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Glucose-6-phosphate-dependent phosphoryl flow through the Uhp two-component regulatory system

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 166, 1018 WV Amsterdam, The Netherlands¹

Author for correspondence: Klaas J. Hellingwerf. Tel: +31 20 5257055. Fax: +31 20 5257056. e-mail: K.Hellingwerf{at}chem.uva.nl

Expression of the UhpT sugar-phosphate transporter in Escherichia coli is regulated at the transcriptional level via the UhpABC signalling cascade. Sensing of extracellular glucose 6-phosphate (G6P), by membrane-bound UhpC, modulates a second membrane-bound protein, UhpB, resulting in autophosphorylation of a conserved histidine residue in the cytoplasmic (transmitter) domain of the latter. Subsequently, this phosphoryl group is transferred to a conserved aspartate residue in the response-regulator UhpA, which then initiates uhpT transcription, via binding to the uhpT promoter region. This study demonstrates the hypothesized transmembrane signal transfer in an ISO membrane set-up, i.e. in a suspension of UhpBC-enriched membrane vesicles, UhpB autophosphorylation is stimulated, in the presence of [-³²P]ATP, upon intra-vesicular sensing of G6P by UhpC. Subsequently, upon addition of UhpA, very rapid and transient UhpA phosphorylation takes place. When PUhpA is added to G6P-induced UhpBC-enriched membrane vesicles, rapid UhpA dephosphorylation occurs. So, in the G6P-activated state, UhpB phosphatase activity dominates over kinase activity, even in the presence of saturating amounts of G6P. This may imply that maximal in vivo PUhpA levels are low and/or that, to keep sufficient PUhpA accumulated to induce uhpT transcription, the uhpT promoter DNA itself is involved in stabilization/sequestration of PUhpA.

Keywords: transmembrane signalling, kinase/phosphatase state

Abbreviations: G6P, glucose 6-phosphate; HPK, histidine-protein kinase; ISO, inside-out; RR, response-regulator; RSO, right-side-out

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