Mannose Transporter Research Articles

The dihydroxyacetone kinase of Escherichia coli utilizes a phosphoprotein instead of ATP as phosphoryl donor

The dihydroxyacetone kinase (DhaK) of Escherichia coli consists of three soluble protein subunits. DhaK (YcgT; 39.5 kDa) and DhaL (YcgS; 22.6 kDa) are similar to the N- and C-terminal halves of the ATP-dependent DhaK ubiquitous in bacteria, animals and plants. The homodimeric DhaM (YcgC; 51.6 kDa) consists of three domains. The N-terminal dimerization domain has the same fold as the IIA domain (PDB code 1PDO) of the mannose transporter of the bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). The middle domain is similar to HPr and the C-terminus is similar to the N-terminal domain of enzyme I (EI) of the PTS. DhaM is phosphorylated three times by phosphoenolpyruvate in an EI- and HPr-dependent reaction. DhaK and DhaL are not phosphorylated. The IIA domain of DhaM, instead of ATP, is the phosphoryl donor to dihydroxyacetone (Dha). Unlike the carbohydrate-specific transporters of the PTS, DhaK, DhaL and DhaM have no transport activity.

New diagnosis and treatment of congenital hepatic fibrosis.

New diagnosis and treatment of congenital hepatic fibrosis.

Mechanism of Phosphoryl Transfer in the Dimeric IIABMan Subunit of the Escherichia coliMannose Transporter

The mannose transporter of bacterial phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS) mediates uptake of mannose, glucose, and related hexoses by a mechanism that couples translocation with phosphorylation of the substrate. It consists of the transmembrane IICMan.IIDMan complex and the cytoplasmic IIABMan subunit. IIABMan has two domains (IIA and IIB) that are linked by a 60-A long alanine-proline-rich linker. IIABMan transfers phosphoryl groups from the phospho-histidine-containing phospho-carrier protein of the PTS to His-10 on IIA, hence to His-175 on IIB, and finally to the 6'-OH of the transported hexose. IIABMan occurs as a stable homodimer. The subunit contact is mediated by a swap of beta-strands and an extensive contact area between the IIA domains. The H10C and H175C single and the H10C/H175C double mutants were used to characterize the phosphoryl transfer between IIA to IIB. Subunits do not exchange between dimers under physiological conditions, but slow phosphoryl transfer can take place between subunits from different dimers. Heterodimers of different subunits were produced in vitro by GuHCl-induced unfolding and refolding of mixtures of two different homodimers. With respect to wild-type homodimers, the heterodimers have the following activities: wild-type.H10C, 50%; wild-type.H175C 45%; H10C.H175C, 37%; and wild-type.H10C/H175C (double mutant), 29%. Taken together, this indicates that both cis and trans pathways contribute to the maximal phosphotransferase activity of IIABMan. A phosphoryl group on a IIA domain can be transferred either to the IIB domain on the same or on the second subunit in the dimer, and interruption of one of the two pathways results in a reduction of the activity to 70-80% of the control.

Effects of tryptophan to phenylalanine substitutions on the structure, stability, and enzyme activity of the IIAB(Man) subunit of the mannose transporter of Escherichia coli.

The hydrophilic subunit of the mannose transporter (IIAB(Man)) of Escherichia coli is a homodimer that contains four tryptophans per monomer, three in the N-terminal domain (Trp12, Trp33, and Trp69) and one in the C-terminal domain (Trp182). Single and double Trp-Phe mutants of IIABMan and of the IIA domain were produced. Fluorescence emission studies revealed that Trp33 and Trp12 are the major fluorescence emitters, Trp69 is strongly quenched in the native protein and Trp182 strongly blue shifted, indicative of a hydrophobic environment. Stabilities of the Trp mutants of dimeric IIA(Man) and IIAB(Man) were estimated from midpoints of the GdmHCl-induced unfolding transitions and from the amount of dimers that resisted dissociation by SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate), respectively. W12F exhibited increased stability, but only 6% of the wild-type phosphotransferase activity, whereas W33F was marginally and W69F significantly destabilized, but fully active. Second site mutations W33F and W69F in the background of the W12F mutation reduced protein stability and suppressed the functional defect of W12F. These results suggest that flexibility is required for the adjustments of protein-protein contacts necessary for the phosphoryltransfer between the phosphorylcarrier protein HPr, IIA(Man), IIB(Man), and the incoming mannose bound to the transmembrane IIC(Man)-IID(Man) complex.

