Essential protein P116 scavenges cholesterol and other indispensable lipids for Mycoplasmas

Mycoplasma pneumoniae, responsible for approximately 30% of community-acquired human pneumonia, needs to extract lipids from the host environment for survival and proliferation. Here, we report a comprehensive structural and functional analysis of the previously uncharacterized protein P116 (MPN_213). Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy of P116 reveals a homodimer presenting a previously unseen fold, forming a huge hydrophobic cavity, which is fully accessible to solvent. Lipidomics analysis shows that P116 specifically acquires lipids such as phosphatidylcholine, sphingomyelin and cholesterol. Structures of different conformational states reveal the mechanism by which lipids are scavenged. This finding immediately suggests a way to control Mycoplasma infection by interfering with lipid uptake.