Prevotella intermedia produces two proteins homologous to Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY but with different heme coordination mode



Bielecki, Marcin, Antonyuk, Svetlana ORCID: 0000-0002-2779-9946, Strange, Richard W, Siemińska, Klaudia, Smalley, John W, Mackiewicz, Paweł, Śmiga, Michał, Cowan, Megan, Capper, Michael J, Ślęzak, Paulina
et al (show 2 more authors) (2020) Prevotella intermedia produces two proteins homologous to Porphyromonas gingivalis HmuY but with different heme coordination mode. Biochemical Journal, 477 (2). pp. 381-405.

[thumbnail of bcj-2019-0607.pdf] Text
bcj-2019-0607.pdf - Author Accepted Manuscript

Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

As part of the infective process, Porphyromonas gingivalis must acquire heme which is indispensable for life and enables the microorganism to survive and multiply at the infection site. This oral pathogenic bacterium uses a newly discovered novel hmu heme uptake system with a leading role played by the HmuY hemophore-like protein, responsible for acquiring heme and increasing virulence of this periodontopathogen. We demonstrated that Prevotella intermedia produces two HmuY homologs, termed PinO and PinA. Both proteins were produced at higher mRNA and protein levels when the bacterium grew under low-iron/heme conditions. PinO and PinA bound heme, but preferentially under reducing conditions, and in a manner different from that of the P. gingivalis HmuY. The analysis of the three-dimensional structures confirmed differences between apo-PinO and apo-HmuY, mainly in the fold forming the heme-binding pocket. Instead of two histidine residues coordinating heme iron in P. gingivalis HmuY, PinO and PinA could use one methionine residue to fulfill this function, with potential support of additional methionine residue/s. The P. intermedia proteins sequestered heme only from the host albumin-heme complex under reducing conditions. Our findings suggest that HmuY-like family might comprise proteins subjected during evolution to significant diversification, resulting in different heme coordination modes. The newer data presented in this manuscript on HmuY homologs produced by P. intermedia sheds more light on the novel mechanism of heme uptake, could be helpful in discovering their biological function, and in developing novel therapeutic approaches.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: heme, hemophore, HmuY, porphyromonas gingivalis, prevotella intermedia, protein structure
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 02 Mar 2020 15:48
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 00:00
DOI: 10.1042/bcj20190607
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3076762