Mutational Analysis of Invariant Arginines in the IIABMan Subunit of the Escherichia coliPhosphotransferase System

The mannose transporter of bacterial phosphotransferase system mediates uptake of mannose, glucose, and related hexoses by a mechanism that couples translocation with phosphorylation of the substrate. It consists of the transmembrane IIC(Man)-IID(Man) complex and the cytoplasmic IIAB(Man) subunit. IIAB(Man) has two flexibly linked domains, IIA(Man) and IIB(Man), each containing a phosphorylation site (His-10 and His-175). Phosphoryl groups are transferred from the phosphoryl carrier protein phospho-HPr to His-10, hence to His-175 and finally to the 6' OH of the transported hexose. Phosphate-binding sites and phosphate-catalytic sites frequently contain arginines, which by their guanidino group can stabilize phosphate through hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions. IIB(Man) contains five arginines which are invariant in the homologous IIB subunits of Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Bacillus subtilis. The IIA domains have no conserved arginines. The five arginines were replaced by Lys or Gln one at a time, and the mutants were analyzed for transport and phosphorylation activity. All five IIB mutants can still be phosphorylated at His-175 by the IIA domain. R172Q is completely inactive with respect to glucose phosphotransferase (phosphoryltransfer from His-175 to the 6' OH of Glc) and hexose transport activity. R168Q has no hexose transport and strongly reduced phosphotransferase activity. R204K has no transport but almost normal phosphotransferase activity. R304Q has only slightly reduced transport activity. R190K behaves like wild-type IIAB(Man). Arg-168, Arg-172, and Arg-304 are part of the hydrogen bonding network on the surface of IIB, which contains the active site His-175 and the interface with the IIA domain (Schauder, S., Nunn, R.S., Lanz, R., Erni, B. and Schirmer, T. (1998) J. Mol. Biol. 276, 591-602) (Protein Data Bank accession code 1BLE). Arg-204 is at the putative interface between IIB(Man) and the IIC(Man)-IID(Man) complex.

Human Fibroblasts Prefer Mannose over Glucose as a Source of Mannose for N-Glycosylation: EVIDENCE FOR THE FUNCTIONAL IMPORTANCE OF TRANSPORTED MANNOSE

Mannose in N-linked oligosaccharides is assumed to be derived primarily from glucose through phosphomannose isomerase (PMI). The discovery of mammalian mannose-specific transporters that function at physiological concentrations suggested that mannose might directly contribute to oligosaccharide synthesis. To determine the relative contribution of glucose and mannose, human fibroblasts were labeled with either [2-3H]mannose or [1,5,6-3H]glucose at the same specific activity, and the N-linked chains were released by PNGase F digestion. Most of the trichloroacetic acid-precipitable [3H]mannose label was released by this digestion, but only about 10% of the trichloroacetic acid-precipitable material was released from cells labeled with [1,5,6-3H]glucose. Both sugars labeled a similar array of oligosaccharides, and acid hydrolysis of these chains showed that [2-3H]mannose contributed 65-75% of the [3H]mannose in cells labeled for 1 h, despite the 100-fold higher concentration of exogenous glucose. Mannose consumption and [2-3H]mannose utilization were within the range of rates expected for mannose transport via the mannose-specific transporter. About 7-14% of the [2-3H]mannose is used for glycosylation, while the rest (86-93%) is catabolized to 3H2O via PMI. Increasing the exogenous mannose concentration beyond mannose transporter saturation results in the conversion of >99% of [2-3H]mannose into 3H2O. Long term labeling of cells with [2-3H]mannose showed that the specific activity of mannose in glycoproteins reached 77% of the specific activity of [2-3H]mannose added to the medium. These results show that when fibroblasts are provided with physiological concentrations of mannose, they use the mannose-specific transporter to supply the majority of mannose needed for glycoprotein synthesis. PMI may normally be used to catabolize excess mannose rather than to primarily supply Man-6-P for glycoprotein synthesis.

