1481 |
| 48. | Vachon, V., D. N. Kristjanson, and J. W. Coulton. 1988. Outer membrane porin protein of Haemophilus influenzae type b: pore size and subunit structure. Can. J. Microbiol. 34:134-140[Medline]. |
| 49. | Vachon, V., R. Laprade, and J. W. Coulton. 1986. Properties of the porin of Haemophilus influenzae type b in planar lipid bilayer membranes. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 861:74-82[Medline]. |
| 50. |
Woodruff, W. A.,
T. R. Parr, Jr.,
R. E. W. Hancock,
L. F. Hanne,
T. I. Nicas, and B. H. Iglewski.
1986.
Expression in Escherichia coli and function of Pseudomonas aeruginosa outer membrane porin protein F.
J. Bacteriol.
167:473-479 |
This article has been cited by other articles:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appl. Environ. Microbiol. | Infect. Immun. | Eukaryot. Cell |
|---|---|---|
| Mol. Cell. Biol. | J. Virol. | Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. |
| ALL ASM JOURNALS |