Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Infect Immun. 2013 May;81(5):1399-410. doi: 10.1128/IAI.00045-13. Epub 2013 Feb 19.
Type II protein secretion (T2S) by Legionella pneumophila is required for intracellular infection of host cells, including macrophages and the amoebae Acanthamoeba castellanii and Hartmannella vermiformis. Previous proteomic analysis revealed that T2S by L. pneumophila 130b mediates the export of >25 proteins, including several that appeared to be novel. Following confirmation that they are unlike known proteins, T2S substrates NttA, NttB, and LegP were targeted for mutation. nttA mutants were impaired for intracellular multiplication in A. castellanii but not H. vermiformis or macrophages, suggesting that novel exoproteins which are specific to Legionella are especially important for infection. Because the importance of NttA was host cell dependent, we examined a panel of T2S substrate mutants that had not been tested before in more than one amoeba. As a result, RNase SrnA, acyltransferase PlaC, and metalloprotease ProA all proved to be required for optimal intracellular multiplication in H. vermiformis but not A. castellanii. Further examination of an lspF mutant lacking the T2S apparatus documented that T2S is also critical for infection of the amoeba Naegleria lovaniensis. Mutants lacking SrnA, PlaC, or ProA, but not those deficient for NttA, were defective in N. lovaniensis. Based upon analysis of a double mutant lacking PlaC and ProA, the role of ProA in H. vermiformis was connected to its ability to activate PlaC, whereas in N. lovaniensis, ProA appeared to have multiple functions. Together, these data document that the T2S system exports multiple effectors, including a novel one, which contribute in different ways to the broad host range of L. pneumophila.
嗜肺军团菌的 II 型蛋白分泌(T2S)对于宿主细胞(包括巨噬细胞和变形虫棘阿米巴和纤毛阿米巴)的细胞内感染是必需的。先前的蛋白质组学分析表明,嗜肺军团菌 130b 的 T2S 介导了 >25 种蛋白质的输出,其中包括几种似乎是新型的蛋白质。在确认它们与已知蛋白质不同后,T2S 底物 NttA、NttB 和 LegP 被靶向突变。nttA 突变体在棘阿米巴中细胞内增殖受损,但在纤毛阿米巴或巨噬细胞中没有受损,这表明新型的特定于军团菌的外分泌蛋白对于感染特别重要。由于 NttA 的重要性取决于宿主细胞,我们检查了一组以前在一种以上变形虫中未测试过的 T2S 底物突变体。结果表明,RNase SrnA、酰基转移酶 PlaC 和金属蛋白酶 ProA 对于纤毛阿米巴的最佳细胞内增殖都是必需的,但在棘阿米巴中则不是。进一步检查缺乏 T2S 装置的 lspF 突变体记录了 T2S 对于变形虫内氏纳虫的感染也是至关重要的。缺乏 SrnA、PlaC 或 ProA 的突变体,但不缺乏 NttA 的突变体,在纳氏纳虫中是有缺陷的。基于对缺乏 PlaC 和 ProA 的双突变体的分析,ProA 在纤毛阿米巴中的作用与其激活 PlaC 的能力有关,而在纳氏纳虫中,ProA 似乎具有多种功能。这些数据共同表明,T2S 系统输出多种效应物,包括一种新型效应物,它们以不同的方式为嗜肺军团菌的广泛宿主范围做出贡献。