Biology subjects

Ummels, R.

Publications and source records attributed to Ummels, R..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2022

Reconstitution of a minimal ESX-5 type VII secretion systems uncovers the essential role of the PPE proteins in secretion

Mycobacteria utilize type VII secretion systems (T7SSs) to secrete proteins across their highly hydrophobic and diderm cell envelope. Pathogenic mycobacteria have up to five different T7SSs, called ESX-1 to ESX-5, which are crucial for growth and virulence. Here, we use a functionally reconstituted ESX-5 system in the avirulent species Mycobacterium smegmatis that lacks ESX-5, to define the role of each esx-5 gene in system functionality. By creating an array of gene deletions and assessing protein levels of components and membrane complex assembly, we observed that only the five components of the inner membrane complex are required for its assembly. However, in addition to these five core components, active secretion also depends on both the Esx and PE/PPE substrates. Tagging the PPE substrates followed by subcellular fractionation, surface labeling and membrane extraction showed that these proteins localize to the mycobacterial outer membrane. This indicates that they could play a role in secretion across this enigmatic outer barrier. These results provide a first full overview of the role of each esx-5 gene in T7SS functionality.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Structure and dynamics of the ESX-5 type VII secretion system of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes one of the most important infectious diseases in humans, leading to 1.5 million deaths every year. Specialized protein transport systems, called type VII secretion systems (T7SSs), are central for its virulence, but also crucial for nutrient and metabolite transport across the mycobacterial cell envelope. Here we present the first structure of an intact T7SS inner membrane complex of M. tuberculosis. We show how the 2.32 MDa, 165 transmembrane helices-containing ESX-5 assembly is restructured and stabilized as a trimer of dimers by the MycP5 protease. A trimer of MycP5 caps a central periplasmic dome-like chamber formed by three EccB5 dimers, with the proteolytic sites facing towards the cavity. This chamber suggests a central secretion and processing conduit. Complexes without MycP5 show disruption of the EccB5 periplasmic assembly and increased flexibility, highlighting the importance of this component for complex integrity. Beneath the EccB5-MycP5 chamber, dimers of the EccC5 ATPase assemble into three four-transmembrane helix bundles, which together seal the potential central secretion channel. Individual cytoplasmic EccC5 domains adopt two distinctive conformations, likely reflecting different secretion states. Our work suggests a novel mechanism of protein transport and provides a structural scaffold to aid drug development against the major human pathogen.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Rerouting of an Esx substrate pair from the ESX-1 type VII secretion system to ESX-5 by modifying a PE/PPE substrate pair

Type VII secretion systems (T7SSs) secrete a wide range of extracellular proteins that play important roles in bacterial viability and in host-pathogen interactions of pathogenic mycobacteria. There are five subtypes of mycobacterial T7SSs, called ESX-1 to ESX-5, and four classes of T7SS substrates, namely the Esx, PE, PPE and Esp proteins. At least some of these substrates are secreted as heterodimers. The ESX systems mediate the secretion of specific members of the Esx, PE and PPE proteins, raising the question how these substrates are recognized in a system-specific fashion. PE/PPE heterodimers interact with their cognate EspG chaperones, which recently has been shown to determine their designated secretion pathway. Both structural and pulldown analysis suggest that EspG is unable to interact with Esx proteins and therefore the determining factor for system-specificity of these substrates remains unknown. In this study, we have investigated the secretion specificity of the ESX-1 substrate pair EsxB_1/EsxA_1 (MMAR_0187/MMAR _0188) in Mycobacterium marinum. While this substrate pair was hardly secreted when ectopically expressed, secretion was observed when EsxB_1/EsxA_1 was co-expressed together with PE35/PPE68_1 (MMAR_0185/MMAR_0186), which are encoded by the same operon. Surprisingly, co-expressing EsxB_1/EsxA_1 with a modified PE35/PPE68_1 version that carried the EspG5 chaperone binding domain, previously shown to redirect this substrate pair to the ESX-5 system, also resulted in co-secretion of EsxB_1/EsxA_1 via ESX-5. Our data suggest a secretion model in which PE35/PPE68_1 is a determinant factor for the system-specific secretion of EsxB_1/EsxA_1.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Species-specific secretion of ESX-5 type VII substrates is determined by the linker 2 of EccC5

