Crystal Structure of the Open State of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae MtrE Outer Membrane Channel

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Hsiang-Ting Lei, Iowa State University; Tsung-Han Chou, Iowa State University; Chih-Chia Su, Iowa State University; Jani Reddy Bolla, Iowa State University; Nitin Kumar, Iowa State University; Abhijith Radhakrishnan, Iowa State University; Feng Long, Iowa State University; Jared A. Delmar, Iowa State University; Sylvia V. Do, Iowa State University; Kanagalaghatta R. Rajashankar, Cornell University; William Shafer, Emory University; Edward W. Yu, Iowa State University
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-06-05
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2014 Lei et al.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0097475
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PLoS ONE
• ISSN: 1932-6203
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 6
• Start Page: e97475
• End Page: e97475
• Grant/Funding Information: This work is based upon research conducted at the Northeastern Collaborative Access Team beamlines of the Advanced Photon Source, supported by an award GM103403 from the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences.; This work was supported by NIH Grants R37AI021150 (W.M.S.) and R01GM086431 (E.W.Y.) and a VA Merit Award (W.M.S.)
• Keywords: SYSTEM; Multidisciplinary Sciences; MENINGITIDIS; MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES; FUSION PROTEIN; MULTIDRUG EFFLUX PUMP; Science & Technology - Other Topics; TRANSPORTER; ESCHERICHIA-COLI; HYDROPHOBIC AGENTS; Science & Technology; PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA; RESISTANCE; ACRB
• Research Categories: Biology, Molecular; Biology, Microbiology

Abstract

Active efflux of antimicrobial agents is one of the most important strategies used by bacteria to defend against antimicrobial factors present in their environment. Mediating many cases of antibiotic resistance are transmembrane efflux pumps, composed of one or more proteins. The Neisseria gonorrhoeae MtrCDE tripartite multidrug efflux pump, belonging to the hydrophobic and amphiphilic efflux resistance-nodulation-cell division (HAE-RND) family, spans both the inner and outer membranes of N. gonorrhoeae and confers resistance to a variety of antibiotics and toxic compounds. We here describe the crystal structure of N. gonorrhoeae MtrE, the outer membrane component of the MtrCDE tripartite multidrug efflux system. This trimeric MtrE channel forms a vertical tunnel extending down contiguously from the outer membrane surface to the periplasmic end, indicating that our structure of MtrE depicts an open conformational state of this channel.