The macrolactone archazolid is a novel, highly specific V-ATPase inhibitor with an IC 50 Vacuolar ATPases (V-ATPases)3 are heteromultimeric proteins that use the energy of ATP hydrolysis to translocate protons from the cytoplasm into intracellular compartments or across the plasma membrane of eukaryotic cells. This transport of protons is mediated by the membrane-integral V O complex, whereas the cleavage of ATP occurs at the cytoplasmatic V 1 complex (1). The V O complex is composed of single copies of subunits a, d, and e, and the ring-forming proteolipid subunits c, cЉ, and in fungi subunit cЈ also (2). Based on the crystal structure from the V O ring of K subunits, a homologue of the H ϩ -translocating subunit c in the V-type Na ϩ -ATPase from Enterococcus hirae, and a cryoelectron microscopy structure from the V-ATPase of Manduca sexta, an arrangement of 10 subunits is proposed for the V O ring (3, 4). The subunits c and cЈ are predicted to have four transmembrane helices (TM 1 to 4), whereas subunit cЉ contains an additional fifth transmembrane helix. All proteolipid subunits contain a conserved glutamate residue, subunits c and cЈ in TM4 and subunit cЉ in TM3, which are essential for proton transport across the membrane (2). This glutamate is a target for the covalent binding inhibitor N,NЈ-dicyclohexylcarbodiimide (DCCD) and its derivatives (5-8).By regulating the pH homeostasis and membrane energization of cells, V-ATPases are involved in a variety of fundamental processes like vesicular trafficking or secondary transport. In addition, plasma membrane V-ATPases are responsible for extracellular acidification, e.g. in osteoclasts or metastasing tumor cells, and therefore play an important role in severe diseases such as osteoporosis or cancer (7). For these reasons the V-ATPase is a promising therapeutic target, and inhibitors of this enzyme are the focus of biomedical research. A variety of such compounds has been discovered of which the plecomacrolide inhibitors bafilomycin and concanamycin are the best studied examples (9). With IC 50 values at low nanomolar concentrations these compounds are highly specific inhibitors of the V-ATPase (10). Throughout the past years the binding site and inhibition mechanism of the plecomacrolides has been studied in more detail. In 2002 Bowman et al. (11) identified via mutagenesis studies in Neurospora crassa amino acids in V O subunit c that contribute to the binding of bafilomycin. In the same year photoaffinity labeling studies with the radioactive concanamycin derivative 125 I-concanolid A also resulted in the *

Neisseria gonorrhoeae is an obligate human pathogen that is responsible for the sexually-transmitted disease gonorrhea. N. gonorrhoeae encodes a T4SS within the Gonococcal Genetic Island (GGI), which secretes ssDNA directly into the external milieu. Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) play a role in horizontal gene transfer and delivery of effector molecules into target cells. We demonstrate that GGI-like T4SSs are present in other β-proteobacteria, as well as in α- and γ-proteobacteria. Sequence comparison of GGI-like T4SSs reveals that the GGI-like T4SSs form a highly conserved unit that can be found located both on chromosomes and on plasmids. To better understand the mechanism of DNA secretion by N. gonorrhoeae, we performed mutagenesis of all genes encoded within the GGI, and studied the effects of these mutations on DNA secretion. We show that genes required for DNA secretion are encoded within the yaa-atlA and parA-parB regions, while genes encoded in the yfeB-exp1 region could be deleted without any effect on DNA secretion. Genes essential for DNA secretion are encoded within at least four different operons.

b Neisseria gonorrhoeae uses a type IV secretion system (T4SS) to secrete chromosomal DNA into the medium, and this DNA is effective in transforming other gonococci via natural transformation. In addition, the T4SS is important in the initial stages of biofilm development and mediates intracellular iron uptake in the absence of TonB. To better understand the mechanism of type IV secretion in N. gonorrhoeae, we examined the expression levels and localization of two predicted T4SS outer membrane proteins, TraK and TraB, in the wild-type strain as well as in overexpression strains and in a strain lacking all of the T4SS proteins. Despite very low sequence similarity to known homologues, TraB (VirB10 homolog) and TraK (VirB9 homolog) localized similarly to related proteins in other systems. Additionally, we found that TraV (a VirB7 homolog) interacts with TraK, as in other T4SSs. However, unlike in other systems, neither TraK nor TraB required the presence of other T4SS components for proper localization. Unlike other gonococcal T4SS proteins we have investigated, protein levels of the outer membrane proteins TraK and TraB were extremely low in wild-type cells and were undetectable by Western blotting unless overexpressed or tagged with a FLAG3 triple-epitope tag. Localization of TraK-FLAG3 in otherwise wild-type cells using immunogold electron microscopy of thin sections revealed a single gold particle on some cells. These results suggest that the gonococcal T4SS may be present in single copy per cell and that small amounts of T4SS proteins TraK and TraB are sufficient for DNA secretion.

Summary Gonococci secrete chromosomal DNA into the extracellular environment using a type IV secretion system (T4SS). The secreted DNA acts in natural transformation and initiates biofilm development. Although the DNA and its effects are detectable, structural components of the T4SS are present at very low levels, suggestive of uncharacterized regulatory control. We sought to better characterize the expression and regulation of T4SS genes and found that the four operons containing T4SS genes are transcribed at very different levels. Increasing transcription of two of the operons through targeted promoter mutagenesis did not increase DNA secretion. The stability and steady-state levels of two T4SS structural proteins were affected by a homolog of tail-specific protease. An RNA switch was also identified that regulates translation of a third T4SS operon. The switch mechanism relies on two putative stem-loop structures contained within the 5’ untranslated region of the transcript, one of which occludes the ribosome binding site and start codon. Mutational analysis of these stem-loops supports a model in which induction of an alternative structure relieves repression. Taken together, these results identify multiple layers of regulation, including transcriptional, translational, and post-translational mechanisms controlling T4SS gene expression and DNA secretion.

Diazirine‐tagged systems are considered reliable compounds for photoaffinity labeling (PAL) in biochemical studies as they enable investigation and understanding of biological mechanisms through covalent bonding to the target and subsequent detection. 14C‐labeled 4‐(3‐trifluoromethyl‐3H‐diazirin‐3‐yl)benzoic acid (11) was prepared by a lithium‐bromide exchange on the bis‐silylated 4‐bromophenyldiaziridine 19 with subsequent transformations with electrophiles as key steps of the synthesis. Using 14CO2, which was generated from rather inexpensive Ba14CO3, the desired diaziridinylbenzoic acid 21 was obtained in 78 % yield based on the employed radioactive material. Oxidation under mild conditions then yielded diazirine 11 in a 100 mg scale. This versatile photoaffinity label was selectively attached to the tetrahydropyrane ring of bafilomycin A1 (2) and concanamycin A‐derived 3, which both specifically inhibit the V‐ATPases. Inhibition assays were performed and revealed that the inhibitory capacities of the labeled derivatives are suitable for PAL studies on this important group of enzymes to elucidate the as yet unknown binding sites. (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2007)