ToxT: Difference between revisions

<u>Ligand-binding</u>. <scene name='ToxT_Transcriptional_Regulator_in_Vibrio_cholerae/Barrel/1'>A nine-stranded beta sheet sandwich</scene> or "jelly-roll" with three other alpha helices (overall making up the <scene name='ToxT_Transcriptional_Regulator_in_Vibrio_cholerae/N-terminus/1'>N-terminus</scene>) contain a <scene name='ToxT_Transcriptional_Regulator_in_Vibrio_cholerae/Binding_pocket/1'>binding pocket</scene>. This is made from several residues from the N-terminus (Y12, Y20, F22, L25, I27, K31, F33, L61, F69, L71, V81, and V83), and a few from the C-terminus (I226, K230, M259, V261, Y266, and M269). This pocket contains a sixteen-carbon fatty acid positioned in a conformation such that its negatively charged carboxylate group forms salt bridges between K31 of the N-terminal domain, and K230 from the C-terminal domain. The pocket is highly hydrophobic, and has a known volume of 780.9 Angstroms.<ref name="structure">PMID: 20133655</ref> This pocket contains a ligand: <scene name='ToxT_Transcriptional_Regulator_in_Vibrio_cholerae/Binding_pocket/2'>cis-palmitoleate</scene> <ref name="structure">PMID: 20133655</ref> which appears to have a negative effect on virulence when present in vitro. The <i>cis</i>-palmitoleate forms <scene name='ToxT_Transcriptional_Regulator_in_Vibrio_cholerae/Salt_bridges_pam/1'>salt bridges</scene> with residues K31 and K230 (for detail, see Figure 1B of: [http://www.pnas.org/content/107/7/2860/F1.large.jpg]). This unsaturated fatty acid, like other UFAs,[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid#Unsaturated_fatty_acids] tend to inhibit genes under the control of ToxT.

Specifically, the <i>cis</i>-palmitoleate (PAM) appears to change ToxT's conformation, and thus lower its ability to bind DNA and form dimers.<ref name="structure">PMID: 20133655</ref> The presence of UFAs is associated with being in the lumen of the intestine during the bacterial infection. PAM brings K31 and K230 together from either end of the protein, and essentially closes off ToxT. K230 is at the end of helix seven, and binding to K31 causes helix six to be pulled into an unfavorable conformation that deters DNA binding. In lower concentration of fatty acids, ie: after penetrating the intestine's mucus, PAM is in lower concentration. At this point, charge-charge repulsion between K31 and K230 leads to a destabilization of the closed conformation of ToxT. This repulsion prompts the opening of the N and C terminal domains.  The freedom of helices six and seven to find a favorable configuration allows DNA binding to occur.<ref name="structure">PMID: 20133655</ref>

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<u>Dimerization</u>. Though the structure shown is a monomer with two overall domains (N-terminal and C-terminal), ToxT tends to form a dimer.<ref name="dimerization">PMID: 21415495

</ref> The preferred state of ToxT varies between promoters, but binding to the <i>ctx</i> promoter to generate cholera toxin appears to be possible only in the dimer form.<ref name="virstatin">PMID:17283330</ref>ToxT binds to thirteen base pair sequences (can be single, direct, or inverted repeats) called toxboxes in order to activate their respective promoters.[http://www.sigwiki.info/wiki/Signature:ToxBox]

==Ligand==

</StructureSection>

==Further Study==