The existence of bacterial K+/H+ antiporters preventing the over-accumulation of potassium in the cytoplasm was predicted by Peter Mitchell almost fifty years ago. The importance of K+/H+ antiport for bacterial physiology is widely recognized but its molecular mechanisms remain underinvestigated. Here, we demonstrate that a putative Na+/H+ antiporter, Vc-NhaP2, protects cells of Vibrio cholerae growing at pH 6.0 from high concentrations of external K+. Resistance of V. cholerae to Na+ was found to be independent of Vc-NhaP2. When assayed in inside-out membrane vesicles derived from antiporter-deficient Escherichia coli, Vc-NhaP2 catalyzed the electroneutral K+(Rb+)/H+ exchange with pH optimum at ~7.75 with an apparent Km for K+ of 1.62 mM. In the absence of K+ it exhibited Na+/H+ antiport, albeit rather weakly. Interestingly, while Vc-NhaP2 cannot exchange Li+ for protons, elimination of functional Vc-NhaP2 resulted in a significantly higher Li+ resistance of V. cholerae cells growing at pH 6.0, suggesting the possibility of Vc-NhaP2-mediated Li+/K+ antiport. The peculiar cation specificity of Vc-NhaP2 and the presence of its two additional paralogues in the same genome make this transporter an attractive model for detailed analysis of structural determinants of the substrate specificity in alkali cation exchangers.
e Na؉ /H ؉ antiporters are ubiquitous membrane proteins that play a central role in the ion homeostasis of cells. In this study, we examined the possible role of Na ؉ /H ؉ antiport in Yersinia pestis virulence and found that Y. pestis strains lacking the major Na ؉ /H ؉ antiporters, NhaA and NhaB, are completely attenuated in an in vivo model of plague. The Y. pestis derivative strain lacking the nhaA and nhaB genes showed markedly decreased survival in blood and blood serum ex vivo. Complementation of either nhaA or nhaB in trans restored the survival of the Y. pestis nhaA nhaB double deletion mutant in blood. The nhaA nhaB double deletion mutant also showed inhibited growth in an artificial serum medium, Opti-MEM, and a rich LB-based medium with Na ؉ levels and pH values similar to those for blood. Taken together, these data strongly suggest that intact Na ؉ /H ؉ antiport is indispensable for the survival of Y. pestis in the bloodstreams of infected animals and thus might be regarded as a promising noncanonical drug target for infections caused by Y. pestis and possibly for those caused by other blood-borne bacterial pathogens.
Inducible AmpC β-lactamases deactivate a broad-spectrum of β-lactam antibiotics and afford antibiotic resistance in many Gram-negative bacteria. The disturbance of peptidoglycan recycling caused by β-lactam antibiotics leads to accumulation of GlcNAc-1,6-anhydroMurNAc-peptides, which are transported by AmpG to the cytoplasm where they are processed into AmpC inducers. AmpG transporters are poorly understood; however, their loss restores susceptibility toward β-lactam antibiotics, highlighting AmpG as a potential target for resistance-attenuating therapeutics. We prepare a GlcNAc-1,6-anhydroMurNAc-fluorophore conjugate and, using live E. coli spheroplasts, quantitatively analyze its transport by AmpG and inhibition of this process by a competing substrate. Further, we use this transport assay to evaluate the function of two AmpG homologues from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and show that P. aeruginosa AmpG (Pa-AmpG) but not AmpP (Pa-AmpP) transports this probe substrate. We corroborate these results by AmpC induction assays with Pa-AmpG and Pa-AmpP. This fluorescent AmpG probe and spheroplast-based transport assay will enable improved understanding of PG recycling and of permeases from the major facilitator superfamily of transport proteins and may aid in identification of AmpG antagonists that combat AmpC-mediated resistance toward β-lactam antibiotics.
Na+/H+ antiporters are integral membrane proteins that exchange Na+ for H+ across the cytoplasmic or organellar membranes of virtually all living cells. They are essential for control of cellular pH, volume homeostasis, and regulation of Na+ levels. Na+/H+ antiporters have become increasingly characterized and are now becoming important drug targets. The recently identified NhaP family of Na+/H+ antiporters, from the CPA1 superfamily, contains proteins with a surprisingly broad collective range of transported cations, exchanging protons for alkali cations such as Na+, Li+, K+, or Rb+ as well as for Ca2+ and, possibly, NH4+. Questions about ion selectivity and the physiological impact of each particular NhaP antiporter are far from trivial. For example, Vc-NhaP2 from Vibrio cholerae has recently been shown to function in vivo as a specific K+/H+ antiporter while retaining the ability to exchange H+ for Na+ and bind (but not exchange with H+) Li+ in a competitive manner. These and other findings reviewed in this communication make antiporters of the NhaP type attractive systems to study intimate molecular mechanisms of cation exchange. In an evolutionary perspective, the NhaP family seems to be a phylogenetic entity undergoing active divergent evolution. In this minireview, to rationalize peculiarities of the cation specificity in the NhaP family, the "size-exclusion principle" and the idea of "ligand shading" are discussed.
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