Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 101, Issue 30, Pages 10961-10966Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0402305101
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- NIGMS NIH HHS [GM23354] Funding Source: Medline
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Type IV pilus dynamics is important for virulence, motility, and DNA transfer in a wide variety of prokaryotes. The type IV pilus system constitutes a very robust and powerful molecular machine that transports pilus polymers as well as DNA through the bacterial cell envelope. In Neisseria gonorrhoeae, pilus retraction is a highly irreversible process that depends on PiIT, an AAA ATPase family member. However, when levels of NIT are reduced, the application of high external forces (F = 110 +/- 10 pN) induces processive pilus elongation. At forces of >50 pN, single pili elongate at a rate of v = 350 +/- 50 nm/s. For forces of <50 pN, elongation velocity depends strongly on force and relaxation causes immediate retraction. Both pilus retraction and force-induced elongation can be modeled by chemical kinetics with same step length for the rate-limiting translocation step. The model implies that a force-dependent molecular switch can induce pilus elongation by reversing the retraction mechanism.
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