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Dysregulation of transition metal ion homeostasis is the molecular basis for cadmium toxicity in Streptococcus pneumoniae
- Source :
- Nature Communications
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2015.
-
Abstract
- Cadmium is a transition metal ion that is highly toxic in biological systems. Although relatively rare in the Earth’s crust, anthropogenic release of cadmium since industrialization has increased biogeochemical cycling and the abundance of the ion in the biosphere. Despite this, the molecular basis of its toxicity remains unclear. Here we combine metal-accumulation assays, high-resolution structural data and biochemical analyses to show that cadmium toxicity, in Streptococcus pneumoniae, occurs via perturbation of first row transition metal ion homeostasis. We show that cadmium uptake reduces the millimolar cellular accumulation of manganese and zinc, and thereby increases sensitivity to oxidative stress. Despite this, high cellular concentrations of cadmium (~17 mM) are tolerated, with negligible impact on growth or sensitivity to oxidative stress, when manganese and glutathione are abundant. Collectively, this work provides insight into the molecular basis of cadmium toxicity in prokaryotes, and the connection between cadmium accumulation and oxidative stress.<br />The molecular basis for the high toxicity of cadmium is unclear. Here, Begg et al. use the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae as a model system, and show that cadmium uptake increases sensitivity to oxidative stress by reducing intracellular concentrations of manganese and zinc through different mechanisms.
- Subjects :
- Models, Molecular
inorganic chemicals
Protein Conformation
Lipoproteins
Immunoblotting
Microbial metabolism
General Physics and Astronomy
chemistry.chemical_element
Manganese
Zinc
medicine.disease_cause
Article
General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
03 medical and health sciences
chemistry.chemical_compound
medicine
Homeostasis
Magnesium
cadmium toxicity
Adhesins, Bacterial
030304 developmental biology
Transition metal ion homeostasis
0303 health sciences
Cadmium
Multidisciplinary
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
030306 microbiology
cadmium accumulation
General Chemistry
Glutathione
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Oxidative Stress
Streptococcus pneumoniae
chemistry
Biochemistry
13. Climate action
Toxicity
Crystallization
Oxidative stress
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20411723
- Volume :
- 6
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Nature Communications
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....fbe1a5cd261ff1707f8fa0e9d2d045d9