Secondary structure of the IIB domain of the Escherichia coli mannose transporter, a new fold in the class of α/β twisted open-sheet structures

The mannose transporter of the Escherichia coli bacterial phosphotransferase system consists of three subunits: IIAB, IIC and IID. IIAB Man transfers phosphoryl groups to the transported substrate via phosphohistidine intermediates. Its IIB domain was overexpressed and isotopically labelled with 13C, 15N and 2H. Heteronuclear 3D triple-resonance NMR experiments combined with a semi-automatic assignment procedure yielded the sequential assignment of the 1H, 13C and 15N backbone resonances. Based on the evaluation of conformationally sensitive parameters, the secondary structure of the IIB Man domain has been determined as an α/β twisted open-sheet structure consisting of a six-stranded parallel β-sheet with the novel strand order 3–2–4–1–5–6, six helices and a short two-stranded antiparallel β-sheet. © 1997 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

Analysis of Hydrophobic Proteins and Peptides by Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry

Bacterioopsin (BO) from Halobacterium halobium, as well as its V8-protease and CNBr fragments from the C-terminal region, were used to establish appropriate conditions for the mass determination of membrane proteins and peptides by electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). Of the tested solvents neat formic acid gave the best results for BO (26 781.8 ± 5.1 Da) and chloroform + methanol + water (2:5:2, v/v/v/) containing 2% acetic acid was best for the BO fragments (2461.5 ± 0.2 Da, 7147.1 ± 0.5 Da, 7748.0 ± 0.4 Da) with an overall mass accuracy of about 0.01% The three subunits IIABMan, IICMan and IIDMan of the mannose transporter complex in E. coli were used to establish conditions for liquid chromatography/electrospray mass spectrometry measurements (LC/ESI-MS). The subunits were separated by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography using a water/formic acid gradient. Of the detergents used to solubilize the sample, the uncharged dodecylmaltoside and the positively charged dodecyltrimethylammoniumchloride had the most favorable influence on the separation and mass measurement by ESI-MS. For the first time the rather hydrophilic IIABMan (34 920.8 ± 6.7 Da) and the transmembrane IIDMan (31 909.4 ± 18.2 Da) subunits could be determined with a mass accuracy in the range of 0.01 to 0.05%. On the other hand no appropriate conditions could be found to determine the precise mass of IICMan experimentally. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The levanase operon of Bacillus subtilis expressed in Escherichia coli can substitute for the mannose permease in mannose uptake and bacteriophage lambda infection

Bacteriophage lambda adsorbs to its Escherichia coli K-12 host by interacting with LamB, a maltose- and maltodextrin-specific porin of the outer membrane. LamB also serves as a receptor for several other bacteriophages. Lambda DNA requires, in addition to LamB, the presence of two bacterial cytoplasmic integral membrane proteins for penetration, namely, the IIC(Man) and IID(Man) proteins of the E. coli mannose transporter, a member of the sugar-specific phosphoenolpyruvate:sugar phosphotransferase system (PTS). The PTS transporters for mannose of E. coli, for fructose of Bacillus subtilis, and for sorbose of Klebsiella pneumoniae were shown to be highly similar to each other but significantly different from other PTS transporters. These three enzyme II complexes are the only ones to possess distinct IIC and IID transmembrane proteins. In the present work, we show that the fructose-specific permease encoded by the levanase operon of B. subtilis is inducible by mannose and allows mannose uptake in B. subtilis as well as in E. coli. Moreover, we show that the B. subtilis permease can substitute for the E. coli mannose permease cytoplasmic membrane components for phage lambda infection. In contrast, a series of other bacteriophages, also using the LamB protein as a cell surface receptor, do not require the mannose transporter for infection.

