Methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins

The Methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins (MCP, also aspartate receptor) are a family of transmembrane receptors that mediate chemotactic response in certain enteric bacteria, such as Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli. These methyl-accepting chemotaxis receptors are one of the first components in the sensory excitation and adaptation responses in bacteria, which act to alter swimming behaviour upon detection of specific chemicals. Use of the MCP allows bacteria to detect concentrations of molecules in the extracellular matrix so that the bacteria may smooth swim or tumble accordingly. If the bacterium detects rising levels of attractants (nutrients) or declining levels of repellents (toxins), the bacterium will continue swimming forward, or smooth swimming. If the bacterium detects declining levels of attractants or rising levels of repellents, the bacterium will tumble and re-orient itself in a new direction. In this manner, a bacterium may swim towards nutrients and away from toxins There are many different types of bacterial 60 kDa transmembrane receptors, which share similar topology and signalling mechanisms. They possess three domains: a periplasmic ligand-binding domain, two transmembrane segments, and a cytoplasmic domain. The structure of the ligand-binding domain comprises a closed or partly opened, four-helical bundle with a left-handed twist. The difference in the sequence of the ligand-binding domain between receptors reflects the different ligand specificities. Binding of the ligand causes a conformational change that is transmitted across the membrane to the cytoplasmic activation domain. Environmental diversity gives rise to diversity in bacterial signalling receptors, and consequently there are many genes encoding MCPs. For example, there are four well-characterised MCPs found in Escherichia coli: Tar (taxis towards aspartate and maltose, away from nickel and cobalt), Tsr (taxis towards serine, away from leucine, indole and weak acids), Trg (taxis towards galactose and ribose) and Tap (taxis towards dipeptides).