The Haemophilus influenzae HMW1 adhesin is an N-linked glycoprotein that mediates adherence to respiratory epithelium, an essential early step in the pathogenesis of H. influenzae disease. HMW1 is glycosylated by HMW1C, a novel glycosyltransferase in the GT41 family that creates N-glycosidic linkages with glucose and galactose at asparagine residues and di-glucose linkages at sites of glucose modification. Here we report the crystal structure of Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae HMW1C (ApHMW1C), a functional homolog of HMW1C. The structure of ApHMW1C contains an N-terminal all αdomain (AAD) fold and a C-terminal GT-B fold with two Rossmannlike domains and lacks the tetratricopeptide repeat fold characteristic of the GT41 family. The GT-B fold harbors the binding site for UDPhexose, and the interface of the AAD fold and the GT-B fold forms a unique groove with potential to accommodate the acceptor protein. Structure-based functional analyses demonstrated that the HMW1C protein shares the same structure as ApHMW1C and provided insights into the mechanism of HMW1C glycosylation of HMW1.
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