Cargando…

Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)

Type 4 filaments (T4F) are a superfamily of filamentous nanomachines – virtually ubiquitous in prokaryotes and functionally versatile – of which type 4 pili (T4P) are the defining member. T4F are polymers of type 4 pilins, assembled by conserved multi-protein machineries. They have long been an impo...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor principal: Pelicic, Vladimir
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Microbiology Society 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10191384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36947586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001311
_version_ 1785043452310847488
author Pelicic, Vladimir
author_facet Pelicic, Vladimir
author_sort Pelicic, Vladimir
collection PubMed
description Type 4 filaments (T4F) are a superfamily of filamentous nanomachines – virtually ubiquitous in prokaryotes and functionally versatile – of which type 4 pili (T4P) are the defining member. T4F are polymers of type 4 pilins, assembled by conserved multi-protein machineries. They have long been an important topic for research because they are key virulence factors in numerous bacterial pathogens. Our poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms of T4F assembly is a serious hindrance to the design of anti-T4F therapeutics. This review attempts to shed light on the fundamental mechanistic principles at play in T4F assembly by focusing on similarities rather than differences between several (mostly bacterial) T4F. This holistic approach, complemented by the revolutionary ability of artificial intelligence to predict protein structures, led to an intriguing mechanistic model of T4F assembly.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10191384
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher Microbiology Society
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-101913842023-05-18 Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask) Pelicic, Vladimir Microbiology (Reading) Microbial Cell Surfaces Type 4 filaments (T4F) are a superfamily of filamentous nanomachines – virtually ubiquitous in prokaryotes and functionally versatile – of which type 4 pili (T4P) are the defining member. T4F are polymers of type 4 pilins, assembled by conserved multi-protein machineries. They have long been an important topic for research because they are key virulence factors in numerous bacterial pathogens. Our poor understanding of the molecular mechanisms of T4F assembly is a serious hindrance to the design of anti-T4F therapeutics. This review attempts to shed light on the fundamental mechanistic principles at play in T4F assembly by focusing on similarities rather than differences between several (mostly bacterial) T4F. This holistic approach, complemented by the revolutionary ability of artificial intelligence to predict protein structures, led to an intriguing mechanistic model of T4F assembly. Microbiology Society 2023-03-22 /pmc/articles/PMC10191384/ /pubmed/36947586 http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001311 Text en © 2023 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
spellingShingle Microbial Cell Surfaces
Pelicic, Vladimir
Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title_full Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title_fullStr Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title_full_unstemmed Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title_short Mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
title_sort mechanism of assembly of type 4 filaments: everything you always wanted to know (but were afraid to ask)
topic Microbial Cell Surfaces
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10191384/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36947586
http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001311
work_keys_str_mv AT pelicicvladimir mechanismofassemblyoftype4filamentseverythingyoualwayswantedtoknowbutwereafraidtoask