Ligand identification for bp3782, a TctC encoding homolog likely linked to pertussis toxin production in Bordetella pertussis

• Grant number: 24/02484-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: March 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Leonardo Talachia Rosa
• Grantee: Maria Eduarda Prancic
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/11936-6 - The Tripartite Tricarboxylate Transporter (TTT) family: investigating signalling and transport networks in the re-emerging pathogen Bordetella pertussis, AP.JP

Abstract

Bordetella pertussis is the gram-negative bacteria causative of whooping cough, a worldly re-emerging disease characterized by the infection of the respiratory tract.Although most of the toxins used for B. pertussis invasion are well characterized, the environmental sensing and signalling process leading to the infection process is very complex and not fully understood.These phenomena must occur in the periplasm and membrane spaces, where the cell interface lies. In this context, the biggest gene family in B. pertussis genome is that of periplasmic binding components (TctC) of the Tripartite Tricarboxylate Transporters (TTT), with 78 homologs. One of these TctC homogs, bp3782 or bugT, is the first gene in the operon encoding for pertussis toxin and the Type IV secretion system responsible for its export, strongly suggesting an involvement of this SBP on the operon activation.We then propose to identify the ligand recognized by BugT, and investigate its importance in the activation of the pertussis toxin operon.