Phosphohistidines in bacterial signaling

Curr Opin Struct Biol. 1997 Dec;7(6):793-7. doi: 10.1016/s0959-440x(97)80148-0.

Abstract

The movement of Gram-negative bacteria in response to nutrients in the environment is driven by two interlinked chemotaxis systems, the methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein (MCP)-mediated pathway, and the phosphoenolpyruvate: sugar phosphotransferase (PTS)-mediated pathway. The physical link connecting the two systems is unclear, but the common utilization of histidine-containing phosphocarrier proteins is an intriguing similarity. The recent structure determinations of several proteins from the PTS-mediated pathway, the phosphotransfer domain from the kinase CheA of the MCP-mediated chemotaxis pathway, and a homologous kinase, ArcB, enable the comparison of the histidine active sites of these systems. Overall, the tertiary folds of the proteins are quite different, as are the structural details of the histidine active sites within the proteins, and therefore there is not an obvious structural homolog via which the two pathways communicate, despite their similar chemical mechanisms.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Bacteria / chemistry
  • Bacteria / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Binding Sites
  • Chemotaxis*
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / chemistry
  • Gram-Negative Bacteria / metabolism
  • Histidine / analogs & derivatives*
  • Histidine / metabolism
  • Membrane Proteins / chemistry*
  • Membrane Proteins / metabolism
  • Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins
  • Models, Molecular
  • Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System / chemistry*
  • Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System / metabolism
  • Protein Folding
  • Protein Structure, Secondary

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Proteins
  • Histidine
  • Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System
  • phosphohistidine