Sugar Transport by the Marine Chitinolytic Bacterium Vibrio furnissii: MOLECULAR CLONING AND ANALYSIS OF THE MANNOSE/GLUCOSE PERMEASE

We have previously reported that the chitin catabolic cascade in Vibrio furnissii involves multiple signal transducing systems, and that mono- and disaccharide chemoreceptors/transporters are essential components of some of these systems. This and the accompanying papers (Bouma, C. L., and Roseman, S. (1996) J. Biol. Chem 271, 33457-33467; Keyhani, N. O., Wang, L.-X., Lee, Y. C., and Roseman, S. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 33409-33413) describe some of the sugar transporters. A 13-kilobase pair fragment of V. furnissii DNA was found to impart a Glc+, Man+ phenotype to Escherichia coli ptsG ptsM mutants, and encodes the mannose transporter, ptsM, of the phosphoenolpyruvate:glycose phosphotransferase system. Unlike the E. coli mannose permease, V. furnissii IIMan is inactive with GlcNAc and Fru, and is encoded by four genes rather than three. The gene order is manXYZW, where the product of manY corresponds to IIPMan, manZ to the mannose receptor IIBMan, and manX and manW to the single E. coli gene, manX (which encodes IIIMan, viz. IIAMan). Thus, in V. furnissii, the E. coli manX equivalent comprises two genes, which are separated in the genome by two other genes of the ptsM complex. Two additional open reading frames were detected in the V. furnissii DNA fragment. One encodes a GlcNAc-6-P deacetylase, and the other is similar to aldolase.

Membrane Topology of the Mannose Transporter of Escherichia coli K12

The mannose transporter of the bacterial phosphotransferase system mediates carbohydrate transport across the cytoplasmic membrane concomitant with carbohydrate phosphorylation. It also functions as a receptor for bacterial chemotaxis [Adler.J. & Epstein, W. (1974) Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 71. 2895-2899] and is required for infection of the cell by bacteriophage lambda where it most likely functions as a pore for penetration of phage DNA [Elliott, J. & Arber, W. (1978) Mol. & Gen. Genet. 161, 1-8]. The transporter consists of two transmembrane subunits (27-kDa IICMan and 31-kDa IIDMan) and a hydrophilic subunit (35-kDa IIABMan). Protein fusions of IICMan and IIDMan with beta-galactosidase (LacZ) and with alkaline phosphatase (PhoA) were analyzed to determine the membrane topology of the two proteins. Protein fusions were obtained by progressively deleting the manY and manZ genes from their 3' ends and ligating them to lacZ and 'phoA that lack promotor and leader sequences. Based on the analysis of 30 IICMan-PhoA. 10 IICMan-LacZ, 12 IIDMan-PhoA, and 30 IIDMan-LacZ fusions, it is predicted that IICMan has six membrane-spanning segments with the N- and C-termini on the cytoplasmic face of the membrane. IIDMan is anchored in the membrane by a single membrane-spanning segment at the end of the C-terminus, while most of the protein (250 residues) protrudes into the cytoplasm.

Structure of the IIA Domain of the Mannose Transporter from Escherichia coliat 1.7 Å Resolution

The mannose transporter from Escherichia coliis a member of the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent phosphotransferase system. The multisubunit complex couples translocation across the bacterial inner membrane with phosphorylation of the solute. A functional fragment (IIA Man, residues 2 to 133) of the membrane-associated IIAB Mansubunit of the mannose transporter was expressed as a selenomethionine protein, and the un- phosphorylated molecule was crystallized and its structure solved by X-ray crystallography. The protein consists of a central five-stranded β-sheet covered by helices on either face. The order of the secondary structure elements is (βα) 4,αβ. Four β-strands are arranged in a parallel manner with strand order 2134 and are linked by helices forming right-handed cross-over connections. The fifth strand that forms one edge of the sheet and runs antiparallel to the others is swapped between the subunits of the dimeric structure. Helices D and E form a helical hairpin. Histidine 10, which is transiently phosphorylated during catalysis, is located at the topologial switch-point of the structure, close to the subunit interface. Its imidazole ring is hydrogen bonded to the buried side-chain of Asp67. It is likely that Asp67 acts as a general base and thus increases the nucleophilicity of the histidine. Modeling suggests that the covalently bound phosphoryl group would be stabilized by the macrodipole of helix C. Putative interactions between IIA Manand the histidine-containing phosphocarrier protein are discussed.

