Structural Basis for the Activation of Cholera Toxin by Human ARF6-GTP
Abstract
The Vibrio cholerae bacterium causes devastating diarrhea when it infects the human intestine. The key event is adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribosylation of the human signaling protein GSα, catalyzed by the cholera toxin A1 subunit (CTA1). This reaction is allosterically activated by human ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs), a family of essential and ubiquitous G proteins. Crystal structures of a CTA1:ARF6-GTP (guanosine triphosphate) complex reveal that binding of the human activator elicits dramatic changes in CTA1 loop regions that allow nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to bind to the active site. The extensive toxin:ARF-GTP interface surface mimics ARF-GTP recognition of normal cellular protein partners, which suggests that the toxin has evolved to exploit promiscuous binding properties of ARFs.
- Publication:
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Science
- Pub Date:
- August 2005
- DOI:
- 10.1126/science.1113398
- Bibcode:
- 2005Sci...309.1093O
- Keywords:
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- BIOCHEM