期刊名称：Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN：0027-8424
电子版ISSN：1091-6490
出版年度：1992
卷号：89
期号：7
页码：2713-2717
DOI：10.1073/pnas.89.7.2713
语种：English
出版社：The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要：The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria presents an effective barrier that restricts the release of proteins from the cell. Virtually all extracellular proteins of Gram-negative bacteria are exported by specialized systems requiring the action of several gene products. We have constructed a tripartite fusion consisting of (i) the signal sequence and first nine N-terminal amino acids of the mature major Escherichia coli lipoprotein, (ii) amino acids 46-159 of the outer membrane protein OmpA, and (iii) the complete mature beta-lactamase (EC 3.5.2.6 ) sequence. This protein had an enzymatically active beta-lactamase and was found predominantly in the outer membrane. Immunofluorescence microscopy, the accessibility of the fusion protein to externally added proteases, and the rates of hydrolysis of nitrocefin and penicillin G by whole cells demonstrated that a substantial fraction (20-30%) of the beta-lactamase domain of the fusion protein was exposed on the external surface of E. coli. In cells grown at 24 degrees C the localization of beta-lactamase on the cell surface was almost quantitative (greater than 80% of the enzymatically active protein was exposed to the extracellular fluid) as determined by nitrocefin and penicillin G hydrolysis and trypsin accessibility. These results demonstrated that a soluble protein, beta-lactamase, can be transported through--and become anchored on--the outer membrane by fusion to the proper targeting and localization signals.