A String of Enzymes, Purification and Characterization of a Fusion Protein Comprising the Four Subunits of the Glucose Phosphotransferase System of Escherichia coli

A multidomain protein comprising the four subunits of the glucose phosphotransferase system of Escherichia coli was constructed by fusion of the transmembrane subunit IICBGlc and the three cytoplasmic proteins, IIAGlc, HPr, and enzyme I. The subunits were linked in the above order with Ala-Pro-rich linkers; the fusion protein was overexpressed in E. coli and purified by Ni2+ chelate affinity chromatography. Approximately 3 mg of the fusion protein could be purified from 1 liter of culture. The phosphotransferase activity of the purified fusion protein was 3-4 times higher than that of an equimolar mixture of the isolated subunits. The mannose transporter, which also requires enzyme I and HPr, was not an effective competitor in the overall phosphoryltransfer reaction when the fusion protein was used, whereas it was a competitor when an equimolar mixture of the separate subunits was employed. Transphosphorylation activity of the fusion protein was almost indistinguishable from the wild-type IICBglc. Addition of extra IICBGlc subunit could significantly stimulate the phosphotransferase activity of the fusion protein, addition of extra IIAGlc subunit and enzyme I, in contrast, was slightly inhibitory, and HPr had almost no effect. An optimal detergent-lipid ratio is required for maximum activity of the fusion protein. Our results suggest that Ala-Pro-rich linker sequences may be of general use for the construction of catalytically active fusion proteins with novel properties.

Functional Reconstitution of the Purified Mannose Phosphotransferase System of Escherichia coli into Phospholipid Vesicles

The mannose transporter complex acts by a mechanism which couples translocation with phosphorylation of the substrate. It consists of a hydrophilic subunit (IIABMan) and two transmembrane subunits (IICMan, IIDMan). The purified complex was reconstituted into phospholipid vesicles by octyl glucoside dilution. Glucose export was measured with proteoliposomes which were loaded with radiolabeled glucose and to which purified IIABMan, cytoplasmic phosphorylcarrier proteins, and P-enolpyruvate were added from the outside. Vectorial transport was accompanied by stoichiometric phosphorylation of the transported sugar. Glucose added to the outside of the proteoliposomes was also phosphorylated rapidly but did not compete with vectorial export and phosphorylation of internal glucose. Glucose uptake was measured with proteoliposomes which were loaded with the cytoplasmic phosphoryl carrier proteins and P-enolpyruvate and to which glucose was added from the outside. Vectorial import and phosphorylation occurred with a higher specificity (Km 30 +/- 6 microM, kcat 401 +/- 32 pmol of Glc/micrograms of IICDMan/min) than nonvectorial phosphorylation (Km 201 +/- 43 microM, kcat 975 +/- 88 pmol of Glc/micrograms of IICDMan/min). A new plasmid pTSHIC9 for the controlled overexpression of the cytoplasmic phosphoryl carrier proteins, enzyme I, HPr, and IIAGlc, and a simplified procedure for the purification of these proteins are also described.

Independent folding of the domains in the hydrophilic subunit IIABman of the mannose transporter of Escherichia coli.

