Legionella pneumophila Secretes a Mitochondrial Carrier Protein during Infection

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002459
• Publication Date: 2012-01-06T09:01:13Z
• Authors: Pavel Dolezal; Margareta Aili; Janette Tong; Jhih-Hang Jiang; Carlo M. Marobbio; Sau fung Lee; Ralf Schuelein; Simon Belluzzo; Eva Binova; Aurelie Mousnier; Gad Frankel; Giulia Giannuzzi; Ferdinando Palmieri; Kipros Gabriel; Thomas Naderer; Elizabeth L. Hart...; Trevor Lithgow
• Keywords: Mitochondrial carrier; Transport protein

The Mitochondrial Carrier Family (MCF) is a signature group of integral membrane proteins that transport metabolites across the mitochondrial inner in eukaryotes. MCF are characterized by six transmembrane segments assemble to form highly-selective channel for metabolite transport. We discovered novel member, termed Legionellanucleotide carrier Protein (LncP), encoded genome Legionella pneumophila, causative agent Legionnaire's disease. LncP was secreted via bacterial Dot/Icm type IV secretion system into macrophages and assembled membrane. In yeast cellular system, induced dominant-negative phenotype rescued deleting an endogenous ATP carrier. Substrate studies on purified reconstituted liposomes revealed it catalyzes unidirectional exchange membranes, thereby supporting role as transporter. A hidden Markov model further intracellular pathogens, longbeachae Neorickettsia sennetsu, challenging notion exist exclusively eukaryotic organisms.