Structural Basis of a Physical Blockage Mechanism for the Interaction of Response Regulator PmrA with Connector Protein PmrD from Klebsiella pneumoniae

In bacteria, the two-component system is the most prevalent for sensing and transducing environmental signals into the cell. The PmrA-PmrB two-component system, responsible for sensing external stimuli of high Fe(3+) and mild acidic conditions, can control the genes involved in lipopolysaccharide modification and polymyxin resistance in pathogens. In Klebsiella pneumoniae, the small basic connector protein PmrD protects phospho-PmrA and prolongs the expression of PmrA-activated genes. We previously determined the phospho-PmrA recognition mode of PmrD. However, how PmrA interacts with PmrD and prevents its dephosphorylation remains unknown. To address this question, we solved the x-ray crystal structure of the N-terminal receiver domain of BeF3(-)-activated PmrA (PmrA(N)) at 1.70 Å. With this structure, we applied the data-driven docking method based on NMR chemical shift perturbation to generate the complex model of PmrD-PmrA(N), which was further validated by site-directed spin labeling experiments. In the complex model, PmrD may act as a blockade to prevent phosphatase from contacting with the phosphorylation site on PmrA.