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SlyA is a transcriptional regulator of Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, and other bacteria belonging to the ENTEROBACTERIACEAE: The SlyA protein has been shown to be involved in the virulence of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, but its role in E. coli is unclear. In this study, we employed the proteome technology to analyze the SlyA regulons of enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) and Salmonella serovar Typhimurium. In both cases, comparative analysis of the two-dimensional protein maps of a wild-type strain, a SlyA-overproducing derivative, and a corresponding slyA mutant revealed numerous proteins whose expression appeared to be either positively or negatively controlled by SlyA. Twenty of the putative SlyA-induced proteins and 13 of the putative SlyA-repressed proteins of the tested EIEC strain were identified by mass spectrometry. The former proteins included several molecular chaperones (GroEL, GroES, DnaK, GrpE, and CbpA), proteins involved in acid resistance (HdeA, HdeB, and GadA), the "starvation lipoprotein" (Slp), cytolysin ClyA (HlyE or SheA), and several enzymes involved in metabolic pathways, whereas most of the latter proteins proved to be biosynthetic enzymes. Consistently, the resistance of the EIEC slyA mutant to heat and acid stress was impaired compared to that of the wild-type strain. Furthermore, the implication of SlyA in the regulation of several of the identified E. coli proteins was confirmed at the level of transcription with lacZ fusions. Twenty-three of the Salmonella serovar Typhimurium proteins found to be affected by SlyA were also identified by mass spectrometry. With the exception of GroEL these differed from those identified in the EIEC strain and included proteins involved in various processes. The data suggest that gene regulation by SlyA might be crucial for intracellular survival and/or replication of both EIEC and Salmonella serovar Typhimurium in phagocytic host cells.

Escherichia coli α-hemolysin (HlyA) is a pore-forming protein of 110 kDa belonging to the family of RTX toxins. A hydrophobic region between the amino acid residues 238 and 410 in the N-terminal half of HlyA has previously been suggested to form hydrophobic and/or amphipathic α-helices and has been shown to be important for hemolytic activity and pore formation in biological and artificial membranes. The structure of the HlyA transmembrane channel is, however, largely unknown. For further investigation of the channel structure, we deleted in HlyA different stretches of amino acids that could form amphipathic β-strands according to secondary structure predictions (residues 71–110, 158–167, 180–203, and 264–286). These deletions resulted in HlyA mutants with strongly reduced hemolytic activity. Lipid bilayer measurements demonstrated that HlyAΔ71–110 and HlyAΔ264–286 formed channels with much smaller single-channel conductance than wildtype HlyA, whereas their channel-forming activity was virtually as high as that of the wildtype toxin. HlyAΔ158–167 and HlyAΔ180–203 were unable to form defined channels in lipid bilayers. Calculations based on the single-channel data indicated that the channels generated by HlyAΔ71–110 and HlyAΔ264–286 had a smaller size (diameter about 1.4 to 1.8 nm) than wildtype HlyA channels (diameter about 2.0 to 2.6 nm), suggesting that in these mutants part of the channel-forming domain was removed. Osmotic protection experiments with erythrocytes confirmed that HlyA, HlyAΔ71–110, and HlyAΔ264–286 form defined transmembrane pores and suggested channel diameters that largely agreed with those estimated from the single-channel data. Taken together, these results suggest that the channel-forming domain of HlyA might contain β-strands, possibly in addition to α-helical structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Functional homologs of the Escherichia coli cytolysin A (clyA, hlyE, sheA) gene have recently been detected in Salmonella enterica serovars Typhi (S. Typhi) and Paratyphi A (S. Paratyphi A). In this study, analysis of a collection of Salmonella strains showed that all S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A strains tested harbor an intact copy of the corresponding clyA variant, i.e. clyA STy and clyA SPaA, respectively. On the other hand, clyA proved to be absent in the S. enterica serovar Paratyphi B and serovar Paratyphi C strains, in various non-typhoid S. enterica subsp. enterica serovars (Typhimurium, Enteritidis, Choleraesuis, Dublin, and Gallinarum), and in S. enterica subsp. arizonae and Salmonella bongori strains. When grown under normal laboratory conditions, the S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A strains produced only basal amounts of ClyA protein and did not exhibit a clyA-dependent hemolytic phenotype. RT-PCR and immunoblot analyses as well as phenotypic data revealed, however, that the expression of clyA STy and clyA SPaA can be activated by the Salmonella transcription factor SlyA. In addition, osmotic protection assays and lipid bilayer experiments demonstrated that the hemolytic ClyASTy and ClyASPaA proteins are effective pore-forming toxins which, similar to E. coli ClyA, generate large, stable, moderately cation-selective channels in target membranes. Taken together with our recent serological findings which have indicated that S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A strains produce substantial amounts of ClyA during human infection, these data suggest that ClyA may play a role in S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A pathogenesis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Studies the in vivo activation of hemolysin, a toxin synthesized by Escherichia coli. Structure of the toxin; Requirements for the activation of the toxin; Indication that activation of the hemolysin is not required for pore formation.