Identification and characterization of E. coli type-1 pilus tip adhesion protein

The type-1 pilus of Escherichia coli is the prototype of this class of hair-like, multimeric adhesive organelles. This pilus mediates adherence to mannose-containing receptors on mucosal epithelia and other cells. The type-1 pilus, in one of several serological variants, is expressed by nearly all E...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1988-03, Vol.332 (6161), p.265-268
Main Authors: Hanson, Mark S, Brinton, Charles C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adhesins, Escherichia coli
Adhesion
Adhesives
Antigens, Bacterial - immunology
Bacterial Adhesion
Bacterial Proteins - analysis
Bacterial Proteins - immunology
Bacterial Proteins - physiology
Bacteriology
Biochemistry
Biological and medical sciences
E coli
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
Escherichia coli - analysis
Fimbriae, Bacterial - analysis
Fimbriae, Bacterial - immunology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Hemagglutination
Immune Sera - immunology
Microbiology
Molecular Weight
Morphology, structure, chemical composition
Papain
Proteins
Urea
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Summary:The type-1 pilus of Escherichia coli is the prototype of this class of hair-like, multimeric adhesive organelles. This pilus mediates adherence to mannose-containing receptors on mucosal epithelia and other cells. The type-1 pilus, in one of several serological variants, is expressed by nearly all E. coli strains, and its promotion of colonization by pathogenic bacteria and the protective effects of purified pilus vaccines suggest that it is important as a bacterial virulence factor. Both the adhesive function and the serological variation of the type-1 pilus have been attributed to the thousand or so pilin protein monomers making up the pilus rods. This idea has been contradicted by our earlier observations on an E. coli strain expressing adhesion-defective pili. More recent genetic evidence also indicates that auxiliary pilus proteins are required for adhesive function. We report here the identification of three previously undetected integral minor proteins on the type-1 pilus, and show that one of them is the receptor-binding adhesin. This protein is antigenically conserved among strains with different pilin serotypes and is located at the pilus tip.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/332265a0