Selection of the length of fatty acyl chain and of the acylation site by the acyltransferase governs activation of RTX toxins

Numerous proteins synthesized in cells ranging from bacteria to humans have to be posttranslationally acylated to become biologically active. Bacterial Repeats in ToXin (RTX) cytolysins form a prominent group of proteins that are synthesized as inactive protoxins and undergo a posttranslational acylation on ε-amino groups of two internal conserved lysine residues by co-expressed toxin-activating acyltransferases. We investigated how the chemical nature, position and number of bound acyl chains govern the activities of Bordetella pertussis adenylate cyclase toxin (CyaA), Escherichia coli α-hemolysin (HlyA) and Kingella kingae cytotoxin (RtxA). The three protoxins were acylated in the same E. coli cell background by either of the CyaC, HlyC and RtxC acyltransferases. The results revealed that the acyltransferase itself selects from the acyl-ACP pool of the producing bacterium the type of the acyl chain of adapted length to be covalently linked to the protoxin. The acyltransferase also selects whether both or only one of two conserved lysine residues of the protoxin will be posttranslationally acylated. Functional assays then revealed that RtxA has to be modified by 14-carbon fatty acyl chains to be biologically active, while HlyA remains active also when modified by 16-carbon acyl chains and CyaA is activated exclusively by 16-carbon acyl chains. These results suggest a structural adaptation of the toxin molecules to the length of the acyl chains used for modification of their crucial acylated lysine residue in the second, more conserved acylation site