Publication Date:
2004-12-25
Description:
Many virulent strains of Enterococcus faecalis produce a two-subunit toxin, termed cytolysin. Cytolysin expression is regulated by one of the subunits (CylL(S)'') through a quorum-sensing autoinduction mechanism. We found that when target cells are absent, the other subunit (CylL(L)'') forms a complex with CylL(S)'', blocking it from autoinducing the operon. When target cells are present, however, CylL(L)'' binds preferentially to the target, allowing free CylL(S)'' to accumulate above the induction threshold. Thus, enterococci use CylL(L)'' to actively probe the environment for target cells, and when target cells are detected, allows the organism to express high levels of cytolysin in response.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Coburn, Phillip S -- Pillar, Christopher M -- Jett, Bradley D -- Haas, Wolfgang -- Gilmore, Michael S -- AI041108/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- EY08289/EY/NEI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2004 Dec 24;306(5705):2270-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Stanton L. Young Biomedical Research Center, Room 356, Post Office Box 26901, Oklahoma City, OK 73190, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15618522" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Bacterial Proteins/biosynthesis/chemistry/genetics/*metabolism
;
Bacteriocins
;
Enterococcus faecalis/genetics/*metabolism/*pathogenicity
;
Erythrocyte Membrane/metabolism
;
Erythrocytes/*physiology
;
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
;
Genes, Bacterial
;
Hemolysis
;
Humans
;
Lipid Bilayers/metabolism
;
Models, Biological
;
Operon
;
Protein Subunits/metabolism
;
Surface Plasmon Resonance
;
Virulence
;
Virulence Factors/biosynthesis/chemistry/genetics/*metabolism
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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