Sirtuins are homologues of the yeast transcriptional repressor Sir2p and are conserved from bacteria to humans. We report that human SIRT4 is localized to the mitochondria. SIRT4 is a matrix protein and becomes cleaved at amino acid 28 after import into mitochondria. Mass spectrometry analysis of proteins that coimmunoprecipitate with SIRT4 identified insulindegrading enzyme and the ADP/ATP carrier proteins, ANT2 and ANT3. SIRT4 exhibits no histone deacetylase activity but functions as an efficient ADP-ribosyltransferase on histones and bovine serum albumin. SIRT4 is expressed in islets of Langerhans and colocalizes with insulin-expressing ␤ cells. Depletion of SIRT4 from insulin-producing INS-1E cells results in increased insulin secretion in response to glucose. These observations define a new role for mitochondrial SIRT4 in the regulation of insulin secretion.Histone deacetylases are enzymes that catalyze the removal of acetyl groups from the ⑀-amino group of lysine residues and are separated into three classes. Sirtuins, the class III histone deacetylases, are homologous to the yeast transcriptional repressor, Sir2p, and are NAD ϩ -dependent enzymes (1-3). Seven sirtuins have been identified in the human genome (4, 5). They share a conserved Sir2 catalytic core domain and exhibit variable amino-and carboxyl-terminal extensions that contribute to their unique subcellular localization and may also regulate their catalytic activity.The subcellular distribution, substrate specificity, and cellular functions of sirtuins are quite diverse (reviewed in Refs. 1-3). SIRT1 is found in the nucleus, where it functions as a transcriptional repressor via histone deacetylation. SIRT1 can also regulate transcription by modifying the acetylation levels of transcription factors, such as MyoD, FOXO, p53, and NF-B (6 -12). The SIRT2 protein is found in the cytoplasm, where it associates with microtubules and deacetylates lysine 40 of ␣-tubulin (13). The SIRT3 protein is localized in the mitochondrial matrix (14, 15), where it is proteolytically processed at its NH 2 terminus, yielding a mature protein that has protein deacetylase activity (14). These observations indicate that the targets of sirtuins are not restricted to histone proteins but extend to acetylated proteins in other subcellular compartments.Sirtuins also differ in their substrate specificities. For instance, SIRT1, -2, and -3 have robust activity on chemically acetylated histone H4 peptides, whereas SIRT5 has weak but detectable activity, and SIRT4, -6, and -7 have no detectable activity on the same substrate (13). Interestingly, a sirtuin from Archaeoglobus fulgidus, Sir2-Af1, which has close homology with SIRT5, also has weak activity on a histone peptide but significantly stronger activity on an acetylated bovine serum albumin substrate (16,17). Similarly, both SIRT1 and SIRT2 can deacetylate p53; however, only SIRT2 deacetylates lysine 40 of ␣-tubulin (13, 17).Recently, SIRT6 was demonstrated to be a nuclear ADP-ribosyltransferase (18), whereas a T. brucei SI...

Hfq, a chaperone for small noncoding RNAs, regulates many processes in Escherichia coli, including the S -mediated general stress response. Here we used microarray analysis to identify the changes in gene expression resulting from lack of Hfq. We identify several potential new targets for Hfq regulation, including genes encoding outer membrane proteins, enzymes, factors, and transporters. Many of these genes are involved in amino acid uptake and biosynthesis, sugar uptake and metabolism, and cell energetics.

Cyclic AMP is a ubiquitous messenger that integrates many processes of the cell. Diverse families of adenylate cyclases and phosphodiesterases stringently regulate the intracellular concentration of cAMP. Any alteration in the cytosolic concentration of cAMP has a profound effect on the various processes of the cell. Disruption of these cellular processes in vivo is often the most critical event in the pathogenesis of infectious diseases for animals and humans. Many pathogenic bacteria secrete toxins to alter the intracellular concentration of cAMP. These toxins either disrupt the normal regulation of the host cell's adenylate cyclases/phosphodiesterases or they themselves catalyze the synthesis of cAMP in the host cell. The latter are known as the adenylate cyclase toxins. Four such toxins have been identified: the invasive adenylate cyclase of Bordetella pertussis, the edema factor of Bacillus anthracis, ExoY of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the adenylate cyclase of Yersinia pestis. These adenylate cyclase toxins enter the eukaryotic host cells and get activated by eukaryotic cofactors, like calmodulin, to trigger the synthesis of cAMP in these cells. By accumulating cAMP in the target cells, these toxins either modulate the cellular function or completely deactivate the cell for further function. The immune effector cells appear to be the primary target of these adenylate cyclase toxins. By accumulating cAMP in the immune effector cells, these adenylate cyclase toxins poison the immune system and thus facilitate the survival of the bacteria in the host.

