The hemolysin A secretion system is a multi-engine pump containing three ABC transporters
2022
Zhao, Hongtu | Lee, James | Chen, Jue
Type 1 secretion systems (T1SSs) are widespread in pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria, extruding protein substrates following synthesis of the entire polypeptide. The Escherichia coli hemolysin A secretion system has long been considered a prototype in structural and mechanistic studies of T1SSs. Three membrane proteins—an inner membrane ABC transporter HlyB, an adaptor protein HlyD, and an outer membrane porin TolC—are required for secretion. However, the stoichiometry and structure of the complex are unknown. Here, cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures determined in two conformations reveal that the inner membrane complex is a hetero-dodecameric assembly comprising three HlyB homodimers and six HlyD subunits. Functional studies indicate that oligomerization of HlyB and HlyD is essential for protein secretion and that polypeptides translocate through a canonical ABC transporter pathway in HlyB. Our data suggest that T1SSs entail three ABC transporters, one that functions as a protein channel and two that allosterically power the translocation process.
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