Impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on autolytic activities of the Enterococcus faecalis N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and N-acetylmuramidase AtlB

Emirian, Aurélie; Fromentin, Sophie; Eckert, Catherine; Chau, Françoise; Dubost, Lionel; Delepierre, Muriel; Gutmann, Laurent; Arthur, Michel; Mesnage, Stéphane

doi:10.1016/j.febslet.2009.08.010

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Volume 583, Issue 18 , Pages 3033-3038, 17 September 2009

Impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on autolytic activities of the Enterococcus faecalis N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and N-acetylmuramidase AtlB

Edited by Miguel De la Rosa

Aurélie Emirian
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- These two authors contributed equally to this work.
Sophie Fromentin
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- These two authors contributed equally to this work.
- Present address: Laboratoire Aragó, Equipe Physiologie Environnementale, 66650 Banyuls sur Mer Cedex, France.
Catherine Eckert
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Present address: Faculté de médecine Saint Antoine, 75012 Paris, France.
Françoise Chau
- EA3964, Faculté de Médecine Xavier Bichat, Université Paris 7, 75018 Paris, France
Lionel Dubost
- Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, USM0502, 75005 Paris, France
- CNRS, UMR8041, Plateforme de Spectrométrie de Masse et de Protéomique du Muséum, Département de Recherche Développement et Diversité Moléculaire, 75005 Paris, France
Muriel Delepierre
- RMN des Biomolécules, CNRS URA 2185, Institut Pasteur, 75015 Paris, France
Laurent Gutmann
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- AP-HP Hópital Européen Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Michel Arthur
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
Stéphane Mesnage
- Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, INSERM U872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Pierre et Marie Curie, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Université Paris Descartes, UMR-S 872, 75006 Paris, France
- Corresponding author. Address: INSERM U872-LRMA, Centre de Recherches des Cordeliers, Université Paris 6, 15 rue de l’Ecole de Médecine, 75254 Paris Cédex 06, France. Fax: +33 1 43 25 68 12.

Received 23 July 2009; received in revised form 10 August 2009; accepted 10 August 2009. published online 17 August 2009.

Abstract

Autolysins are potentially lethal enzymes that partially hydrolyze peptidoglycan for incorporation of new precursors and septum cleavage after cell division. Here, we explored the impact of peptidoglycan O-acetylation on the enzymatic activities of Enterococcus faecalis major autolysins, the N-acetylglucosaminidase AtlA and the N-acetylmuramidase AtlB. We constructed isogenic strains with various O-acetylation levels and used them as substrates to assay E. faecalis autolysin activities. Peptidoglycan O-acetylation had a marginal inhibitory impact on the activities of these enzymes. In contrast, removal of cell wall glycopolymers increased the AtlB activity (37-fold), suggesting that these polymers negatively control the activity of this enzyme.

Keywords: Autolysin, Peptidoglycan, O-acetylation, Enterococcus faecalis