In Escherichia coli, the σ E transcription factor monitors and maintains outer membrane (OM) integrity by activating genes required for assembly of its two key components, outer membrane proteins (OMPs) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and by transcribing small RNAs to down-regulate excess unassembled OMPs. σ E activity is governed by the rate of degradation of its membrane-spanning anti-σ factor, RseA. Importantly, the DegS protease can initiate RseA cleavage only when activated by binding to unassembled OMPs. The prevalent paradigm has been that the σ E response is controlled by the amount of activated DegS. Here we demonstrate that inactivation of a second negative regulator, the periplasmic protein RseB, is also required for σ E induction in vivo. Moreover, OMPs, previously known only to activate DegS, also generate a signal to antagonize RseB inhibition. This signal may be lipid related, as RseB is structurally similar to proteins that bind lipids. We propose that the use of an AND gate enables σ E to sense and integrate multivariate signals from the envelope.extracytoplasmic stress | anti-sigma | PDZ domain

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The structural gene for anthrax edema factor (EF) was expressed in Escherichia coli under the control of a powerful T5 promoter to yield the 89-kDa recombinant protein that reacted with anti-EF antibodies. Recombinant EF was purified to homogeneity by a two-step procedure involving metal chelate affinity chromatography and cation-exchange chromatography. From 1 liter of culture, 2.5 mg of biologically active EF was easily purified. This is the first report of purification of anthrax EF from E. coli. EF purified from E. coli was biologically and functionally as active as its Bacillus anthracis counterpart. The recombinant protein could compete with lethal factor for binding to protective antigen. Sequence analysis revealed a stretch of seven amino acids, Val Tyr Tyr Glu Ile Gly Lys, present both in EF (residues 136 to 142) and lethal factor (residues 147 to 153). To investigate the role of these seven residues in binding to protective antigen, the residues were individually mutated to alanine in EF. Mutations in residues Tyr137, Tyr138, Ile140, and Lys142 of EF specifically blocked its interaction with anthrax protective antigen. The adenylate cyclase activity of the mutants remained unaffected. The results suggested that residues Tyr137, Tyr138, Ile140, and Lys142 are required for binding of EF to anthrax protective antigen, which facilitates its entry into susceptible cells.

The anthrax edema toxin comprises two proteins: protective antigen and edema factor. Anthrax protective antigen binds to the receptors on the surface of target cells and facilitates the entry of edema factor into these target cells. Edema factor (EF) is an adenylate cyclase that catalyzes the synthesis of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in the cytosol of the host cells. In this study, we examined the requirement of extracellular calcium for anthrax edema toxin-induced toxicity in host cells. The cAMP response generated by edema toxin was analyzed in a variety of cells, including CHO, macrophage-like RAW264.7, human neutrophils, and human lymphocytes. Our investigations reveal that after EF reaches the cell cytosol, a rapid influx of calcium is triggered in the host cell that has a pivotal role in determining the cAMP response of the affected cells. Although the cAMP response generated by edema toxin in different cell types varied in intensity and in the time of initiation, the influx of calcium invariably preceded cAMP accumulation. Agents that blocked the uptake of calcium also inhibited edema toxin-induced accumulation of cAMP in the host cells. This is the first report that demonstrates that edema toxin induces accumulation of cAMP in lymphocytes. By accumulating cAMP, a potent inhibitor of immune cell function, edema toxin may actually be poisoning the immune system and thus facilitating the survival of the bacteria in the host.Anthrax, which is primarily a zoonotic disease, is transmissible from animals to humans. The causative agent of anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, is a gram-positive, spore-forming bacterium that produces a three-component exotoxin called the anthrax toxin complex (22). The three components of this toxin complex are protective antigen (PA [83 kDa]), edema factor (EF [89 kDa]), and lethal factor (LF [90 kDa]). Individually, all of the three proteins are nontoxic. However, the combination of PA and LF, called the lethal toxin, causes death in experimental animals (30), whereas the combination of PA and EF, known as the edema toxin, induces an increase in the intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP) levels in the susceptible cells (20) and elicits skin edema upon subcutaneous injection (31). By increasing the intracellular cAMP concentrations in neutrophils, anthrax edema toxin inhibits phagocytosis and blocks both particulate as well as phorbol myristate acetate-induced chemiluminescence (25). Anthrax edema toxin can differentially regulate lipopolysaccharide-induced production of tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin-6 by increasing the intracellular cAMP levels in monocytes (16).Both LF and EF require PA for their entry into target cells. During intoxication of the target cells, PA binds to the receptors on the cells surface (6). It gets cleaved by cell surface proteases, such as furin (18), to release an N-terminal 20-kDa fragment, PA 20 , from the cell surface, thereby exposing a highaffinity site on the 63-kDa fragment, PA 63 , still bound to the receptor. PA 63 then binds to the catalytic components, EF...

The Escherichia coli envelope stress response is controlled by the alternative sigma factor, E , and is induced when unfolded outer membrane proteins accumulate in the periplasm. The response is initiated by sequential cleavage of the membrane-spanning antisigma factor, RseA. RseB is an important negative regulator of envelope stress response that exerts its negative effects on E activity through its binding to RseA. In this study, we analyze the interaction between RseA and RseB. We found that tight binding of RseB to RseA required intact RseB. Using programs that performed global and local sequence alignment of RseB and RseA, we found regions of high similarity and performed alanine substitution mutagenesis to test the hypothesis that these regions were functionally important. This protocol is based on the hypothesis that functionally dependent regions of two proteins co-evolve and therefore are likely to be sequentially conserved. This procedure allowed us to identify both an N-terminal and C-terminal region in RseB important for binding to RseA. We extensively analyzed the C-terminal region, which aligns with a region of RseA coincident with the major RseB binding determinant in RseA. Both allele-specific suppression analysis and cysteine-mediated disulfide bond formation indicated that this C-terminal region of similarity of RseA and RseB identifies a contact site between the two proteins. We suggest a similar protocol can be successfully applied to pairs of non-homologous but functionally linked proteins to find specific regions of the protein sequences that are important for establishing functional linkage.