Molecular analysis of the prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like protein (Pup) conjugation pathway in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Proteins targeted for degradation by the Mycobacterium proteasome are post‐translationally tagged with prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like protein (Pup), an intrinsically disordered protein of 64 residues. In a process termed ‘pupylation’, Pup is synthesized with a terminal glutamine, which is deamidated to glutamate by Dop (deamidase of Pup) prior to attachment to substrate lysines by proteasome accessory factor A (PafA). Importantly, PafA was previously shown to be essential to cause lethal infections by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) in mice. In this study we show that Dop, like PafA, is required for the full virulence of Mtb. Additionally, we show that Dop is not only involved in the deamidation of Pup, but also needed to maintain wild‐type steady state levels of pupylated proteins in Mtb. Finally, using structural models and site‐directed mutagenesis our data suggest that Dop and PafA are members of the glutamine synthetase fold family of proteins.     

Dop functions as a depupylase in the prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like modification pathway

Post‐translational modification of proteins with prokaryotic ubiquitin‐like protein (Pup) is the bacterial equivalent of ubiquitination in eukaryotes. Mycobacterial pupylation is a two‐step process in which the carboxy‐terminal glutamine of Pup is first deamidated by Dop (deamidase of Pup) before ligation of the generated γ‐carboxylate to substrate lysines by the Pup ligase PafA. In this study, we identify a new feature of the pupylation system by demonstrating that Dop also acts as a depupylase in the Pup proteasome system in vivo and in vitro. Dop removes Pup from substrates by specific cleavage of the isopeptide bond. Depupylation can be enhanced by the unfolding activity of the mycobacterial proteasomal ATPase Mpa.     

Deletion of dop in Mycobacterium smegmatis abolishes pupylation of protein substrates in vivo

Proteasome‐bearing bacteria make use of a ubiquitin‐like modification pathway to target proteins for proteasomal turnover. In a process termed pupylation, proteasomal substrates are covalently modified with the small protein Pup that serves as a degradation signal. Pup is attached to substrate proteins by action of PafA. Prior to its attachment, Pup needs to undergo deamidation at its C‐terminal residue, converting glutamine to glutamate. This step is catalysed in vitro by Dop. In order to characterize Dop activity in vivo, we generated a dop deletion mutant in Mycobacterium smegmatis. In the Δdop strain, pupylation is severely impaired and the steady‐state levels of two known proteasomal substrates are drastically increased. Pupylation can be re‐established by complementing the mutant with either DopWt or a Pup variant carrying a glutamate at its ultimate C‐terminal position (PupGGE). Our data show that Pup is deamidated by Dop in vivo and that likely Dop alone is responsible for this activity. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a putative N‐terminal ATP‐binding motif is crucial for catalysis, as a single point mutation (E10A) in this motif abolishes Dop activity both in vivo and in vitro.     

Proteasome accessory factor A (PafA) transferase activity makes sense in the light of its homology with glutamine synthetase

The Pup-proteasome system (PPS) is a prokaryotic tagging and degradation system analogous in function to the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS). Like ubiquitin, Pup is conjugated to proteins, tagging them for proteasomal degradation. However, in the PPS, a single Pup-ligase, PafA, conjugates Pup to a wide variety of proteins. PafA couples ATP hydrolysis to formation of an isopeptide bond between Pup and a protein lysine via a mechanism similar to that used by glutamine synthetase (GS) to generate glutamine from ammonia and glutamate. GS can also transfer the glutamyl moiety from glutamine to a hydroxyl amine in an ATP-independent manner. Recently, the ability of PafA to transfer Pup from one protein to another was demonstrated. Here, we report that such PafA activity mechanistically resembles the transferase activity of GS. Both PafA and GS transferase activities are ATP-independent and proceed in two catalytic steps. In the first step catalyzed by PafA, an inorganic phosphate is used by the enzyme to depupylate a Pup donor, while forming an acyl phosphate Pup intermediate. The second step consists of Pup conjugation to the new protein, alongside the release of an inorganic phosphate. Detailed experimental analysis, combined with kinetic modeling of PafA transferase activity, allowed us to correctly predict the kinetics and magnitude of Pup transfer between two targets, and analyze the effects of their affinity to PafA on the efficiency of transfer. By deciphering the mechanism of the PafA transferase reaction in kinetic detail, this work provides in-depth mechanistic understanding of PafA, a key PPS enzyme.     