Type VII secretion systems (T7SSs) are used by mycobacteria to translocate a wide range of effector proteins across their diderm cell envelope. These systems, also known as ESX systems, have crucial roles for the viability and/or virulence of mycobacterial pathogens, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the fish pathogen Mycobacterium marinum. We previously observed species-specificity in the secretion of the PE_PGRS proteins by the ESX-5 system [1], in that the M. tuberculosis ESX-5 system was unable to fully complement an M. marinum esx-5 mutant. In this study, we established that the responsible factor for this is the central membrane ATPase EccC5, which has three nucleotide binding domains (NBDs). By creating chimeric M. marinum/M. tuberculosis EccC5 constructs, we observed that PE_PGRS secretion is mediated only in the presence of an EccC5 containing the cognate linker 2, irrespective of the origin of the EccC5 backbone. This region is responsible for linking the first two NBDs and for keeping the first NBD in an inhibited state. Notably, this region is disordered in a EccC crystal structure and is particularly extended in EccC proteins of the different ESX-5 systems. These results indicate that this region is involved in species-specific substrate recognition and might therefore be an additional substrate recognition site of EccC5.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

WhiB6 is required for the secretion-dependent regulation of ESX-1 substrates in pathogenic mycobacteria.

The mycobacterial type VII secretion system ESX-1 is responsible for the secretion of a number of proteins that play important roles during host infection. The regulation of the expression of secreted proteins is often essential to establish successful infection. Using transcriptome sequencing, we found that the abrogation of ESX-1 function in Mycobacterium marinum leads to a pronounced increase in gene expression levels of the espA operon during the infection of macrophages, suggesting an important role in ESX-1-mediated virulence during the early phase of infection. In addition, the disruption of ESX-1-mediated protein secretion also leads to a specific down-regulation of the ESX-1 substrates, but not of the structural components of this system, during growth in culture medium. This effect is observed in both M. marinum and M. tuberculosis. We established that down-regulation of ESX-1 substrates is the result of a regulatory process that is influenced by the putative transcriptional regulator whib6, which is located adjacent to the esx-1 locus. In addition, the overexpression of the ESX-1-associated PE35/PPE68 protein pair resulted in a significantly increased secretion of the ESX-1 substrate EsxA, demonstrating a functional link between these proteins. Taken together, these data show that WhiB6 is required for the secretion-dependent regulation of ESX-1 substrates and that ESX-1 substrates are regulated independently from the structural components, both during infection and as a result of active secretion.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2018

RD5-mediated lack of PE_PGRS and PPE-MPTR export in BCG vaccine strains results in strong reduction of antigenic repertoire but little impact on protection

Tuberculosis is the deadliest infectious disease worldwide. Although the BCG vaccine is widely used, it does not efficiently protect against pulmonary tuberculosis and an improved tuberculosis vaccine is therefore urgently needed. Mycobacterium tuberculosis uses different ESX/Type VII secretion (T7S) systems to transport proteins important for virulence and host immune responses. We recently reported that secretion of T7S substrates belonging to the mycobacteria-specific Pro-Glu (PE) and Pro-Pro-Glu (PPE) proteins of the PGRS (polymorphic GC-rich sequences) and MPTR (major polymorphic tandem repeat) subfamilies required both a functional ESX-5 system and a functional PPE38/71 protein for secretion. Inactivation of ppe38/71 and the resulting loss of PE_PGRS/PPE-MPTR secretion were linked to increased virulence of M. tuberculosis strains. Here, we show that a predicted total of 89 PE_PGRS/PPE-MPTR surface proteins are not exported by certain animal-adapted strains of the M. tuberculosis complex including M. bovis. This {Delta}ppe38/71-associated secretion defect therefore also occurs in the M. bovis-derived tuberculosis vaccine BCG and could be restored by introduction of the M. tuberculosis ppe38-locus. Epitope mapping of the PPE-MPTR protein PPE10, further allowed us to monitor T-cell responses in splenocytes from BCG/M. tuberculosis immunized mice, confirming the dependence of PPE10-specific immune-induction on ESX-5/PPE38-mediated secretion. Restoration of PE_PGRS/PPE-MPTR secretion in recombinant BCG neither altered global antigenic presentation or activation of innate immune cells, nor protective efficacy in two different mouse vaccination-infection models. This unexpected finding stimulates a reassessment of the immunomodulatory properties of PE_PGRS/PPE-MPTR proteins, some of which are contained in vaccine formulations currently in clinical evaluation.

microbiology↗