HilE represses the activity of HilD via a mechanism distinct from that of intestinal long-chain fatty acids.

Abstract

The expression of virulence factors essential for the invasion of host cells by Salmonella enterica is tightly controlled by a network of transcription regulators. The AraC/XylS transcription factor HilD is the main integration point of environmental signals into this regulatory network, with many factors affecting HilD activity. Long chain fatty acids (LCFAs), which are highly abundant throughout the host intestine directly bind to, and repress HilD, acting as environmental cues to coordinate virulence gene expression. The regulatory protein HilE also negatively regulates HilD activity, through a protein-protein interaction. Both of these regulators inhibit HilD dimerisation, preventing HilD from binding to target DNA. We investigated the structural basis of these mechanisms of HilD repression. LCFAs bind to a conserved pocket in HilD, in a comparable manner to that reported for other AraC/XylS regulators, whereas HilE forms a stable heterodimer with HilD by binding to the HilD dimerisation interface. Our results highlight two distinct mechanisms by which HilD activity is repressed, which could be exploited for the development of new antivirulence leads.