Volume 91, Issue 2 pp. 161-170
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Vaccine target and carrier molecule nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae protein D dimerizes like the close Escherichia coli GlpQ homolog but unlike other known homolog dimers

Seth P. Jones

Seth P. Jones

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Kali H. Cook

Kali H. Cook

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Melody L. Holmquist

Melody L. Holmquist

National Technical Institute for the Deaf, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Liam J. Almekinder

Liam J. Almekinder

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Annie M. Delaney

Annie M. Delaney

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Ryhl Charles

Ryhl Charles

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Natalie Labbe

Natalie Labbe

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Janai Perdue

Janai Perdue

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Niaya Jackson

Niaya Jackson

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Michael E. Pichichero

Michael E. Pichichero

Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Rochester General Hospital Research Institute, Rochester, New York, USA

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Ravinder Kaur

Ravinder Kaur

Center for Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Rochester General Hospital Research Institute, Rochester, New York, USA

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Lea V. Michel

Lea V. Michel

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

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Michael L. Gleghorn

Corresponding Author

Michael L. Gleghorn

School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York, USA

Correspondence

Michael L. Gleghorn, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA.

Email: [email protected]

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First published: 06 September 2022

Seth P. Jones and Kali H. Cook Co-first authors.

Funding information: R21 AI153936-01 NIDCD (PI: Kaur) and Rochester Regional Health (Pichichero)

Abstract

We have determined the 1.8 Å X-ray crystal structure of nonlipidated (i.e., N-terminally truncated) nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi; H. influenzae) protein D. Protein D exists on outer membranes of H. influenzae strains and acts as a virulence factor that helps invade human cells. Protein D is a proven successful antigen in animal models to treat obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and otitis media (OM), and when conjugated to polysaccharides also has been used as a carrier molecule for human vaccines, for example in GlaxoSmithKline Synflorix™. NTHi protein D shares high sequence and structural identify to the Escherichia coli (E. coli) glpQ gene product (GlpQ). E. coli GlpQ is a glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GDPD) with a known dimeric structure in the Protein Structural Database, albeit without an associated publication. We show here that both structures exhibit similar homodimer organization despite slightly different crystal lattices. Additionally, we have observed both the presence of weak dimerization and the lack of dimerization in solution during size exclusion chromatography (SEC) experiments yet have distinctly observed dimerization in native mass spectrometry analyses. Comparison of NTHi protein D and E. coli GlpQ with other homologous homodimers and monomers shows that the E. coli and NTHi homodimer interfaces are distinct. Despite this distinction, NTHi protein D and E. coli GlpQ possess a triose-phosphate isomerase (TIM) barrel domain seen in many of the other homologs. The active site of NTHi protein D is located near the center of this TIM barrel. A putative glycerol moiety was modeled in two different conformations (occupancies) in the active site of our NTHi protein D structure and we compared this to ligands modeled in homologous structures. Our structural analysis should aid in future efforts to determine structures of protein D bound to substrates, analog intermediates, and products, to fully appreciate this reaction scheme and aiding in future inhibitor design.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in RCSB: Protein Data Bank at https://www.rcsb.org/, reference number 8CWP.

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