Essential Thioredoxin-Dependent Peroxiredoxin System from Helicobacter pylori : Genetic and Kinetic Characterization

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Abstract
Helicobacter pylori, an oxygen-sensitive microaerophile, contains an alkyl hydroperoxide reductase homologue (AhpC, HP1563) that is more closely related to 2-Cys peroxiredoxins of higher organisms than to most other eubacterial AhpC proteins. Allelic replacement mutagenesis revealed ahpC to be essential, suggesting a critical role for AhpC in defending H. pyloriagainst oxygen toxicity. Characterization of the ahpCpromoter region divulged two putative regulatory elements and identified the transcription initiation site, which was mapped to 96 and 94 bp upstream of the initiation codon. No homologue ofahpF, which encodes the dedicated AhpC reductase in most eubacteria, was found in the H. pylori genome. Instead, homologues of Escherichia coli thioredoxin (Trx) reductase (TrxR, HP0825) and Trx (Trx1, HP0824) formed a reductase system forH. pylori AhpC. A second Trx homologue (Trx2, HP1458) was identified but was incapable of AhpC reduction, although Trx2 exhibited disulfide reductase activity with other substrates [insulin and 5,5′-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid)]. AhpC interactions with each substrate, Trx1 and hydroperoxide, were bimolecular and nonsaturable (infinite V max and Km values) but rapid enough (at 1 × 105 to 2 × 105 M−1 s−1) to suggest an important role for AhpC in cellular peroxide metabolism. AhpC also exhibited a wide specificity for hydroperoxide substrates, which, taken together with the above results, suggests a minimal binding site for hydroperoxides composed of little more than the cysteinyl (Cys49) active site. H. pylori AhpC was not reduced bySalmonella typhimurium AhpF and was slightly more active with E. coli TrxR and Trx1 than was S. typhimurium AhpC, demonstrating the specialized catalytic properties of this peroxiredoxin.