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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #368614
Research Project: Defining, Measuring, and Mitigating Attributes that Adversely Impact the Quality and Marketability of Foods

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Structure determination of CAMP factor of mobiluncus curtisii and insights into structural dynamics

Author
item ZENG, WEIHONG - Jinan University
item MA, HUAN - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item FAN, WEIRONG - Shanghai Jiaotong University
item YANG, YUNRU - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item ZHANG, CAIYING - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item KOMBE KOMBE, JOHN ARNAUD - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item FAN, XIAOJIAO - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item Zhang, Yuzhu
item DONG, ZHONGJUN - Tsinghua University
item SHEN, ZHEN - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item ZHOU, YING - University Of Science And Technology Of China
item YANG, MEIXIANG - Jinan University
item JIN, TENGCHUAN - University Of Science And Technology Of China

Submitted to: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/11/2019
Publication Date: 11/15/2019
Citation: Zeng, W., Ma, H., Fan, W., Yang, Y., Zhang, C., Kombe Kombe, J., Fan, X., Zhang, Y., Dong, Z., Shen, Z., Zhou, Y., Yang, M., Jin, T. 2019. Structure determination of CAMP factor of mobiluncus curtisii and insights into structural dynamics. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 150:1027–1036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.10.107.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.10.107

Interpretive Summary: Pathogenic bacteria in the uterus or vagina can cause inflammation, and bacterial vaginosis is the most common cause of infective vaginal discharge. Although no single organism is known to be the etiologic agent, many bacterial species are known to cause purulent vaginal discharge which affects 15 to 42% of dairy cows and has a detrimental effect on reproductive performance of farm animals. Bacterial vaginosis also affects more than 29% of women in the US. One of the pathogenic bacteria associated with the disease is Mobiluncus curtisii. This study reports the structure and function of an M. curtisii protein called CAMP factor which is known to be a pathogenic determinant of the bacteria. The results also assessed the function of the N-terminal domain of the CAMP factor and provided a new perspective on M. curtisii functions pathogenesis. Information obtained in this study may help future efforts in preventing human and farm animal diseases.

Technical Abstract: Bacterial vaginosis is a common type of vaginal inflammation which is caused by the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria. Mobiluncus curtisii is one type of pathogenic bacteria that are highly associated with BV recurrence. CAMP factor is a 25 kDa poreforming toxin which take part in CAMP reaction. Previous we identified the presence of camp gene in the genomic of M. curtisii, however, whether this hypothetical gene product has hemolytic activity, and its structure and function relationship are not known. Here we found that the M. curtisii CAMP factor is a monomer at pH 4.4 and forms oligomer when the pH value is above 4.6. Hemolysis experiment showed that CAMP factor could lyse sheep red blood cells efficiently in pH 5.4-7.4. Negative staining electron microscope analysis of the CAMP factor revealed ring-like structures at pH above 4.6. Additionally, a 1.85 Å crystal structure of M. curtisii CAMP factor was determined. It is a 5 + 3 helix motif. Further functional analysis suggested that the structural rearrangement of N-terminal domain might be required for protein function. In conclusion, by studying the structure and functional relationship of CAMP factor, these provides a new perspective on M. curtisii functions on BV development.