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Intracellular/surface moonlighting proteins that aid in the attachment of gut microbiota to the host

Constance J Jeffery1

  • 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA.

AIMS Microbiology
|August 7, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Gut microbes use moonlighting proteins on their surface to interact with host cells, aiding attachment and virulence. This review covers these dual-function proteins in gut bacteria and eukaryotes.

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology
  • Host-Microbe Interactions

Background:

  • Gut microbiota utilize surface proteins for host cell and tissue interactions.
  • Cell surface proteins are often identical to intracellular enzymes and chaperones, termed moonlighting proteins.
  • These proteins mediate microbial attachment to host receptors, extracellular matrix, and mucins.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review intracellular/surface moonlighting proteins in pathogenic and probiotic bacteria.
  • To discuss moonlighting proteins in eukaryotic gut microbiota.
  • To highlight the role of these proteins in host-microbe interactions and virulence.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies on bacterial and eukaryotic gut microbiota.
  • Analysis of identified intracellular/surface moonlighting proteins.
  • Discussion of protein functions in host-microbe adhesion and virulence factor activation.

Main Results:

  • Moonlighting proteins facilitate microbial adhesion to host cells, extracellular matrix, and mucins.
  • Binding to plasminogen by these proteins promotes its activation to plasmin.
  • Activated plasmin enhances host protein activation, contributing to infection and virulence.

Conclusions:

  • Moonlighting proteins are critical for gut microbiota function and host interactions.
  • Understanding these proteins offers insights into microbial pathogenesis and probiotic potential.
  • Further research into moonlighting proteins can reveal novel therapeutic targets.
Keywords:
adhesioncell surface receptormicrobiotamoonlighting proteinsmultifunctional proteinsprotein function

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