A fucose-binding superlectin from Enterobacter cloacae with high Lewis and ABO blood group antigen specificity

verfasst von
Ghamdan Beshr, Asfandyar Sikandar, Julia Gläser, Mario Fares, Roman Sommer, Stefanie Wagner, Jesko Köhnke, Alexander Titz
Abstract

Bacteria frequently employ carbohydrate-binding proteins, so-called lectins, to colonize and persist in a host. Thus, bacterial lectins are attractive targets for the development of new anti-infectives. To find new potential targets for anti-infectives against pathogenic bacteria, we searched for homologs of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lectins and identified homologs of LecA in Enterobacter species. Here, we recombinantly produced and biophysically characterized a homolog that comprises one LecA domain and one additional, novel protein domain. This protein was termed Enterobacter cloacae lectin A (EclA) and found to bind L-fucose. Glycan array analysis revealed a high specificity for the LewisA antigen and the type II H-antigen (blood group O) for EclA, while related antigens LewisX, Y, and B, as well as blood group A or B were not bound. We developed a competitive binding assay to quantify blood group antigen-binding specificity in solution. Finally, the crystal structure of EclA could be solved in complex with methyl α-L-selenofucoside. It revealed the unexpected binding of the carbohydrate ligand to the second domain, which comprises a novel fold that dimerizes via strand-swapping resulting in an intertwined beta sheet.

Organisationseinheit(en)
Institut für Lebensmittelchemie
Externe Organisation(en)
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH (HZI)
Deutsches Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (DZIF)
Universität des Saarlandes
Typ
Artikel
Journal
Journal of Biological Chemistry
Band
301
ISSN
0021-9258
Publikationsdatum
02.2025
Publikationsstatus
Veröffentlicht
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete
Biochemie, Molekularbiologie, Zellbiologie
Elektronische Version(en)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbc.2024.108151 (Zugang: Offen)