Abstract
Intimin and its translocated intimin receptor (Tir) are bacterial proteins that mediate adhesion between mammalian cells and attaching and effacing (A/E) pathogens. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) causes significant paediatric morbidity and mortality world-wide1. A related A/E pathogen, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC; O157:H7) is one of the most important food-borne pathogens in North America, Europe and Japan. A unique and essential feature of A/E bacterial pathogens is the formation of actin-rich pedestals beneath the intimately adherent bacteria and localized destruction of the intestinal brush border2. The bacterial outer membrane adhesin, intimin3, is necessary for the production of the A/E lesion and diarrhoea4. The A/E bacteria translocate their own receptor for intimin, Tir5, into the membrane of mammalian cells using the type III secretion system. The translocated Tir triggers additional host signalling events and actin nucleation, which are essential for lesion formation. Here we describe the the crystal structures of an EPEC intimin carboxy-terminal fragment alone and in complex with the EPEC Tir intimin-binding domain, giving insight into the molecular mechanisms of adhesion of A/E pathogens.
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Acknowledgements
We thank S. Mosimann for suggestions on the Se-Met intimin derivative, F. Ness for help in the production of Fig. 1, and D. Lim and S. Mosimann for software support. Work in our laboratories was supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) of Canada, the Canadian Bacterial Disease Network Center of Excellence, Burroughs Wellcome Foundation (BWF) and the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children. N.C.J.S. is an MRC Scholar and a BWF New Investigator, and B.B.F. is an MRC Scientist and a Howard Hughes International Research Scholar.
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Luo, Y., Frey, E., Pfuetzner, R. et al. Crystal structure of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli intimin–receptor complex. Nature 405, 1073–1077 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35016618
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35016618
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