MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
MOE Joint International Research Laboratory of Animal Health and Food Safety, College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China; Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China.
Vet Microbiol. 2021 Jul;258:109102. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2021.109102. Epub 2021 May 6.
Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2) is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes serious economic losses in the pig industry. Phosphorylation is an important mechanism of protein modification. Recent studies have reported that the serine/threonine kinase (STK) gene contributes to the growth and virulence of SS2. However, the mechanism underlying the regulatory functions of STK in SS2 has not been thoroughly elucidated to date. In this study, phosphoproteomic analysis was performed to determine substrates of the STK protein. Twenty-two proteins with different cell functions were identified as potential substrates of STK. Phosphoglucosamine mutase (GlmM) was selected for further investigation among them. In vitro phosphorylation assay and immunoprecipitation assay indicated that GlmM was phosphorylated by STK at the Ser-101 site and the phosphorylation level of GlmM can be affected. We observed that compared to the wild-type strain ZY05719, the glmM-deficient strain (ΔglmM) and the glmM S101A point mutation strain (CΔglmM S101A) showed aberrant cell morphology and attenuated virulence, including enlarged cell volume, absent capsule, decreased resistance, lower survival caused by unusual peptidoglycan synthesis, and significantly attenuated pathogenicity in a mouse infection model. Additionally, compared to ZY05719 and CΔglmM, GlmM enzyme acivities and peptidoglycan concentrations of the stk-deficient strain (Δstk), CΔglmM S101A decreased significantly. These experiments revealed that STK phosphorylates GlmM at the Ser-101 site to impact GlmM enzyme activity and control cell wall peptidoglycan synthesis to affect SS2 pathogenicity.
猪链球菌 2 型(SS2)是一种重要的人畜共患病病原体,给养猪业造成严重的经济损失。磷酸化是蛋白质修饰的重要机制。最近的研究报道丝氨酸/苏氨酸激酶(STK)基因有助于 SS2 的生长和毒力。然而,STK 在 SS2 中的调控功能的机制尚未得到充分阐明。在本研究中,进行了磷酸蛋白质组学分析以确定 STK 蛋白的底物。鉴定出 22 种具有不同细胞功能的蛋白质作为 STK 的潜在底物。其中选择磷酸葡萄糖胺变位酶(GlmM)进行进一步研究。体外磷酸化测定和免疫沉淀测定表明 GlmM 可被 STK 在 Ser-101 位点磷酸化,并且 GlmM 的磷酸化水平可以受到影响。我们观察到与野生型菌株 ZY05719 相比,glmM 缺失菌株(ΔglmM)和 glmM S101A 点突变菌株(CΔglmM S101A)表现出异常的细胞形态和减弱的毒力,包括细胞体积增大、荚膜缺失、抗性降低、由于异常肽聚糖合成导致的存活率降低,以及在小鼠感染模型中致病性显著减弱。此外,与 ZY05719 和 CΔglmM 相比,stk 缺失菌株(Δstk)、CΔglmM S101A 的 GlmM 酶活性和肽聚糖浓度显著降低。这些实验表明 STK 在 Ser-101 位点磷酸化 GlmM 以影响 GlmM 酶活性并控制细胞壁肽聚糖合成从而影响 SS2 的致病性。