PMID: 20616805 , Related PDB id: 3N6O

Authors:

Schoebel S, Blankenfeldt W, Goody RS, Itzen A

Title:

High-affinity binding of phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate by Legionella pneumophila DrrA.

Journal:

EMBO Rep. 2010 Aug;11(8):598-604. Epub 2010 Jul 9.

Abstract:

The DrrA protein of Legionella pneumophila is involved in mistargeting of endoplasmic reticulum-derived vesicles to Legionella-containing vacuoles through recruitment of the small GTPase Rab1. To this effect, DrrA binds specifically to phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PtdIns(4)P) lipids on the cytosolic surface of the phagosomal membrane shortly after infection. In this study, we present the atomic structure of the PtdIns(4)P-binding domain of a protein (DrrA) from a human pathogen. A detailed kinetic investigation of its interaction with PtdIns(4)P reveals that DrrA binds to this phospholipid with, as yet unprecedented, high affinity, suggesting that DrrA can sense a very low abundance of the lipid.