Joo Hwang-Soo, Otto Michael
Laboratory of Bacteriology, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
Microb Cell. 2016 Dec 29;4(1):29-31. doi: 10.15698/mic2017.01.553.
The dangerous human pathogen relies heavily on toxins to cause disease, but toxin production can put a strong burden on the bacteria's energy balance. Thus, controlling the synthesis of proteins solely needed in times of toxin production represents a way for the bacteria to avoid wasting energy. One hypothetical manner to accomplish this sort of regulation is by gene regulatory functions of the toxins themselves. There have been several reports about gene regulation by toxins in , but these were never verified on the molecular level. In our study published in MBio [Joo , 7(5). pii: e01579-16], we show that phenol-soluble modulins (PSMs), important peptide toxins of , release a repressor from the promoter of the operon encoding the toxin export system, thereby enabling toxin secretion. This study describes the first molecular regulatory mechanism exerted by an toxin, setting a paradigmatic example of how toxins may influence cell functions to adjust them to times of toxin production.
这种危险的人类病原体严重依赖毒素来引发疾病，但毒素的产生会给细菌的能量平衡带来巨大负担。因此，控制仅在毒素产生时所需蛋白质的合成是细菌避免浪费能量的一种方式。实现这种调控的一种假设方式是通过毒素自身的基因调控功能。关于毒素在……中的基因调控已有多篇报道，但这些从未在分子水平上得到验证。在我们发表于《mBio》[Joo 等人，7(5)。文章编号：e01579 - 16]的研究中，我们表明，酚溶性调节素（PSMs）作为……的重要肽类毒素，从编码毒素输出系统的操纵子启动子上释放一种阻遏物，从而实现毒素分泌。这项研究描述了由……毒素发挥的首个分子调控机制，为……毒素如何影响细胞功能以使其适应毒素产生时期树立了一个典范。