A further case of Dop‐ing in bacterial pupylation

Two recent studies, one in this issue of EMBO reports and one in Molecular Cell, identify Dop as a depupylase, ascribing a novel function to Dop and providing further evidence for the functional similarity of the prokaryotic Pup-modification system and the eukaryotic ubiquitin system.EMBO Rep (2010) advance online publication. doi: 10.1038/embor.2010.119Protein homeostasis is fundamental to the function of all cellular systems. In eukaryotes, the ubiquitin–proteasome pathway mediates regulated protein degradation. Intensive studies of the eukaryotic proteasome over the past decades have unravelled the complexity of this multi-subunit, ATP-dependent protease, and proteasome inhibitors are now established anticancer drugs (Finley, 2009). Prokaryotes use ATP-dependent proteases—such as Lon, ClpP and FtsH—for protein degradation. In addition, some bacteria in the class of Actinomycetes have acquired a proteasome which shares sequence and structural homology with its eukaryotic counterpart (Darwin, 2009). The function of the prokaryotic proteasome and its implication in pathogenesis is the subject of ongoing research. In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, proteasome activity is essential for the pathogen to persist in macrophages of the lung epithelium and could therefore be a target for antimicrobial treatment (Darwin, 2009).Labelling substrates for proteasomal degradation is well understood in eukaryotes, in which ubiquitin is attached to proteins that are subsequently recognized by proteasomal subunits and degraded (Finley, 2009). A similar tagging system has recently been identified in M. tuberculosis, in which the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup) serves as a ubiquitin analogue (Pearce et al, 2008). Subsequent proteome-wide studies have identified hundreds of Pup-tagged substrates in different mycobacteria, defining the ‘pupylome'' (Festa et al, 2010; Poulsen et al, 2010). Pupylated proteins are recognized by the proteasome-associated ATPase Mpa, that unfolds proteins before they are degraded in the proteolytic core (Darwin, 2009).Ubiquitination is reversed by specific deubiquitinases, but whether pupylation is also reversible was previously unknown. Two studies by Darwin and colleagues and—in this issue of EMBO reports—by Weber-Ban and colleagues have now demonstrated that Pup is removed from substrates when incubated with mycobacterial lysates (Burns et al, 2010; Imkamp et al, 2010). This suggests the presence of one or more ‘depupylases'', and indicates that pupylation is a complex and versatile process, much like ubiquitination.Pup and ubiquitin conjugation are mechanistically unrelated; ubiquitin is ligated by its carboxy-terminal glycine residue to lysine residues of target proteins by an enzymatic cascade, comprising E1, E2 and E3 enzymes (Dye & Schulman, 2007). By contrast, the pupylation machinery seems to be simpler; a single ligating enzyme, proteasome accessory factor A (PafA), mediates isopeptide bond formation between the C-terminal glutamic acid side-chain carboxyl group of Pup and a substrate lysine residue (Sutter et al, 2010).Only about half of the Pup-containing bacteria encode a glutamic acid residue at the C-terminus (Striebel et al, 2009). In the remaining species, including M. tuberculosis, the Pup gene encodes a C-terminal glutamine, which requires deamidation to glutamic acid before conjugation to substrates can occur. This activating deamidation step is carried out by the deamidase of Pup (Dop; Striebel et al, 2009). Curiously, the dop gene is conserved in all Pup-containing bacterial species (with the exception of Plesiocystis pacifica), including those in which initial deamidation is unnecessary.Imkamp et al and Burns et al now identify Dop as a depupylase in the Pup-modification pathway. Hydrolysis of Pup from model substrates in vitro is abolished in a dop-deficient bacterial lysate, or in lysate expressing a mutant form of dop, but can be restored by complementation with dop. Dop is able to depupylate many proteins when tested against the pupylome, suggesting a broad substrate spectrum. By contrast, without Dop the pupylome is unchanged