Aim: To screen host proteins that interact with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7 EspF.
Materials & methods: Flow cytometry and high-throughput sequencing were used to screen interacting proteins. Molecular function, biological processes and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were studied using the DAVID online tool. Glutathione S-transferase pull down and dot blotting were used to verify the interactions.
Results: 293 host proteins were identified to associate with EspF. They were mainly enriched in RNA splicing (p = 0.005), ribosome structure (p = 0.012), and involved in 109 types of signaling pathways. SNX9 and ANXA6 were confirmed to interact with EspF.
Conclusion: EspF interacts with ANXA6; they may form a complex to manipulate the process of phagocytosis; EspF plays a highlighted pathogenic role in enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection process.
Keywords: ANXA6; BiFC; EspF; KRAS; bioinformatics analysis; coprecipitation; enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157:H7; flow sorting; protein–protein interactions; subcellular localization.