The involvement of transport proteins in transcriptional and metabolic regulation
Å Västermark, MH Saier Jr - Current Opinion in Microbiology, 2014 - Elsevier
Current Opinion in Microbiology, 2014•Elsevier
Highlights•Transporters can transduce signals, regulating metabolism and gene
expression.•In E. coli, different PTS transport proteins, HPr, IIA Glc, and IIBC Glc, have
distinct signaling activities.•The UhpC transporter serves as a receptor, promoting
expression of the sugar-phosphate uptake system, UhpT.•The PstSABC phosphate
transporter transduces signals independently of transport to regulate the phosphorous (pho)
regulon.•These E. coli systems illustrate mechanistic principles involved in the use of …
expression.•In E. coli, different PTS transport proteins, HPr, IIA Glc, and IIBC Glc, have
distinct signaling activities.•The UhpC transporter serves as a receptor, promoting
expression of the sugar-phosphate uptake system, UhpT.•The PstSABC phosphate
transporter transduces signals independently of transport to regulate the phosphorous (pho)
regulon.•These E. coli systems illustrate mechanistic principles involved in the use of …
Highlights
- Transporters can transduce signals, regulating metabolism and gene expression.
- In E. coli, different PTS transport proteins, HPr, IIA Glc, and IIBC Glc, have distinct signaling activities.
- The UhpC transporter serves as a receptor, promoting expression of the sugar-phosphate uptake system, UhpT.
- The PstSABC phosphate transporter transduces signals independently of transport to regulate the phosphorous (pho) regulon.
- These E. coli systems illustrate mechanistic principles involved in the use of transport proteins to coordinate cellular activities.
Transport proteins have sometimes gained secondary regulatory functions that influence gene expression and metabolism. These functions allow communication with the external world via mechanistically distinctive signal transduction pathways. In this brief review we focus on three transport systems in Escherichia coli that control and coordinate carbon, exogenous hexose-phosphate and phosphorous metabolism. The transport proteins that play central roles in these processes are: first, the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)-dependent phosphotransferase system (PTS), second, the glucose-6-phosphate receptor, UhpC, and third, the phosphate-specific transporter, PstSABC, respectively. While the PTS participates in multiple complex regulatory processes, three of which are discussed here, UhpC and the Pst transporters exemplify differing strategies.
Elsevier