The active form of the hydrophilic subunit (IIABman) of the mannose transporter of Escherichia coli is a homodimer of two 35-kDa subunits. Each subunit consists of two distinct domains, IIA and IIB, which can be separated by limited trypsin digestion. Separation of tryptic fragments yields monomers of IIB and dimers of IIA, which are active and stable. To test whether the domains fold as independent units, the effects of guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl) and temperature on the structural stability of the intact IIABman were compared with those of the isolated fragments. Equilibrium GuHCl-induced reversible unfolding, measured by circular dichroism and tryptophan fluorescence, showed a biphasic transition for intact IIABman and monophasic transitions for each isolated fragment. The midpoint transitions of the isolated IIB and IIA fragments (at 1.0 and 2.3 M GuHCl) coincide with the first and second transitions of intact IIABman. Analytical ultracentrifugation studies suggested that dissociation precedes the unfolding of IIA. Thermal unfolding of IIABman, monitored by differential scanning calorimetry, showed two well-separated transitions near 52 and 95 degrees C which corresponded to the midpoint transitions of the isolated IIB and IIA fragments. The combined results demonstrate an independent stepwise unfolding of the domains in IIABman as well as the absence of stabilizing interdomain interactions. The lack of interdomain interactions suggests an unrestricted domain motion. This may play an important role in the phosphoryl transfer reaction which is catalyzed by the binding of IIABman to a phosphoryl carrier protein HPr (via the IIA domain) and to the transmembrane subunits of the mannose transporter (via the IIB domain).

Mannose transporter of Escherichia coli. Backbone assignments and secondary structure of the IIA domain of the IIABMan subunit.

The mannose transporter of Escherichia coli consists of two transmembrane and one peripheral protein subunit. The complex acts by a mechanism which couples translocation of the substrate with substrate phosphorylation. The peripheral IIABMan is a homodimer. The IIABMan monomer itself contains two domains which are linked by an Ala-Pro-rich hinge and which are both transiently phosphorylated at histidyl residues. The IIA and IIB domains can be separated by limited proteolysis. The IIA domain has a dimer molecular mass of 2 x 14 kDa. Almost complete 1H, 13C, and 15N NMR assignments of the backbone resonances of IIAMan have been achieved using 3D and 4D double-and triple-resonance techniques. Secondary structure elements were derived from NOE data. The IIA domain consists of a central beta-sheet of four parallel and one antiparallel strand (strand order 5 4 3 1 2) with helices on both sides of the sheet. The active-site His-10 is located in a loop at the C-terminus of beta-strand 1. This loop and the loop after strand 3 are at the topological switch point of the sheet.

Predicted topology of the N-terminal domain of the hydrophilic subunit of the mannose transporter of Escherichia coli

A folding topology for the homodimeric N-terminal domain (IIA, 2 × 14 kDa) of the hydrophilic subunit (IIAB man) of the mannose transporter of E. coli is proposed. The prediction is based on (i) tertiary structure prediction methods, and (ii) functional properties of site-directed mutants in correlation with NMR-derived α/β secondary structure data. The 3D structure profile suggested that the overall fold of IIA is similar to that of the unrelated protein, flavodoxin, which is an open-stranded parallel β-sheet with a strand order of 5 4 3 1 2. The 3D model of IIA, constructed using the known atomic structure of flavodoxin, is consistent with the results from site-directed mutagenesis. Recently NMR results confirmed the open parallel β-sheet with a strand order of 4 3 12 (residues 1-120) of our model whereas β-strand 5 (residues 127–130) was shown to be antiparallel to β-strand 4. The correctly predicted fold includes 90% of the monomeric subunit sequence and contains all functional sites of the IIA domain.

The emergence of a basolateral 1-deoxymannojirimycin-sensitive mannose carrier is a function of intestinal epithelial cell differentiation. Evidence for a new inhibitory effect of 1-deoxymannojirimycin on facilitative mannose transport.

