Download MendeleyAtypical DNA recognition mechanism used by the EspR virulence regulator of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Blasco, B., Stenta, M., Alonso-Sarduy, L., Dietler, G., Peraro, M.D., Cole, S.T., Pojer, F.(2011) Mol Microbiol 82: 251-264
- PubMed: 21883526
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2011.07813.x
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:
3QF3, 3QWG, 3QYX - PubMed Abstract:
The human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis requires the ESX-1 secretion system for full virulence. EspR plays a key role in ESX-1 regulation via direct binding and transcriptional activation of the espACD operon. Here, we describe the crystal structures of EspR, a C-terminally truncated form, EspRΔ10, as well as an EspR-DNA complex. EspR forms a dimer with each monomer containing an N-terminal helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif and an atypical C-terminal dimerization domain. Structural studies combined with footprinting experiments, atomic force microscopy and molecular dynamic simulations allow us to propose a model in which a dimer of EspR dimers is the minimal functional unit with two subunits binding two consecutive major grooves. The other two DNA binding domains are thus free to form higher-order oligomers and to bridge distant DNA sites in a cooperative way. These features are reminiscent of nucleoid-associated proteins and suggest a more general regulatory role for EspR than was previously suspected.
Organizational Affiliation:
Global Health Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland.