over time, indicating that Dop might be the main depupylase in Mycobacteria. Purified Dop from M. tuberculosis shows depupylase activity against model substrates. Finally, Imkamp et al analyse a Dop homologue from Corynebacterium glutamicum that encodes Pup^Glu and hence does not depend on deamidation. This Dop homologue is expressed recombinantly and purified from Escherichia coli—which does not harbour the Pup-proteasome system—and shown to be an active depupylase in vitro.Both groups then investigated the functional relationship between Pup/Dop and the proteasomal ATPase Mpa. Burns et al found that Mpa is required in vivo for depupylation of a proteasome substrate. Imkamp et al found that Mpa significantly increases depupylation activity in vitro. The mechanism for this remains unclear, but full-length Pup seems to be essential for Mpa-mediated activation, as depupylation is not enhanced with an amino-terminally truncated Pup. Previous work has indicated that the N-terminus of Pup is required to initiate substrate unfolding (Striebel et al, 2010), and Imkamp et al speculated that unfolding makes the isopeptide bond more accessible for interaction with Dop. Evidence for this comes from the observation that Dop can cleave a peptide substrate with an accessible isopeptide bond at the same rate in the presence or absence of Mpa. It is intriguing that Dop co-purifies with the pupylome (Burns et al, 2010), this suggests that Dop has significant affinity but low activity for pupylated substrates. This might, however, prime the system for depupylation after Mpa interaction.Corynebacteria do not have a proteasome, but maintain the pupylation machinery comprising Pup, PafA, Dop and the proteasomal ATPase ARC (a homologue of Mpa). Here, the fate of Pup-tagged proteins cannot be proteasomal degradation, although substrate unfolding by ARC could initiate degradation by other proteases. However, pupylation in proteasome-deficient bacteria might suggest additional non-degradative functions for pupylation.Both studies demonstrate that Dop acts as a depupylase in Pup-containing bacteria, in addition to the previously reported deamidation role of Dop in mycobacteria. In fact, the chemical reactions underlying depupylation and deamidation are mechanistically similar. The key functional question that remains is whether Dop protects substrates from proteasomal degradation. Alternative explanations are that Dop acts in conjunction with Mpa or the proteasome to recycle Pup, or that it reverses non-degradative roles of pupylation (Fig 1).Open in a separate windowFigure 1Emerging roles for Dop. (A) The pupylation system. (1) Dop functions as a deamidase, converting Pup^Gln to Pup^Glu. PafA ligates Pup^Glu to substrates, which are targeted to Mpa and the proteasome and are degraded. (2) Dop can reverse pupylation on substrates and might rescue substrates from degradation. (B) Dop might act to recycle Pup, either (3a) at the Mpa/proteasome level or (3b) by binding to pupylated substrates, where Mpa-mediated substrate unfolding activates Dop. (C) (4) The existence of Dop in proteasome deficient bacteria might indicate that Dop antagonizes non-degradational roles for Pup. Dop, deamidase of Pup; Mpa, Mycobacterium proteasome-associated ATPase; PafA, proteasome accessory factor A; Pup, prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein.So far, nothing is known about the regulation of Dop. It will be interesting to analyse expression profiles to determine whether Dop is regulated independently of other proteins in this system. Other open questions remain about the existence of co-factors and binding partners, and the organization of the Pup–Dop–Mpa network. Structural studies of the Dop enzyme will hopefully increase our understanding of its roles in depupylation.In conclusion, Dop in the pupylation system has the potential to combine all known functions of deubiquitinases in the ubiquitin system: processing of precursors, rescuing substrates from degradation, recycling the modifier and reversing potential non-degradative roles of pupylation. The identification of the first depupylase opens an exciting new research field to unravel the functional consequences of depupylation.     

