From Self Sufficiency to Dependence: Mechanisms and Factors Important for Autotransporter Biogenesis

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Microbiol

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Date 2012 Feb 17

PMID 22337167

Citations 110

Authors

Denisse L Leyton

Amanda E Rossiter

Ian R Henderson

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Autotransporters are a superfamily of proteins that use the type V secretion pathway for their delivery to the surface of Gram-negative bacteria. At first glance, autotransporters look to contain all the functional elements required to promote their own secretion: an amino-terminal signal peptide to mediate translocation across the inner membrane, a central passenger domain that is the secreted functional moiety, and a channel-forming carboxyl terminus that facilitates passenger domain translocation across the outer membrane. However, recent discoveries of common structural themes, translocation intermediates and accessory interactions have challenged the perceived simplicity of autotransporter secretion. Here, we discuss how these studies have led to an improved understanding of the mechanisms responsible for autotransporter biogenesis.

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