TprC/D (Tp0117/131), a trimeric, pore-forming rare outer membrane protein of Treponema pallidum, has a bipartite domain structure

J Bacteriol. 2012 May;194(9):2321-33. doi: 10.1128/JB.00101-12. Epub 2012 Mar 2.

Abstract

Identification of Treponema pallidum rare outer membrane proteins (OMPs) has been a longstanding objective of syphilis researchers. We recently developed a consensus computational framework that employs a battery of cellular localization and topological prediction tools to generate ranked clusters of candidate rare OMPs (D. L. Cox et al., Infect. Immun. 78:5178-5194, 2010). TP0117/TP0131 (TprC/D), a member of the T. pallidum repeat (Tpr) family, was a highly ranked candidate. Circular dichroism, heat modifiability by SDS-PAGE, Triton X-114 phase partitioning, and liposome incorporation confirmed that full-length, recombinant TprC (TprC(Fl)) forms a β-barrel capable of integrating into lipid bilayers. Moreover, TprC(Fl) increased efflux of terbium-dipicolinic acid complex from large unilamellar vesicles and migrated as a trimer by blue-native PAGE. We found that in T. pallidum, TprC is heat modifiable, trimeric, expressed in low abundance, and, based on proteinase K accessibility and opsonophagocytosis assays, surface exposed. From these collective data, we conclude that TprC is a bona fide rare OMP as well as a functional ortholog of Escherichia coli OmpF. We also discovered that TprC has a bipartite architecture consisting of a soluble N-terminal portion (TprC(N)), presumably periplasmic and bound directly or indirectly to peptidoglycan, and a C-terminal β-barrel (TprC(C)). Syphilitic rabbits generate antibodies exclusively against TprC(C), while secondary syphilis patients fail to mount a detectable antibody response against either domain. The syphilis spirochete appears to have resolved a fundamental dilemma arising from its extracellular lifestyle, namely, how to enhance OM permeability without increasing its vulnerability to the antibody-mediated defenses of its natural human host.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / physiology*
  • Hot Temperature
  • Humans
  • Polysaccharides
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Folding
  • Rabbits
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Syphilis / immunology
  • Syphilis / microbiology
  • Treponema pallidum / cytology*
  • Treponema pallidum / genetics
  • Treponema pallidum / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Polysaccharides
  • Recombinant Proteins