Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Rachel Williams, Dr Zoltan Pragai, Joanne Thwaite, Professor Peter Emmerson, Professor Colin Harwood
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
Protective antigen (PA) is a component of the Bacillus anthracis lethal and edema toxins and the basis of the current anthrax vaccine. In its heptameric form, PA targets host cells and internalizes the enzymatically active components of the toxins, namely lethal and edema factors. PA and other toxin components are secreted from B. anthracis using the Sec-dependent secretion pathway. This requires them to be translocated across the cytoplasmic membrane in an unfolded state and then to be folded into their native configurations on the trans side of the membrane, prior to their release from the environment of the cell wall. In this study we show that recombinant PA (rPA) requires the extracellular chaperone PrsA for efficient folding when produced in the heterologous host, B. subtilis; increasing the concentration of PrsA leads to an increase in rPA production. To determine the likelihood of PrsA being required for PA production in its native host, we have analyzed the B. anthracis genome sequence for the presence of genes encoding homologues of B. subtilis PrsA. We identified three putative B. anthracis PrsA proteins (PrsAA, PrsAB, and PrsAC) that are able to complement the activity of B. subtilis PrsA with respect to cell viability and rPA secretion, as well as that of AmyQ, a protein previously shown to be PrsA-dependent.
Author(s): Williams RC, Rees ML, Jacobs MF, Pragai Z, Thwaite JE, Baillie LWJ, Emmerson PT, Harwood CR
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Biological Chemistry
Year: 2003
Volume: 278
Issue: 20
Pages: 18056-18062
ISSN (print): 0021-9258
ISSN (electronic): 1083-351X
Publisher: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M301244200
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M301244200
PubMed id: 12606539
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
