BBAMCR-17250; No. of page: 1; 4C: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta xxx (2014) xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bbamcr
Preface
Preface to special issue on protein trafficking and secretion in bacteria
This issue of BBA Molecular Cell research presents a comprehensive view of protein traffic and secretion in bacteria. Bacterial cells dedicate a significant number of components to ensure targeting of proteins to the plasma membrane. These proteins are then integrated in the lipid bilayer or are released to the other side. Most proteins use the ubiquitous and essential Sec system for these processes. Subsequently, the released Sec-exported proteins can be sorted to the periplasm, outer membrane or extracellular milieu of Gram-negative cells or to the cell wall or extracellular milieu of Gram-positive bacteria. In all cases, specialized add-on systems are involved in these later stage sorting events that take care of folding, modification, processing, and assembly as well as stress-protection requirements. In addition, evolutionarily unrelated protein machines have been developed that allow exported proteins to cross the plasma membrane and cell envelope. In some cases, such trans-cell envelope machineries even form extra-cellular protrusions that act as injection needles and can transfer proteins directly to other bacteria or even to eucaryotic cells. These imaginative and sophisticated secretion solutions are matched by systems that take up proteins. This arsenal of mechanisms ensures that more than 30% of the bacterial proteome ends up in extra-cytoplasmic locations. Protein export is essential for viability, pathogenicity, symbiosis and biofilm formation. The export pathways can be repurposed by us to develop vaccines, to produce heterologous biopharmaceuticals and industrial enzymes, and to transform them into cancer cell killing devices. Finally, trafficking components constitute formidable targets for antibiotic discovery. This comprehensive volume allows us to admire these fascinating mechanisms and to ponder the next generation of tools that will open new vistas of research.
Dr. Dalbey received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Washington in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University in 1983, under the supervision of Ralph Yount. He was a post-doctoral fellow with Bill Wickner at UCLA. He then took a faculty position at The Ohio State University in 1987 in the Department of Chemistry, where he is now a full professor. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2012) and the American Association of the Advancement of Science (2009). Dr. Dalbey's major research interests are in characterizing the proteases involved in protein export and understanding how proteins insert into biological membranes in bacteria.
Anastassios Economou Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 16 37 92 73; fax: +32 16 33 00 26. E-mail address: [email protected]. Ross Dalbey Ohio State University, Department of Chemistry, 120 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210-1106, United States Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 614 292 2384; fax: +1 614 292 1685. E-mail address: [email protected]. Available online xxxx
Tassos Economou received his B.Sc. degree in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1986 and his Ph.D. from the John Innes Institute and the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK in 1990 under the supervision of Andy Johnston. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Allan Downie at the John Innes Institute and with Bill Wickner at UCLA and at Dartmouth Medical School till the end of 1996. He then joined the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Iraklio Crete as a Research Scientist and the University of Crete in Greece as a Professor of Microbial Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He is now a Professor of Molecular Bacteriology and Head of the Molecular bacteriology Lab, at the Rega Institute, Dpt of Microbiology and Immunology, Biomedical Sciences Group at KU Leuven in Belgium and his research interests include the molecular mechanism of bacterial protein secretion through the Sec and Type III pathways and its application in the discovery of novel antibiotics and the production of biopharmaceuticals, vaccines and nano-therapeutics.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.04.007 0167-4889/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: A. Economou, R. Dalbey, Preface to special issue on protein trafficking and secretion in bacteria, Biochim. Biophys. Acta (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.04.007
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Biochimica et Biophysica Acta journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/bbamcr
Preface
Preface to special issue on protein trafficking and secretion in bacteria
This issue of BBA Molecular Cell research presents a comprehensive view of protein traffic and secretion in bacteria. Bacterial cells dedicate a significant number of components to ensure targeting of proteins to the plasma membrane. These proteins are then integrated in the lipid bilayer or are released to the other side. Most proteins use the ubiquitous and essential Sec system for these processes. Subsequently, the released Sec-exported proteins can be sorted to the periplasm, outer membrane or extracellular milieu of Gram-negative cells or to the cell wall or extracellular milieu of Gram-positive bacteria. In all cases, specialized add-on systems are involved in these later stage sorting events that take care of folding, modification, processing, and assembly as well as stress-protection requirements. In addition, evolutionarily unrelated protein machines have been developed that allow exported proteins to cross the plasma membrane and cell envelope. In some cases, such trans-cell envelope machineries even form extra-cellular protrusions that act as injection needles and can transfer proteins directly to other bacteria or even to eucaryotic cells. These imaginative and sophisticated secretion solutions are matched by systems that take up proteins. This arsenal of mechanisms ensures that more than 30% of the bacterial proteome ends up in extra-cytoplasmic locations. Protein export is essential for viability, pathogenicity, symbiosis and biofilm formation. The export pathways can be repurposed by us to develop vaccines, to produce heterologous biopharmaceuticals and industrial enzymes, and to transform them into cancer cell killing devices. Finally, trafficking components constitute formidable targets for antibiotic discovery. This comprehensive volume allows us to admire these fascinating mechanisms and to ponder the next generation of tools that will open new vistas of research.
Dr. Dalbey received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Washington in 1978 and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington State University in 1983, under the supervision of Ralph Yount. He was a post-doctoral fellow with Bill Wickner at UCLA. He then took a faculty position at The Ohio State University in 1987 in the Department of Chemistry, where he is now a full professor. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2012) and the American Association of the Advancement of Science (2009). Dr. Dalbey's major research interests are in characterizing the proteases involved in protein export and understanding how proteins insert into biological membranes in bacteria.
Anastassios Economou Rega Institute for Medical Research, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Laboratory of Molecular Bacteriology, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 16 37 92 73; fax: +32 16 33 00 26. E-mail address: [email protected]. Ross Dalbey Ohio State University, Department of Chemistry, 120 W. 18th Ave., Columbus, OH 43210-1106, United States Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 614 292 2384; fax: +1 614 292 1685. E-mail address: [email protected]. Available online xxxx
Tassos Economou received his B.Sc. degree in Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 1986 and his Ph.D. from the John Innes Institute and the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK in 1990 under the supervision of Andy Johnston. He was a postdoctoral fellow with Allan Downie at the John Innes Institute and with Bill Wickner at UCLA and at Dartmouth Medical School till the end of 1996. He then joined the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology in Iraklio Crete as a Research Scientist and the University of Crete in Greece as a Professor of Microbial Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. He is now a Professor of Molecular Bacteriology and Head of the Molecular bacteriology Lab, at the Rega Institute, Dpt of Microbiology and Immunology, Biomedical Sciences Group at KU Leuven in Belgium and his research interests include the molecular mechanism of bacterial protein secretion through the Sec and Type III pathways and its application in the discovery of novel antibiotics and the production of biopharmaceuticals, vaccines and nano-therapeutics.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.04.007 0167-4889/© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article as: A. Economou, R. Dalbey, Preface to special issue on protein trafficking and secretion in bacteria, Biochim. Biophys. Acta (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbamcr.2014.04.007
