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Identification, function and structure of the mycobacterial sulfotransferase that initiates sulfolipid-1 biosynthesis

Nature Structural & Molecular Biology volume 11, pages 721–729 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Sulfolipid-1 (SL-1) is an abundant sulfated glycolipid and potential virulence factor found in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. SL-1 consists of a trehalose-2-sulfate (T2S) disaccharide elaborated with four lipids. We identified and characterized a conserved mycobacterial sulfotransferase, Stf0, which generates the T2S moiety of SL-1. Biochemical studies demonstrated that the enzyme requires unmodified trehalose as substrate and is sensitive to small structural perturbations of the disaccharide. Disruption of stf0 in Mycobacterium smegmatis and M. tuberculosis resulted in the loss of T2S and SL-1 formation, respectively. The structure of Stf0 at a resolution of 2.6 Å reveals the molecular basis of trehalose recognition and a unique dimer configuration that encloses the substrate into a bipartite active site. These data provide strong evidence that Stf0 carries out the first committed step in the biosynthesis of SL-1 and establish a system for probing the role of SL-1 in M. tuberculosis infection.

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Figure 1: Structure of sulfolipid-1 and trehalose-2-sulfate.
Figure 2: Stf0 is the mycobacterial T2S sulfotransferase.
Figure 3: Sulfation of trehalose is required to initiate SL-1 biosynthesis.
Figure 4: Overall fold and dimer of Stf0.
Figure 5: Interactions between trehalose and Stf0.
Figure 6: Proposed biosynthesis of sulfolipid-1.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the TB Structural Genomics Consortium (http://www.doe-mbi.ucla.edu/TB) for partial funding. We are grateful to J. Holton and C. Ralston at the Advanced Light Source for their assistance with data collection and processing, D. Chen and M. Schelle for fruitful scientific discussions, members of the Berger and Bertozzi labs for careful review of the manuscript, D. Keating for sharing valuable sequence data and H. Schachman for use of equipment. J.D.M. was supported by a fellowship from the Ford Foundation. This work was supported by a grant from the US National Institutes of Health to C.R.B. (AI51622) and J.M.B. (P50-GM62410).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Joseph D Mougous, David L Akey, Sarah E Munchel, James M Berger & Carolyn R Bertozzi

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Christopher J Petzold, Dong H Lee, Fiona L Lin, Matthew R Pratt, Julie A Leary & Carolyn R Bertozzi

  3. School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Ryan H Senaratne & Lee W Riley

  4. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, 94720, California, USA

    Joseph D Mougous, Dong H Lee, Fiona L Lin, Matthew R Pratt & Carolyn R Bertozzi

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Figure 1

Multiple sequence alignment of Stf0 with various sulfotransferases. (PDF 426 kb)

Supplementary Figure 2

Analytical equilibrium centrifugation of Stf0 (PDF 116 kb)

Supplementary Table 1

Data collection and refinement statistics. (PDF 42 kb)

Supplementary Table 2

Distances of hydrogen bonds discussed in text. (PDF 30 kb)

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Mougous, J., Petzold, C., Senaratne, R. et al. Identification, function and structure of the mycobacterial sulfotransferase that initiates sulfolipid-1 biosynthesis. Nat Struct Mol Biol 11, 721–729 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb802

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