SUMMARYThe maltose system of Escherichia coli offers an unusually rich set of enzymes, transporters, and regulators as objects of study. This system is responsible for the uptake and metabolism of glucose polymers (maltodextrins), which must be a preferred class of nutrients for E. coli in both mammalian hosts and in the environment. Because the metabolism of glucose polymers must be coordinated with both the anabolic and catabolic uses of glucose and glycogen, an intricate set of regulatory mechanisms controls the expression of mal genes, the activity of the maltose transporter, and the activities of the maltose/maltodextrin catabolic enzymes. The ease of isolating many of the mal gene products has contributed greatly to the understanding of the structures and functions of several classes of proteins. Not only was the outer membrane maltoporin, LamB, or the phage lambda receptor, the first virus receptor to be isolated, but also its three-dimensional structure, together with extensive knowledge of functional sites for ligand binding as well as for phage λ binding, has led to a relatively complete description of this sugar-specific aqueous channel. The periplasmic maltose binding protein (MBP) has been studied with respect to its role in both maltose transport and maltose taxis. Again, the combination of structural and functional information has led to a significant understanding of how this soluble receptor participates in signaling the presence of sugar to the chemosensory apparatus as well as how it participates in sugar transport. The maltose transporter belongs to the ATP binding cassette family, and although its structure is not yet known at atomic resolution, there is some insight into the structures of several functional sites, including those that are involved in interactions with MBP and recognition of substrates and ATP. A particularly astonishing discovery is the direct participation of the transporter in transcriptional control of the mal regulon. The MalT protein activates transcription at all mal promoters. A subset also requires the cyclic AMP receptor protein for transcription. The MalT protein requires maltotriose and ATP as ligands for binding to a dodecanucleotide MalT box that appears in multiple copies upstream of all mal promoters. Recent data indicate that the ATP binding cassette transporter subunit MalK can directly inhibit MalT when the transporter is inactive due to the absence of substrate. Despite this wealth of knowledge, there are still basic issues that require clarification concerning the mechanism of MalT-mediated activation, repression by the transporter, biosynthesis and assembly of the outer membrane and inner membrane transporter proteins, and interrelationships between the mal enzymes and those of glucose and glycogen metabolism.
摘要大肠杆菌的
麦芽糖系统提供了一套异常丰富的酶、转运体和调节器作为研究对象。该系统负责
葡萄糖聚合物(麦芽
糊精)的吸收和新陈代谢,而
葡萄糖聚合物肯定是哺乳动物宿主和环境中大肠杆菌的首选营养物质。由于
葡萄糖聚合物的新陈代谢必须与
葡萄糖和
糖原的合成代谢和分解代谢协调进行,因此有一套复杂的调节机制控制着 mal
基因的表达、
麦芽糖转运体的活性以及
麦芽糖/麦芽
糊精分解代谢酶的活性。由于很容易分离出许多 mal
基因产物,这大大有助于人们了解几类蛋白质的结构和功能。外膜
麦芽糖糊精受体 LamB(噬菌体λ受体)不仅是第一个被分离出来的病毒受体,而且其三维结构以及
配体结合和噬菌体λ结合功能位点的广泛知识,使人们对这种糖特异性
水通道有了相对完整的描述。我们还研究了质外
麦芽糖结合蛋白(MBP)在
麦芽糖转运和
麦芽糖分类中的作用。同样,结构和功能信息的结合使人们对这种可溶性受体如何参与向
化学感受器发出糖存在的信号以及如何参与糖转运有了重要的了解。
麦芽糖转运体属于
ATP 结合盒家族,尽管其结构尚未达到原子分辨率,但人们对其几个功能位点的结构有了一些了解,包括那些参与与 MBP 相互作用以及识别底物和
ATP 的位点。一个特别惊人的发现是,转运体直接参与了 mal 调节子的转录控制。MalT 蛋白可激活所有 mal 启动子的转录。一个子集的转录还需要环
AMP 受体蛋白。MalT 蛋白需要
麦芽三糖和
ATP 作为
配体,才能与十二核苷酸的 MalT 框结合。最新数据表明,当转运体因缺乏底物而失去活性时,
ATP 结合盒转运体亚基 MalK 可直接抑制 MalT。尽管有了这些丰富的知识,但在 MalT 介导的激活机制、转运体的抑制、外膜和内膜转运蛋白的
生物合成和组装以及 mal 酶与
葡萄糖和
糖原代谢酶之间的相互关系等方面,仍有一些基本问题需要澄清。