Intimate adhesion of Neisseria meningitidis to human epithelial cells is under the control of the crgA gene, a novel LysR-type transcriptional regulator
PilC1, a pilus‐associated protein in Neisseria meningitidis, is a key element in initial meningococcal adhesion to target cells. A promoter element (CREN, contact regulatory element of Neisseria) is responsible for the transient induction of this gene upon cell contact. crgA (contact‐regulated gene...
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Published in | The EMBO journal Vol. 19; no. 5; pp. 1068 - 1078 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Chichester, UK
John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
01.03.2000
Blackwell Publishing Ltd EMBO Press Oxford University Press |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | PilC1, a pilus‐associated protein in Neisseria meningitidis, is a key element in initial meningococcal adhesion to target cells. A promoter element (CREN, contact regulatory element of Neisseria) is responsible for the transient induction of this gene upon cell contact. crgA (contact‐regulated gene A) encodes a transcriptional regulator whose expression is also induced upon cell contact from a promoter region similar to the CREN of pilC1. CrgA shows significant sequence homologies to LysR‐type transcriptional regulators. Its inactivation in meningococci provokes a dramatic reduction in bacterial adhesion to epithelial cells. Moreover, this mutant is unable to undergo intimate adhesion to epithelial cells or to provoke effacing of microvilli on infected cells. Purified CrgA is able to bind to pilC1 and crgA promoters, and CrgA seems to repress the expression of pilC1 and crgA. Our results support a dynamic model of bacteria–cell interaction involving a network of regulators acting in cascade. CrgA could be an intermediate regulator in such a network. |
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Bibliography: | ArticleID:EMBJ7592218 istex:4EA1D2175B7B0D3734FA908C7B4000EA28E7B638 ark:/67375/WNG-4VWWZ1C1-5 ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-1 content type line 23 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 PMCID: PMC305645 Corresponding author e-mail: mktaha@pasteur.fr |
ISSN: | 0261-4189 1460-2075 |
DOI: | 10.1093/emboj/19.5.1068 |