著者

橋本 博 山根 努 池口 満徳 中平 久美子 柳原 格

出版者

日本結晶学会

雑誌

日本結晶学会誌 (ISSN:03694585)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.52, no.6, pp.285-289, 2010-12-31 (Released:2011-02-25)

参考文献数

21

---

Thermostable direct hemolysin (TDH) is a major virulence factor of Vibrio parahaemolyticus that causes pandemic food-borne enterocolitis mediated by seafood. TDH exists as a tetramer in solution, and it possesses extreme hemolytic activity. Here, we present the crystal structure of the TDH tetramer at 1.5 Å resolution. The TDH tetramer forms a central pore with dimensions of 23 Å in diameter and ∼50 Å in depth. π-cation interactions between protomers comprising the tetramer were indispensable for hemolytic activity of TDH. The N-terminal region was intrinsically disordered outside the pore. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggested that water molecules permeate freely through the central and side channel pores. These findings imply a novel membrane attachment mechanism by a soluble tetrameric pore-forming toxin.