Analysis of the HbpA Protein from Corynebacterium diphtheriae Clinical Isolates and Identification of a Putative Hemoglobin-Binding Site on HbpA

Abstract

Hemoglobin (Hb) is the primary source of iron in humans, and the acquisition of hemin-iron from Hb is critical for many bacterial pathogens to infect and survive in the human host. In this study, we have examined the C. diphtheriae Hb-binding protein HbpA in two clinical isolates and show that these proteins, despite limited sequence similarity, are functionally equivalent to the previously described HbpA protein in strain 1737.