Activity of the mycobacterial proteasomal ATPase Mpa is reversibly regulated by pupylation

Pupylation is a bacterial post-translational modification of target proteins on lysine residues with prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein Pup. Pup-tagged substrates are recognized by a proteasome-interacting ATPase termed Mpa in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Mpa unfolds pupylated substrates and threads them into the proteasome core particle for degradation. Interestingly, Mpa itself is also a pupylation target. Here, we show that the Pup ligase PafA predominantly produces monopupylated Mpa modified homogeneously on a single lysine residue within its C-terminal region. We demonstrate that this modification renders Mpa functionally inactive. Pupylated Mpa can no longer support Pup-mediated proteasomal degradation due to its inability to associate with the proteasome core. Mpa is further inactivated by rapid Pup- and ATPase-driven deoligomerization of the hexameric Mpa ring. We show that pupylation of Mpa is chemically and functionally reversible. Mpa regains its enzymatic activity upon depupylation by the depupylase Dop, affording a rapid and reversible activity control over Mpa function.     

Mycobacterial ubiquitin-like protein ligase PafA follows a two-step reaction pathway with a phosphorylated pup intermediate

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the enzyme PafA is responsible for the activation and conjugation of the proteasome-targeting molecule Pup to protein substrates. As the proteasomal pathway has been shown to be vital to the persistence of M. tuberculosis, understanding the reaction mechanism of PafA is critical to the design of antituberculous agents. In this study, we have developed novel techniques to study the activity of PafA and have characterized fundamental features of the reaction mechanism. We show that PafA catalyzes a two-step reaction mechanism proceeding through a γ-glutamyl phosphate-mixed anhydride intermediate that is formed on the C-terminal glutamate of Pup before transfer of Pup to the substrate acceptor lysine. SDS-PAGE analysis of formation of the phosphorylated intermediate revealed that the rate of Pup activation matched the maximal steady-state rate of product formation in the overall reaction and suggested that Pup activation was rate-limiting when all substrates were present at saturating concentrations. Following activation, both ADP and the phosphorylated intermediate remained associated with the enzyme awaiting nucleophilic attack by a lysine residue of the target protein. The PafA reaction mechanism appeared to be noticeably biased toward the stable activation of Pup in the absence of additional substrate and required very low concentrations of ATP and Pup relative to other carboxylate-amine/ammonia ligase family members. The bona fide nucleophilic substrate PanB showed a 3 orders of magnitude stronger affinity than free lysine, promoting Pup conjugation to occur close to the rate limit of activation with physiologically relevant concentrations of substrate.     

A time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer assay to measure activity of the deamidase of the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein

The modification of proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) by the prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup) targets them for degradation by mycobacterial proteasomes. Although functionally similar to eukaryotic deubiquitylating enzymes, the deamidase of Pup, called Dop, has no known mammalian homologs. Because Dop is necessary for persistent infection by Mtb, its selective inhibition holds potential for tuberculosis therapy. To facilitate high-throughput screens for Dop inhibitors, we developed a time-resolved Förster resonance energy transfer (TR–FRET)-based assay for Dop function. The TR–FRET assay was successfully applied to determine the Michaelis constant for adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding and to test the cofactor tolerance of Dop.     

Reconstitution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis pupylation pathway in Escherichia coli

Prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein (Pup) is a post-translational modifier that attaches to more than 50 proteins in Mycobacteria. Proteasome accessory factor A (PafA) is responsible for Pup conjugation to substrates, but the manner in which proteins are selected for pupylation is unknown. To address this issue, we reconstituted the pupylation of model Mycobacterium proteasome substrates in Escherichia coli, which does not encode Pup or PafA. Surprisingly, Pup and PafA were sufficient to pupylate at least 51 E. coli proteins in addition to the mycobacterial proteins. These data suggest that pupylation signals are intrinsic to targeted proteins and might not require Mycobacterium-specific cofactors for substrate recognition by PafA in vivo.     

Exploring Protein Space: From Hydrolase to Ligase by Substitution

The understanding of how proteins evolve to perform novel functions has long been sought by biologists. In this regard, two homologous bacterial enzymes, PafA and Dop, pose an insightful case study, as both rely on similar mechanistic properties, yet catalyze different reactions. PafA conjugates a small protein tag to target proteins, whereas Dop removes the tag by hydrolysis. Given that both enzymes present a similar fold and high sequence similarity, we sought to identify the differences in the amino acid sequence and folding responsible for each distinct activity. We tackled this question using analysis of sequence–function relationships, and identified a set of uniquely conserved residues in each enzyme. Reciprocal mutagenesis of the hydrolase, Dop, completely abolished the native activity, at the same time yielding a catalytically active ligase. Based on the available Dop and PafA crystal structures, this change of activity required a conformational change of a critical loop at the vicinity of the active site. We identified the conserved positions essential for stabilization of the alternative loop conformation, and tracked alternative mutational pathways that lead to a change in activity. Remarkably, all these pathways were combined in the evolution of PafA and Dop, despite their redundant effect on activity. Overall, we identified the residues and structural elements in PafA and Dop responsible for their activity differences. This analysis delineated, in molecular terms, the changes required for the emergence of a new catalytic function from a preexisting one.     

