Porin polypeptide contributes to surface charge of gonococci

Each strain of Neisseria gonorrhoeae elaborates a single porin polypeptide, with the porins expressed by different strains comprising two general classes, Por1A and Por1B. In the outer membrane, each porin molecule folds into 16 membrane-spanning beta-strands joined by top- and bottom-loop domains. Por1A and Por1B have similar membrane-spanning regions, but the eight surface-exposed top loops (I to VIII) differ in length and sequence. To determine whether porins, and especially their top loop domains, contribute to bacterial cell surface charge, strain MS11 gonococci that were identical except for expressing a recombinant Por1A, Por1B, or mosaic Por1A-1B polypeptide were compared by whole-cell electrophoresis. These porin variants displayed different electrophoretic mobilities that correlated with the net numbers of charged amino acids within surface-exposed loops of their respective porin polypeptides. The susceptibilities of porin variants to polyanionic sulfated polymers correlated roughly with gonococcal surface charge; those porin variants with diminished surface negativity showed increased sensitivity to the polyanionic sulfated compounds. These observations indicate that porin polypeptides in situ contribute to the surface charge of gonococci, and they suggest that the bacterium's interactions with large sulfated compounds are thereby affected.