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bioRxiv · 10.64898/2026.01.26.701698

The Legionella phosphocholinase AnkX modulates IMPDH2 regulation and cytoophidia dynamics

Stauffer, P.·Sandkamp, M.·Swart, A. L.·Ochtrop, P.·Siebels, B.·Pogenberg, V.·Ferreiro Otero, D.·Brockmeyer, A.·Schmid, C.·Janning, P.·Schluter, H.·Hedberg, C.·Itzen, A.·Hilbi, H.
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Abstract

Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires disease, secretes more than 300 different effector proteins into the host cell to modulate processes such as signal transduction, membrane dynamics, and metabolism. A key regulator of cellular metabolism and proliferation is inosine 5-monophosphate dehydrogenase type II (IMPDH2), which catalyzes the rate-limiting step of de novo GTP biosynthesis. IMPDH2 assembles into filaments and larger structures known as cytoophidia, which enable fine-tuned regulation of enzymatic activity in response to changing nucleotide demands. Here, we identify human IMPDH2 as a previously unrecognized host target of the Legionella effector AnkX. We show that AnkX post-translationally modifies IMPDH2 within its regulatory domain by covalently attaching a phosphocholine moiety. While this post-translational modification does not alter the catalytic activity of IMPDH2, it disrupts filament formation, thereby impairing nucleotide-dependent regulation of enzyme activity. Consequently, AnkX-mediated phosphocholination affects IMPDH2 filament assembly, cytoophidia formation, and subcellular localization to the specific Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV). Thus, L. pneumophila subverts host GTP metabolism by posttranslationally modifying a central enzyme of the GTP biosynthetic pathway. Graphical abstract description O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=170 SRC="FIGDIR/small/701698v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (28K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@18f7724org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1d70e86org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1fa8890org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@11bc5ba_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG The Legionella effector AnkX post-translationally modifies the human host enzyme IMPDH2 by transferring a phosphocholine group using CDP-choline as co-substrate. We identified the modification site and discovered that this post-translational modification disrupts the ability of IMPDH2 to assemble into filaments and cytoophidia. By shifting the equilibrium toward free octamers, AnkX-mediated PCylation perturbs the structural regulation of IMPDH2 and alters GTP metabolism in L. pneumophila-infected host cells. This figure was inspired by (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.07.29.605679v2).

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Stauffer, P., Sandkamp, M., Swart, A. L., Ochtrop, P., Siebels, B., Pogenberg, V., Ferreiro Otero, D., Brockmeyer, A., Schmid, C., Janning, P., Schluter, H., Hedberg, C., Itzen, A., Hilbi, H.. 2026-02-10. The Legionella phosphocholinase AnkX modulates IMPDH2 regulation and cytoophidia dynamics. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.01.26.701698

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