We have previously reported that 1-deoxymannojirimycin (dMM), a specific alpha-mannosidase I inhibitor interfered with the uptake of D-[2-3H]mannose in differentiated HT-29 cells (a cell line derived from a human colon adenocarcinoma) (Ogier-Denis, E., Trugnan, G., Sapin, C., Aubery, M., and Codogno, P. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 5366-5369). In the present work, we have used another cell line derived from a human colon adenocarcinoma, Caco-2 cells, which has the capacity to grow and to differentiate on porous filters. We have determined that mannose could enter the cells by two distinct transporters. One sensitive to dMM, present at the basolateral membrane of differentiated Caco-2 cells, and one insensitive to the drug localized at the brush border membrane of these cells. The basolateral mannose uptake is mediated by a Na(+)-independent transporter whereas the apical entry of mannose is under the dependence of Na+. We have focused our studies on the basolateral dMM-sensitive mannose carrier. Kinetic studies indicated that this facilitative mannose transporter has a Km and a Vmax of 55 +/- 8 microM and 0.144 +/- 0.005 mumol/mg of protein/min, respectively. This basolateral transporter is clearly distinct from facilitative glucose transporters. Moreover, this dMM-sensitive mannose transport accurately follows the differentiation process of intestinal epithelial cells as well in vitro as shown using Caco-2 cells as in vivo when experiments were done on crypt cells and villus cells isolated from rat jejunum.

The mannose transporter of Escherichia coli K12: oligomeric structure, and function of two conserved cysteines.

The mannose transporter of E. coli is a member of the phosphotransferase system. It consists of two membrane spanning subunits, IICMan (27.64 kDa) and IIDMan (31.02 kDa) and a peripheral subunit IIABMan (35.02 kDa). It acts by a mechanism that couples vectorial translocation to phosphorylation of the substrate. The subunit ratio determined from densitometric scans of polyacrylamide gels is close to IIABMan2 IICMan1 IIDMan2. A molecular mass of 100 +/- 20 kDa was calculated from electronmicrographs of freeze fractured proteoliposomes containing particles of the IICMan/IIDMan subcomplex with a mean diameter of 6.3 +/- 1.1 nm. This is most compatible with IICMan:IIDMan subunit compositions of 1:2 (89.7 kDa). Fusion proteins between IICMan and IIDMan were generated, with the subunits connected either by a two-residue linker or a 20 residue Ala Pro rich hinge. The fusion proteins had 5%-15% of control phosphotransferase activity. The one with the Ala Pro rich linker could be cleaved with trypsin resulting in a 7 fold increase of activity while the fusion with the two residue linker was resistant to limited trypsinolysis. Taking into account the inside-out orientation of the membrane vesicles the C-terminus of IICMan and the N-terminus of IIDMan are both predicted to be on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane. Two cysteines in IICMan and IIDMan which are conserved in the homologous subunits of the fructose transporter of Bacillus subtilis and of sorbose transporter of Klebsiella pneumoniae are not necessary for phosphotransferase function.

The mannose transporter of Escherichia coli. Structure and function of the IIABMan subunit.

The mannose transporter of the bacterial phosphotransferase system consists of two transmembrane subunits (IICMan and IIDMan) and a hydrophilic subunit (IIABMan). IIABMan has two flexibly linked domains containing one phosphorylation site each and occurs as a dimer. Substrate transport is coupled to phosphorylation. The phosphoryl group is transferred from a phosphoryl carrier protein to His10 on IIA, hence to His175 on IIB and finally to the substrate. IIABMan mutants were analyzed in vitro for complementation, negative dominance, cysteine cross-linking and reactivity. (i) His10, Trp12, Lys48, and Ser72 form a functional unit (phosphorylation site 1); (ii) His86 on the IIA domain and His175 on the IIB domain of the same subunit form a functional unit (phosphorylation site 2); (iii) phosphoryl transfer can occur between His10 and His175 of the same as well as of different subunits and His86 is necessary for this transfer; (iv) the subunits in the dimer are interdependent; (v) The phosphorylation site mutant H175C is highly reactive toward thiol reagents and it forms extensive homo- and heterocross-links with other surface-exposed cysteines. The phosphorylation site mutant H10C is 1000-fold less reactive. The two residues might be in complementary locations, His10 buried in a concave, His175 exposed on a convex surface.