Helsem Stian Aleksander, Alfsnes Kristian, Frye Stephan A, Hesselberg Løvestad Alexander, Ambur Ole Herman
Department of Life Sciences and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, OsloMet, Oslo, Norway.
Division for Infection Control, Department of Bacteriology, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.
PLoS One. 2025 May 8;20(5):e0315160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0315160. eCollection 2025.
The competence protein ComP is a Type IV minor pilin and the extracellular DNA binding protein involved in natural transformation in the human pathogens Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Neisseria meningitidis, Eikenella corrodens and related Neisseriaceae bacteria. Details of the DNA binding mode of ComP is enigmatic, and the 3D structure of the DNA:: protein complex remains unresolved. Here we characterize the ComP orthologs in a set of Neisseriaceae family members, model their common structural domains and their interaction with different preferred 12 base pair long DNA binding motifs, DNA Uptake Sequences (DUS) and scrambled versions of these. Through systematic in silico modeling using AlphaFold 3, RoseTTAFold2NA, and Chai-1 and model comparisons, we bring a new understanding of the interactions between DNA and ComP. We report six distinct binding modes of which two, here named Epsilon and Gamma, were robustly modeled across platforms and different ComPs. The characteristics and robustness of the predicted models and DNA binding modes from each tool are assessed and discussed. This work expands the knowledge on the ComP:: DUS interaction and guides further wet- and dry-lab systematic and experimental characterization of these complexes through which molecular and clinical interventions may be developed.
感受态蛋白ComP是一种IV型小菌毛蛋白,也是参与人类病原体淋病奈瑟菌、脑膜炎奈瑟菌、腐蚀艾肯菌及相关奈瑟菌科细菌自然转化的细胞外DNA结合蛋白。ComP的DNA结合模式细节尚不明确,DNA::蛋白质复合物的三维结构也仍未解析。在此,我们对一组奈瑟菌科家族成员中的ComP直系同源物进行了表征,对它们的共同结构域以及它们与不同的、优选的12碱基对长的DNA结合基序(DNA摄取序列,DUS)及其乱序版本的相互作用进行了建模。通过使用AlphaFold 3、RoseTTAFold2NA和Chai-1进行系统的计算机模拟建模以及模型比较,我们对DNA与ComP之间的相互作用有了新的认识。我们报告了六种不同的结合模式,其中两种在此命名为Epsilon和Gamma,在不同平台和不同ComP上都能可靠地建模。我们评估并讨论了每种工具预测模型和DNA结合模式的特征及可靠性。这项工作扩展了关于ComP::DUS相互作用的知识,并指导对这些复合物进行进一步的湿实验室和干实验室系统及实验表征,通过这些研究可能开发出分子和临床干预措施。