Cell entry of a host-targeting protein of oomycetes requires gp96

• Published in: Nature communications 2018-06, Vol.9 (1), p.2347-12, Article 2347
• Main Authors: Trusch, Franziska, Loebach, Lars, Wawra, Stephan, Durward, Elaine, Wuensch, Andreas, Iberahim, Nurul Aqilah, de Bruijn, Irene, MacKenzie, Kevin, Willems, Ariane, Toloczko, Aleksandra, Diéguez-Uribeondo, Javier, Rasmussen, Tim, Schrader, Thomas, Bayer, Peter, Secombes, Chris J., van West, Pieter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 101/58; 14/19; 14/35; 14/63; 38/89; 631/326/421; 631/45/607/1164; 82/80; 82/83; Amino Acid Motifs; Amino acid sequence; Animals; Aquaculture; C-Terminus; Cloning, Molecular; Cytoplasm; Cytosol - metabolism; Fish; Fishes - parasitology; Freshwater fish; Glycoprotein gp96; Host-Pathogen Interactions; Humanities and Social Sciences; Membrane Microdomains - chemistry; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Models, Biological; multidisciplinary; Nucleic acids; Pathogens; Plants - metabolism; Protein Domains; Protein Transport; Proteins; Recombinant Proteins - chemistry; RNA, Small Interfering - metabolism; Saprolegnia - physiology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Translocation
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-04796-3

The animal-pathogenic oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica causes serious losses in aquaculture by infecting and killing freshwater fish. Like plant-pathogenic oomycetes, S. parasitica employs similar infection structures and secretes effector proteins that translocate into host cells to manipulate the host. Here, we show that the host-targeting protein SpHtp3 enters fish cells in a pathogen-independent manner. This uptake process is guided by a gp96-like receptor and can be inhibited by supramolecular tweezers. The C-terminus of SpHtp3 (containing the amino acid sequence YKARK), and not the N-terminal RxLR motif, is responsible for the uptake into host cells. Following translocation, SpHtp3 is released from vesicles into the cytoplasm by another host-targeting protein where it degrades nucleic acids. The effector translocation mechanism described here, is potentially also relevant for other pathogen–host interactions as gp96 is found in both animals and plants. The pathogenic oomycete Saprolegnia parasitica secretes effector proteins that translocate into host cells through unclear mechanisms. Here, Trusch et al. show that the uptake of effector protein SpHtp3, resulting in RNA degradation, depends on a gp96-like host receptor and a second effector protein.