Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Use of Galleria mellonella as a Model Organism to Study Legionella pneumophila Infection
Published on: November 22, 2013
Legionella pneumophila effector WipA, a bacterial PPP protein phosphatase with PTP activity
Qian Jia1,2, Yun Lin1,3, Xuejing Gou1,3
1School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China.
Abstract:
The gram-negative bacterium Legionella pneumophila invades human's lung and causes Legionnaires' disease. To benefit its survival and replication in cellular milieu, L. pneumophila secrets at least 330 effector proteins into host cells. We found that the effector WipA has the protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) activity but does not depend on the classical CX5R motif for activity, suggesting that WipA is an unconventional PTP. Meanwhile, the presence of three other highly conserved motifs typically seen in protein serine/threonine phosphatases and the poor inhibition of WipA activity by okadaic acid led us to propose that WipA is a bacterial protein phosphatase. In addition, the determination of the 2.55-Å crystal structure of WipA revealed that WipA resembles cold-active protein tyrosine phosphatase (CAPTPase), and therefore very likely shares the same catalytic mechanism.
More Related Videos
08:34Legionella pneumophila Outer Membrane Vesicles: Isolation and Analysis of Their Pro-inflammatory Potential on Macrophages
Published on: February 22, 2017
09:12Applying Live Cell Imaging and Cryo-Electron Tomography to Resolve Spatiotemporal Features of the Legionella pneumophila Dot/Icm Secretion System
Published on: March 10, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Protein kinases
Many proteins in the cell are regulated by phosphorylation, the addition of a phosphate group. A family of enzymes called kinases...
Protein Kinases and Phosphatases
Bacterial Protein Maturation
Activation and Inactivation of G Proteins
Bacterial Translocation and Protein Secretion
Bacterial Transformation
Griffith made an unexpected discovery when he killed the pathogenic strain and mixed its remains with the live, non-pathogenic strain. Not only did the mixture kill host mice, but it also contained living pathogenic bacteria that...