Disease relevance of ECs1420

• Curli are surface organelles in Escherichia coli that assemble outside the bacterium through the precipitation of secreted soluble CsgA monomers, requiring the CsgB nucleator protein [1].
• Disruption of the Myxococcus xanthus socE gene bypasses the requirement for the cell contact-dependent C-signalling system mediated by CsgA and restores fruiting body morphogenesis and spore differentiation [2].
• Serum samples from 12 convalescent patients with sepsis, but not serum from healthy controls, contained antibodies against CsgA (n=12) [3].

High impact information on ECs1420

• The csgBA operon encodes CsgA, the major subunit protein of the fibre, and CsgB, a protein with sequence homology to CsgA [4].
• These data, therefore, provide direct evidence that curli are expressed in vivo in human sepsis and suggest a possible role for curli and CsgA in the induction of proinflammatory cytokines during E. coli sepsis [3].
• Between 1,100 and 2,200 extracellular molecules of CsgA per developing M. xanthus cell were detected, most of which were associated with the extracellular matrix [5].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of ECs1420

• Affinity-purified polyclonal antibodies raised against the fusion protein were used to determine the cellular location of the native CsgA protein by colloidal gold labeling and transmission electron microscopy [5].

References