Biophysical and Computational Approaches to Unravel pH-Dependent Conformational Change of PspA Assist PspA-PspF...

In enteropathogen, Yersinia enterocolitica, the genes encoding phage shock proteins are organized in an operon (pspA-E), which is activated at the various types of cellular stress (i.e., extracytoplasmic or envelop stress) whereas, PspA negatively regulates PspF, a transcriptional activator of pspA-E and pspG, and is also involved in other cellular machinery maintenance processes. The exact mechanism of association and dissociation of PspA and PspF during the stress response is not entirely clear. In this concern, we address conformational change of PspA in different pH conditions using various in-silico and biophysical methods. At the near-neutral pH, CD and FTIR measurements reveal a ß-like conformational change of PspA; however, AFM measurement indicates the lower oligomeric form at the above-mentioned pH. Additionally, the results of the MD simulation also support the conformational changes which indicate salt-bridge strength takes an intermediate position compared to other pHs. Furthermore, the bio-layer interferometry study confirms the stable complex formation that takes place between PspA and PspF at the near-neutral pH. It, thus, appears that PspA conformational change in adverse pH conditions abandons PspF from having a stable complex with it, and thus, the latter can act as a trans-activator. Taken together, it seems that PspA alone can transduce adverse signals by changing its conformation.