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A Moonlighting Enolase from Lactobacillus gasseri does not Require Enzymatic Activity to Inhibit Neisseria gonorrhoeae Adherence to Epithelial Cells

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Abstract

Enolases are generally thought of as cytoplasmic enzymes involved in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. However, several bacteria have active forms of enolase associated with the cell surface and these proteins are utilized for functions other than central metabolism. Recently, a surface-associated protein produced by Lactobacillus gasseri ATCC 33323 with homology to enolase was found to inhibit the adherence of the sexually transmitted pathogen, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, to epithelial cells in culture. Here, we show that the protein is an active enolase in vitro. A recombinantly expressed, C-terminal His-tagged version of the protein, His6-Eno3, inhibited gonococcal adherence. Assays utilizing inhibitors of enolase enzymatic activity showed that this inhibitory activity required the substrate-binding site to be in an open conformation; however, the enolase enzymatic activity of the protein was not necessary for inhibition of gonococcal adherence. An L. gasseri strain carrying an insertional mutation in eno3 was viable, indicating that eno3 is not an essential gene in L. gasseri 33323. This observation, along with the results of the enzyme assays, is consistent with reports that this strain encodes more than one enolase. Here we show that the three L. gasseri genes annotated as encoding an enolase are expressed. The L. gasseri eno3 mutant exhibited reduced, but not abolished, inhibition of gonococcal adherence, which supports the hypothesis that L. gasseri inhibition of gonococcal adherence is a multifactorial process.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Dr. Robert Britton for providing the plasmids pORI19 and pVE6007 for the insertional mutagenesis system, and for his advice on mutagenesis in lactobacilli. We would also like to thank Dr. Lin Tao for providing protocols and advice for electroporation of L. gasseri. Finally, we would like to thank Dr. Eric Carter for his advice on enzyme kinetics and Dr. Robert Hausinger for critical reading of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

R. R. Spurbeck, P. T. Harris, K. Raghunathan, D. N. Arvidson, and C. G. Arvidson declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Author notes

  1. Rachel R. Spurbeck

    Present address: Swift Biosciences, Inc., Ann Arbor, MI, USA

  2. Paul T. Harris

    Present address: Flatirons Optometric Group, Northglenn, CO, USA

  3. Kannan Raghunathan

    Present address: Neogen Corp., Lansing, MI, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, 567 Wilson Rd., Biomedical Physical Sciences Rm 5192, East Lansing, MI, 48824-1101, USA

    Paul T. Harris, Kannan Raghunathan, Dennis N. Arvidson & Cindy Grove Arvidson

  2. The Genetics Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Rachel R. Spurbeck & Cindy Grove Arvidson

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  1. Rachel R. Spurbeck
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Correspondence to Cindy Grove Arvidson.

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Spurbeck, R.R., Harris, P.T., Raghunathan, K. et al. A Moonlighting Enolase from Lactobacillus gasseri does not Require Enzymatic Activity to Inhibit Neisseria gonorrhoeae Adherence to Epithelial Cells. Probiotics & Antimicro. Prot. 7, 193–202 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12602-015-9192-8

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