Synthetic mycolates derivatives as molecular tools to decipher protein mycoloylation, a unique post-translational modification in bacteria

Abstract

AbstractProtein mycoloylation is a newly characterized post-translational modification (PTM) specifically found inCorynebacteriales, an order of bacteria that includes numerous human pathogens. Their envelope is composed of a unique outer membrane, the so-called mycomembrane made of very-long chain fatty acids, named mycolic acids. Recently, some mycomembrane proteins including PorA have been unambiguously shown to be covalently modified with mycolic acids in the model organismCorynebacterium glutamicumby a mechanism that relies on the mycoloyltransferase MytC. This PTM represents the first example of proteinO-acylation in prokaryotes and the first example of protein modification by mycolic acid. Through the design and synthesis of trehalose monomycolate (TMM) analogs, we prove thati) MytC is the mycoloyltransferase directly involved in this PTM,ii) TMM, but not TDM, is a suitable mycolate donor for PorA mycoloylation,iii) MytC is able to discriminate between an acyl and a mycoloyl chainin vitrounlike other trehalose mycoloyltransferases. We also solved the structure of MytC acyl-enzyme obtained with a soluble short TMM analogs which constitutes the first mycoloyltransferase structure with a covalently linked to an authentic mycolic acid moiety. These data highlight the great conformational flexibility of the active site of MytC during the reaction cycle and pave the way for a better understanding of the catalytic mechanism of all members of the mycoloyltransferase family including the essential Antigen85 enzymes inMycobacteria.