Secretory protein Rv1987, a ‘probable chitinase’ from Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a novel chitin and cellulose binding protein lacking enzymatic function
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Abstract
Bacterial chitinases serve to hydrolyse chitin as food source or as defence mechanism. Given that chitin is not produced by mammals, it is intriguing that Mycobacterium tuberculosis , an exclusively human pathogen harbours Rv1987, a probable chitinase and secretes it. Interestingly genes annotated as chitinases are widely distributed among Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex species, clinical isolates and other human pathogens M. abscessus and M. ulcerans . However, Mycobacterial chitinases are not characterized and hence the functions remain unknown. In the present study, we show that Rv1987 is a chitin and cellulose binding protein lacking enzymatic activity in contrary to its current annotation. Further, we show Rv1987 has moon lighting functions in M. tuberculosis pathobiology signifying roles of bacterial cellulose binding clusters in infections.
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Thank you for this awesome paper! I really enjoy learning about peculiar proteins such as the one that you have described here. I have a few thoughts/comments that I wanted to share. First, would it be possible to test if there are any immune response differences induced by the presence of the Rv1987 protein? I think the answer here may give you some clues about what Rv1987 may be specifically binding. Second, what do you think about using Rv1987 as a bait in a pull-down assay? Perhaps mix it with a macrophage extract or something similar, then apply mass-spectrometry to elucidate potential binding partners? Third, have you thought about the origin of this protein? Perhaps by using a phylogenetic analysis? I'm wondering how it appeared in its current form in M. tuberculosis? Was it a fully functional chitinase/cellulase that was adapted …
Thank you for this awesome paper! I really enjoy learning about peculiar proteins such as the one that you have described here. I have a few thoughts/comments that I wanted to share. First, would it be possible to test if there are any immune response differences induced by the presence of the Rv1987 protein? I think the answer here may give you some clues about what Rv1987 may be specifically binding. Second, what do you think about using Rv1987 as a bait in a pull-down assay? Perhaps mix it with a macrophage extract or something similar, then apply mass-spectrometry to elucidate potential binding partners? Third, have you thought about the origin of this protein? Perhaps by using a phylogenetic analysis? I'm wondering how it appeared in its current form in M. tuberculosis? Was it a fully functional chitinase/cellulase that was adapted over time (lost its catalytic capacity)? Or was it obtained through a different route already as a carbohydrate binding-protein only? Thank you once more for the cool paper! And thank you for your time!
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