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Autolysins involved in conformation-dependent fibronectin binding to dry-fixed Clostridium perfringens
Summary The pathogen Clostridium perfringens exploits fibronectin (Fn) to mediate adhesion to collagen. Our previous study reported that Fn under low ionic strength (l-Fn) bound significantly to dry-fixed C. perfringens cells compared with Fn under high ionic strength (h-Fn), and that C. perfringens autolysin (Acp) bound to Fn under moderate ionic strength (m-Fn). Our previous studyand this study revealed that m-Fn bound to recombinant Acp C-terminal catalytic domain (rAcpCD) and to rAcpCD plus eight cell wall-binding repeats (rAcpCWB3-10+CD) but not to recombinant six cell wall-binding repeats. l-Fn binding to rAcpCWB3-10+CD exhibited saturable binding and reached a plateau at a low concentration. That of m-Fn exhibited linear, unsaturated binding across all concentration tests. That of h-Fn exhibited an attenuated concentration dependency with reduced slope. Moreover, the binding pattern of Fn to dry-fixed C. perfringens cells was also similar. However, all three Fn showed saturable binding to rAcpCD and reached a plateau at a low concentration. These results pointed to a possibility that the binding of Fn to dry-fixed C.perfringens cells involves AcpCD + cell wall-binding repeats. |