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The RNA chaperone protein ProQ is a pleiotropic regulator in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The RNA chaperone protein ProQ is a pleiotropic regulator in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli

Alexa Mihaita, Abigail Robinson, Emily Costello, Mary Marino, Zoe Mrozek, Lianna Long, Aidan Fogarty, Marisa Egan and Shantanu Bhatt
Microbial pathogenesis, v 199, 107153
01 Feb 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micpath.2024.107153
PMID: 39586336
Featured in Collection :   UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel

Abstract

Antibiotic resistance Biofilm EPEC LEE Motility ProQ Virulence
Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a gastrointestinal pathogen that affects individuals of all age groups, with infections ranging from subclinical colonization to acute or persistent diarrhea. The bacterium's ability to cause diarrhea depends on the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island. Although regulation of the LEE has been systematically characterized, until the last decade, studies mainly focused on its transcriptional control. Posttranscriptional regulation of the LEE continues to be an underappreciated and understudied area of gene regulation. In the past few years, multiple reports have shed light on the roles of RNA-binding proteins, such as Hfq and CsrA, that modulate virulence in EPEC. This study was undertaken to explore the role of another RNA chaperone protein, ProQ, in the pathophysiology of EPEC. Our results suggest that deletion of proQ globally derepresses gene expression from the LEE in lysogeny broth (LB) suggesting that ProQ is a negative regulator of the LEE. Further interrogation revealed that ProQ exerts its effect by downregulating the expression of PerC – a prominent transcriptional activator of the LEE-encoded master regulator ler, which, in turn leads to the observed repression from the other LEE operons. Furthermore, ProQ appears to moonlight as it affects other physiological processes including type IV pili biogenesis, flagellar-dependent motility, biofilm formation, tryptophan metabolism, and antibiotic resistance. Our study provides the very first evidence to implicate ProQ as a pleiotropic regulator in EPEC. •The locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) is required for EPEC to induce diarrhea.•The role of RNA-binding proteins and small regulatory RNAs in regulation of the LEE continues to be under-appreciated.•Our study identifies the RNA chaperone protein ProQ as a novel repressor of the LEE in EPEC.•ProQ exerts its effect by negatively regulating the plasmid encoded regulator PerC - an activator of the LEE-master regulator, Ler.•ProQ also regulates the morphogenesis of flagella, type IV pili, and curli, among other processes.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Immunology
Microbiology
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