Characterization of the Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter from Yersinia pestis.

Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that historically accounts for the Black Death epidemics, has nowadays gained new attention as a possible biological warfare agent. In this study, its Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter is investigated for the first time, by a combination of experimental and computational methodologies. We determined the protein's substrate specificity and pH dependence by fluorescence measurements in everted membrane vesicles. Subsequently, we constructed a model of the protein's structure and validated the model using molecular dynamics simulations. Taken together, better understanding of the Yersinia pestis Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter's structure-function relationship may assist in studies on ion transport, mechanism of action and designing specific blockers of Na⁺/H⁺ antiporter to help in fighting Yersinia pestis -associated infections. We hope that our model will prove useful both from mechanistic and pharmaceutical perspectives.

Abstract licence: CC BY

40 more references, whose wording the paper’s licence keeps private.

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.