Restricting the availability of iron is an important strategy for defense against bacterial infection. Mycobacterium tuberculosis survives within the phagosomes of macrophages; consequently, iron acquisition is particularly difficult for M. tuberculosis, because the phagosomal membrane is an additional barrier for its iron access. However, little is known about the iron transport and acquisition pathways adapted by this microbe in vivo. Extracellular iron sources are usually mobilized by hydrophilic siderophores. Here, we describe direct evidence that mycobactins, the lipophilic siderophores of mycobacteria, efficiently extract intracellular macrophage iron. The metal-free siderophore is diffusely associated with the macrophage membrane, ready for iron chelation. Notably, the mycobactin-metal complex accumulates with high selectivity in macrophage lipid droplets, intracellular domains for lipid storage and sorting. In our experiments, these mycobactin-targeted lipid droplets were found in direct contact with phagosomes, poised for iron delivery. The existence of this previously undescribed iron acquisition pathway indicates that mycobacteria have taken advantage of endogenous macrophage mechanisms for iron mobilization and lipid sorting for iron acquisition during infection. The pathway could represent a new target for the control of mycobacterial infection.

Enterobactin (Ent), a prototypic bacterial siderophore, is modified by both the C-glucosyltransferase IroB and the macrolactone hydrolase IroE in pathogenic bacteria that contain the iroA cluster. To investigate the possible effects of glucosylation and macrolactone hydrolysis on the physical properties of Ent, the membrane affinities and iron acquisition rates of Ent and Ent-derived siderophores were measured. The data obtained indicate that Ent has a high membrane affinity (K(x) = 1.5 x 10(4)) similar to that of ferric acinetoferrin, an amphiphile containing two eight-carbon hydrophobic chains. Glucosylation and macrolactone hydrolysis decrease the membrane affinity of Ent by 5-25-fold. Furthermore, in the presence of phospholipid vesicles, the iron acquisition rate is significantly increased by glucosylation and macrolactone hydrolysis, due to the resultant decrease in membrane sequestration of the siderophore. These results suggest that IroB and IroE enhance the ability of Ent-producing pathogens to acquire iron in membrane-rich microenvironments.

Acinetobacter haemolyticus is an antibiotic resistant, pathogenic bacterium responsible for an increasing number of hospital infections. Acinetoferrin (Af), the amphiphilic siderophore isolated from this organism, contains two unusual trans-2-octenoyl hydrocarbon chains reminiscent of a phospholipid structural motif. Here, we have investigated the membrane affinity of Af and its iron complex, Fe-Af, using small and large unilamellar phospholipid vesicles (SUV and LUV) as model membranes. Af shows a high membrane affinity with a partition coefficient, K(x)= 6.8 x 10(5). Membrane partitioning and trans-membrane flip-flop of Fe-Af have also been studied via fluorescence quenching of specifically labeled vesicle leaflets and (1)H NMR line-broadening techniques. Fe-Af is found to rapidly redistribute between lipid and aqueous phases with dissociation/partitioning rates of k(off) = 29 s(-1) and k(on) = 2.4 x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1), respectively. Upon binding iron, the membrane affinity of Af is reduced 30-fold to K'(x) = 2.2 x 10(4) for Fe-Af. In addition, trans-membrane flip-flop of Fe-Af occurs with a rate constant, k(p) = 1.2 x 10(-3) s(-1), with egg-PC LUV and a half-life time around 10 min with DMPC SUV. These properties are due to the phospholipid-like conformation of Af and the more extended conformation of Fe-Af that is enforced by iron binding. Remarkable similarities and differences between Af and another amphiphilic siderophore, marinobactin E, are discussed. The potential biological implications of Af and Fe-Af are also addressed. Our approaches using inner- and outer-leaflet-labeled fluorescent vesicles and (1)H NMR line-broadening techniques to discern Af-mediated membrane partitioning and trans-membrane diffusion are amenable to similar studies for other paramagnetic amphiphiles.

A new general synthesis of the citrate-based siderophores acinetoferrin (Af) and schizokinen (Sz) and their analogues is described. The molecular structure of gallium schizokinen, GaSz, was determined by combined (1)H NMR, Hartree-Fock ab initio calculations, DFT, and empirical modeling of vicinal proton NMR spin-spin couplings. The metal-coordination geometry of GaSz was determined from NOE contacts to be cis-cis with respect to the two chelating hydroxamates. One diaminopropane adopts a single chairlike conformation while another is a mixture of two ring pucker arrangements. Both amide hydrogens are internally hydrogen bonded to metal-ligating oxygen atoms. The acyl methyl groups are directed away from each other with an average planar angle of ca. 130 degrees. The kinetics of GaSz racemization were followed by selective, double spin-echo inversion-recovery (1)H NMR spectroscopy over the temperature range of 10-45 degrees C. The racemization proceeds by a multistep mechanism that is proton independent between pD 5 and 12 (k(0) = 1.47 (0.15 s(-1))) and acid catalyzed below pD 4 (k(1) = 2.25 (0.15) x 10(4) M(-1) s(-1)). The activation parameters found for the two sequential steps of the proton independent pathway were DeltaH(++) = 25 +/- 3 kcal M(-1), DeltaS(++) = 25 +/- 7 cal M(-1) K(-1) and DeltaH(++) = 17.1 +/- 0.2 kcal M(-1), DeltaS(++) = 0.3 +/- 2.7 cal M(-1) K(-1). The first step of the proton-independent mechanism was assigned to the dissociation of the carboxyl group. The second step was assigned to complex racemization. The proton-assisted step was assigned to a complete dissociation of the alpha-hydroxy carboxyl group at pD < 4. The ab initio modeling of gallium acinetoferrin, GaAf, and analogues derived from the structure of GaSz has shown that the pendant trans-octenoyl fragments are oriented in opposite directions with the average planar angle of ca. 130 degrees. This arrangement prevents GaAf from adopting a phospholipid-like structural motif. Significantly, iron siderophore complex FeAf was found to be disruptive to phospholipid vesicles and is considerably more hydrophilic than Af, with an eight-fold smaller partition coefficient.

No abstract