Pup-蛋白酶体系统的作用机制和生物学功能

Pup-蛋白酶体系统（Pup-proteasome system,PPS）是原核生物的一种翻译后蛋白质修饰降解体系,在去酰胺酶（deamidase of Pup,Dop）和蛋白酶体辅助因子A (proteasome accessory factorA,PafA)两种酶的作用下,原核生物类泛素蛋白（prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein,Pup）可以标记靶蛋白,并介导靶蛋白经蛋白酶体降解。在分枝杆菌中PPS参与氧化应激、营养缺乏、热激、DNA损伤等多种应激反应,并在金属离子稳态调控、毒素-抗毒素系统（toxin-antitoxin system,TA system）的调节以及抵抗宿主免疫等过程中发挥作用。PPS与结核分枝杆菌（Mycobacterium tuberculosis,Mtb）的持留性和致病性直接相关,因此PPS中的PafA、Dop和蛋白酶体均是抗结核药物开发的新靶点,筛选针对PPS的小分子抑制剂将成为新型抗结核药物研发的一个新途径。此外,Paf A催化的蛋白质Pup化被应用于生物技术的研发,形成了一种新的邻近标记技术——基于Pup化的邻近标记技术...     

Unraveling the biochemistry and provenance of pupylation: a prokaryotic analog of ubiquitination

   

Recently Mycobacterium tuberculosis was shown to possess a novel protein modification, in which a small protein Pup is conjugated to the epsilon-amino groups of lysines in target proteins. Analogous to ubiquitin modification in eukaryotes, this remarkable modification recruits proteins for degradation via archaeal-type proteasomes found in mycobacteria and allied actinobacteria. While a mycobacterial protein named PafA was found to be required for this conjugation reaction, its biochemical mechanism has not been elucidated. Using sensitive sequence profile comparison methods we establish that the PafA family proteins are related to the γ-glutamyl-cysteine synthetase and glutamine synthetase. Hence, we predict that PafA is the Pup ligase, which catalyzes the ATP-dependent ligation of the terminal γ-carboxylate of glutamate to lysines, similar to the above enzymes. We further discovered that an ortholog of the eukaryotic PAC2 (e.g. cg2106) is often present in the vicinity of the actinobacterial Pup-proteasome gene neighborhoods and is likely to represent the ancestral proteasomal chaperone. Pup-conjugation is sporadically present outside the actinobacteria in certain lineages, such as verrucomicrobia, nitrospirae, deltaproteobacteria and planctomycetes, and in the latter two lineages it might modify membrane proteins.     

RNase HI Is Essential for Survival of Mycobacterium smegmatis

RNases H are involved in the removal of RNA from RNA/DNA hybrids. Type I RNases H are thought to recognize and cleave the RNA/DNA duplex when at least four ribonucleotides are present. Here we investigated the importance of RNase H type I encoding genes for model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis. By performing gene replacement through homologous recombination, we demonstrate that each of the two presumable RNase H type I encoding genes, rnhA and MSMEG4305, can be removed from M. smegmatis genome without affecting the growth rate of the mutant. Further, we demonstrate that deletion of both RNases H type I encoding genes in M. smegmatis leads to synthetic lethality. Finally, we question the possibility of existence of RNase HI related alternative mode of initiation of DNA replication in M. smegmatis, the process initially discovered in Escherichia coli. We suspect that synthetic lethality of double mutant lacking RNases H type I is caused by formation of R-loops leading to collapse of replication forks. We report Mycobacterium smegmatis as the first bacterial species, where function of RNase H type I has been found essential.     

Prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein remains intrinsically disordered when covalently attached to proteasomal target proteins

Background

The post-translational modification pathway referred to as pupylation marks proteins for proteasomal degradation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other actinobacteria by covalently attaching the small protein Pup (prokaryotic ubiquitin-like protein) to target lysine residues. In contrast to the functionally analogous eukaryotic ubiquitin, Pup is intrinsically disordered in its free form. Its unfolded state allows Pup to adopt different structures upon interaction with different binding partners like the Pup ligase PafA and the proteasomal ATPase Mpa. While the disordered behavior of free Pup has been well characterized, it remained unknown whether Pup adopts a distinct structure when attached to a substrate.

Results

Using a combination of NMR experiments and biochemical analysis we demonstrate that Pup remains unstructured when ligated to two well-established pupylation substrates targeted for proteasomal degradation in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, malonyl transacylase (FabD) and ketopantoyl hydroxylmethyltransferase (PanB). Isotopically labeled Pup was linked to FabD and PanB by in vitro pupylation to generate homogeneously pupylated substrates suitable for NMR analysis. The single target lysine of PanB was identified by a combination of mass spectroscopy and mutational analysis. Chemical shift comparison between Pup in its free form and ligated to substrate reveals intrinsic disorder of Pup in the conjugate.

Conclusion

When linked to the proteasomal substrates FabD and PanB, Pup is unstructured and retains the ability to interact with its different binding partners. This suggests that it is not the conformation of Pup attached to these two substrates which determines their delivery to the proteasome, but the availability of the degradation complex and the depupylase.

     

Uptake of Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations by Mycobacteria†

Liquid culture assays revealed a previously unreported capacity for Mycobacterium bovis BCG, M. gordonae, and M. marinum to oxidize CO and for M. smegmatis to consume molecular hydrogen. M. bovis BCG, M. gordonae, M. smegmatis, and M. tuberculosis H37Ra oxidized CO at environmentally relevant concentrations (<50 ppm); H₂ oxidation by M. gordonae and M. smegmatis also occurred at environmentally relevant concentrations (<10 ppm). CO was not consumed by M. avium or M. microti, although the latter appeared to possess CO dehydrogenase (CODH) genes based on PCR results with primers designed for the CODH large subunit, coxL. M. smegmatis and M. gordonae oxidized CO under suboxic (10 and 1% atmospheric oxygen) and anoxic conditions in the presence of nitrate; no oxidation occurred under anoxic conditions without nitrate. Similar results were obtained for H₂ oxidation by M. smegmatis. Phylogenetic analyses of coxL PCR products indicated that mycobacterial sequences form a subclade distinct from that of other bacterial coxL, with limited differentiation among fast- and slow-growing strains.     

TLR2-Modulating Lipoproteins of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex Enhance the HIV Infectivity of CD4+ T Cells

Co-infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis accelerates progression from HIV to AIDS. Our previous studies showed that M. tuberculosis complex, unlike M. smegmatis, enhances TLR2-dependent susceptibility of CD4+ T cells to HIV. The M. tuberculosis complex produces multiple TLR2-stimulating lipoproteins, which are absent in M. smegmatis. M. tuberculosis production of mature lipoproteins and TLR2 stimulation is dependent on cleavage by lipoprotein signal peptidase A (LspA). In order to determine the role of potential TLR2-stimulating lipoproteins on mycobacterial-mediated HIV infectivity of CD4+ T cells, we generated M. smegmatis recombinant strains overexpressing genes encoding various M. bovis BCG lipoproteins, as well as a Mycobacterium bovis BCG strain deficient in LspA (ΔlspA). Exposure of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to M. smegmatis strains overexpressing the BCG lipoproteins, LprF (p<0.01), LprH (p<0.05), LprI (p<0.05), LprP (p<0.001), LprQ (p<0.005), MPT83 (p<0.005), or PhoS1 (p<0.05), resulted in increased HIV infectivity of CD4+ T cells isolated from these PBMC. Conversely, infection of PBMC with ΔlspA reduced HIV infectivity of CD4+ T cells by 40% relative to BCG-infected cells (p<0.05). These results may have important implications for TB vaccination programs in areas with high mother-to-child HIV transmission.     

