In Escherichia coli, the Cpx two-component regulatory system activates expression of protein folding and degrading factors in response to misfolded proteins in the bacterial envelope (inner membrane, periplasm, and outer membrane). It is comprised of the histidine kinase CpxA and the response regulator CpxR. This response plays a role in protection from stresses, such as elevated pH, as well as in the biogenesis of virulence factors. Here, we show that the Cpx periplasmic stress response is subject to amplification and repression through positive and negative autofeedback mechanisms. Western blot and operon fusion analyses demonstrated that the cpxRA operon is autoactivated. Conditions that lead to elevated levels of phosphorylated CpxR cause a concomitant increase in transcription ofcpxRA. Conversely, overproduction of CpxP, a small, Cpx-regulated protein of previously unknown function, represses the regulon and can block activation of the pathway. This repression is dependent on an intact CpxA sensing domain. The ability to autoactivate and then subsequently repress allows for a temporary amplification of the Cpx response that may be important in rescuing cells from transitory stresses and cueing the appropriately timed elaboration of virulence factors.

The CpxA/R two-component signal transduction system ofEscherichia coli can combat a variety of extracytoplasmic protein-mediated toxicities. The Cpx system performs this function, in part, by increasing the synthesis of the periplasmic protease, DegP. However, other factors are also employed by the Cpx system for this stress-combative function. In an effort to identify these remaining factors, we screened a collection of random lacZ operon fusions for those fusions whose transcription is regulated by CpxA/R. Through this approach, we have identified a new locus,cpxP, whose transcription is stimulated by activation of the Cpx pathway. cpxP specifies a periplasmic protein that can combat the lethal phenotype associated with the synthesis of a toxic envelope protein. In addition, we show that cpxPtranscription is strongly induced by alkaline pH in a CpxA-dependent manner and that cpxP and cpx mutant strains display hypersensitivity to growth in alkaline conditions.

EnvZ, a membrane receptor kinase-phosphatase, modulates porin expression in Escherichia coli in response to medium osmolarity. It shares its basic scheme of signal transduction with many other sensor-kinases, passing information from the amino-terminal, periplasmic, sensory domain via the transmembrane helices to the carboxy-terminal, cytoplasmic, catalytic domain. The native receptor can exist in two active but opposed signaling states, the OmpR kinase-dominant state (K+ P−) and the OmpR-P phosphatase-dominant state (K− P+). The balance between the two states determines the level of intracellular OmpR-P, which in turn determines the level of porin gene transcription. To study the structural requirements for these two states of EnvZ, mutational analysis was performed. Mutations that preferentially affect either the kinase or phosphatase have been identified and characterized both in vivo and in vitro. Most of these mapped to previously identified structural motifs, suggesting an important function for each of these conserved regions. In addition, we identified a novel motif that is weakly conserved among two-component sensors. Mutations that alter this motif, which is termed the X region, alter the confirmation of EnvZ and significantly reduce the phosphatase activity.

In Escherichia coli, transcription of thedegP locus, which encodes a heat-shock-inducible periplasmic protease, is controlled by two parallel signal transduction systems that each monitor extracytoplasmic protein physiology. For example, the heat-shock-inducible sigma factor, ςE, controls degP transcription in response to the overproduction and folded state of various extracytoplasmic proteins. Similarly, the CpxA/R two-component signal transduction system increases degP transcription in response to the overproduction of a variety of extracytoplasmic proteins. SincedegP transcription is attuned to the physiology of extracytoplasmic proteins, we were interested in identifying negative transcriptional regulators of degP. To this end, we screened for null mutations that increased transcription from a strain containing a degP-lacZ reporter fusion. Through this approach, we identified null mutations in the wecE,rmlA ECA, and wecF loci that increase degP transcription. Interestingly, each of these loci is responsible for synthesis of the enterobacterial common antigen (ECA), a glycolipid situated on the outer leaflet of the outer membrane of members of the family Enterobacteriaceae. However, these null mutations do not stimulate degP transcription by eliminating ECA biosynthesis. Rather, the wecE,rmlA ECA, and wecF null mutations each impede the same step in ECA biosynthesis, and it is the accumulation of the ECA biosynthetic intermediate, lipid II, that causes the observed perturbations. For example, the lipid II-accumulating mutant strains each (i) confer upon E. colia sensitivity to bile salts, (ii) confer a sensitivity to the synthesis of the outer membrane protein LamB, and (iii) stimulate both the Cpx pathway and ςE activity. These phenotypes suggest that the accumulation of lipid II perturbs the structure of the bacterial outer membrane. Furthermore, these results underscore the notion that although the Cpx and ςE systems function in parallel to regulate degP transcription, they can be simultaneously activated by the same perturbation.

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