The BR domain of PsrP interacts with extracellular DNA to promote bacterial aggregation; structural insights into pneumococcal biofilm formation

  • Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 1;6:32371. doi: 10.1038/srep32371.
Tim Schulte  1 ,  Cecilia Mikaelsson  1 ,  Audrey Beaussart  2 ,  Alexey Kikhney  3 ,  Maya Deshmukh  1 ,  Sebastian Wolniak  1 ,  Anuj Pathak  4 ,  Christine Ebel  5 ,  Jonas Löfling  4 ,  Federico Fogolari  6 ,  Birgitta Henriques-Normark  4 ,  Yves F Dufrêne  2 ,  Dmitri Svergun  3 ,  Per-Åke Nygren  7 ,  Adnane Achour  1
Affiliations
  • 1. Science for Life Laboratory, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institute, and Department of Infectious Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, SE-17176 Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 2. Université catholique de Louvain, Institute of Life Sciences, Croix du Sud, 4-5, bte L7.07.06, B-1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
  • 3. European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Hamburg Outstation, Notkestrasse 85, 22603 Hamburg, Germany.
  • 4. Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institute; Clinical Microbiology, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • 5. Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS), Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, CNRS, 38044 Grenoble, France.
  • 6. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Biologiche, Universita' di Udine, Piazzale Kolbe 4, 33100 Udine - Italy.
  • 7. Division of Protein Technology, School of Biotechnology, KTH-Royal, Institute of Technology, Sweden.
PMID: 27582320 DOI: 10.1038/srep32371
Abstract

The major human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of disease and death worldwide. Pneumococcal biofilm formation within the nasopharynx leads to long-term colonization and persistence within the host. We have previously demonstrated that the capsular surface-associated pneumococcal serine rich repeat protein (PsrP), key factor for biofilm formation, binds to keratin-10 (KRT10) through its microbial surface component recognizing adhesive matrix molecule (MSCRAMM)-related globular binding region domain (BR187-385). Here, we show that BR187-385 also binds to DNA, as demonstrated by electrophoretic mobility shift assays and size exclusion chromatography. Further, heterologous expression of BR187-378 or the longer BR120-378 construct on the surface of a Gram-positive model host bacterium resulted in the formation of cellular aggregates that was significantly enhanced in the presence of DNA. Crystal structure analyses revealed the formation of BR187-385 homo-dimers via an intermolecular β-sheet, resulting in a positively charged concave surface, shaped to accommodate the acidic helical DNA structure. Furthermore, small angle X-ray scattering and circular dichroism studies indicate that the aggregate-enhancing N-terminal region of BR120-166 adopts an extended, non-globular structure. Altogether, our results suggest that PsrP adheres to extracellular DNA in the biofilm matrix and thus promotes pneumococcal biofilm formation.