Use of Mycobacterium smegmatis Deficient in ADP-Ribosyltransferase as Surrogate for Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Drug Testing and Mutation Analysis

Rifampicin (Rif) is a first line drug used for tuberculosis treatment. However, the emergence of drug resistant strains has necessitated synthesis and testing of newer analogs of Rif. Mycobacterium smegmatis is often used as a surrogate for M. tuberculosis. However, the presence of an ADP ribosyltransferase (Arr) in M. smegmatis inactivates Rif, rendering it impractical for screening of Rif analogs or other compounds when used in conjunction with them (Rif/Rif analogs). Rifampicin is also used in studying the role of various DNA repair enzymes by analyzing mutations in RpoB (a subunit of RNA polymerase) causing Rif resistance. These analyses use high concentrations of Rif when M. smegmatis is used as model. Here, we have generated M. smegmatis strains by deleting arr (Δarr). The M. smegmatis Δarr strains show minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for Rif which is similar to that for M. tuberculosis. The MICs for isoniazid, pyrazinamide, ethambutol, ciprofloxacin and streptomycin were essentially unaltered for M. smegmatis Δarr. The growth profiles and mutation spectrum of Δarr and, Δarr combined with ΔudgB (udgB encodes a DNA repair enzyme that excises uracil) strains were similar to their counterparts wild-type for arr. However, the mutation spectrum of ΔfpgΔarr strain differed somewhat from that of the Δfpg strain (fpg encodes a DNA repair enzyme that excises 8-oxo-G). Our studies suggest M. smegmatis Δarr strain as an ideal model system in drug testing and mutation spectrum determination in DNA repair studies.     

Essentiality Assessment of Cysteinyl and Lysyl-tRNA Synthetases of Mycobacterium smegmatis

Discovery of mupirocin, an antibiotic that targets isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, established aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase as an attractive target for the discovery of novel antibacterial agents. Despite a high degree of similarity between the bacterial and human aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, the selectivity observed with mupirocin triggered the possibility of targeting other aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases as potential drug targets. These enzymes catalyse the condensation of a specific amino acid to its cognate tRNA in an energy-dependent reaction. Therefore, each organism is expected to encode at least twenty aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, one for each amino acid. However, a bioinformatics search for genes encoding aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases from Mycobacterium smegmatis returned multiple genes for glutamyl (GluRS), cysteinyl (CysRS), prolyl (ProRS) and lysyl (LysRS) tRNA synthetases. The pathogenic mycobacteria, namely, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium leprae, were also found to possess two genes each for CysRS and LysRS. A similar search indicated the presence of additional genes for LysRS in gram negative bacteria as well. Herein, we describe sequence and structural analysis of the additional aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase genes found in M. smegmatis. Characterization of conditional expression strains of Cysteinyl and Lysyl-tRNA synthetases generated in M. smegmatis revealed that the canonical aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase are essential, while the additional ones are not essential for the growth of M. smegmatis.     

A High Throughput Screening Assay for Anti-Mycobacterial Small Molecules Based on Adenylate Kinase Release as a Reporter of Cell Lysis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is well-established to be one of the most important bacterial pathogens for which new antimicrobial therapies are needed. Herein, we describe the development of a high throughput screening assay for the identification of molecules that are bactericidal against Mycobacteria. The assay utilizes the release of the intracellular enzyme adenylate kinase into the culture medium as a reporter of mycobacterial cell death. We demonstrate that the assay is selective for mycobactericidal molecules and detects anti-mycobacterial activity at concentrations below the minimum inhibitory concentration of many molecules. Thus, the AK assay is more sensitive than traditional growth assays. We have validated the AK assay in the HTS setting using the Mtb surrogate organism M. smegmatis and libraries of FDA approved drugs as well as a commercially available Diversity set. The screen of the FDA-approved library demonstrated that the AK assay is able to identify the vast majority of drugs with known mycobactericidal activity. Importantly, our screen of the Diversity set revealed that the increased sensitivity of the AK assay increases the ability of M. smegmatis-based screens to detect molecules with relatively poor activity against M. smegmatis but good to excellent activity against Mtb.