Photorhabdus luminescens Toxins TccC3 and TccC5 Affect the Interaction of Actin with Actin-Binding Proteins Essential for Treadmilling

Actin is one of the most abundant cellular proteins and an essential constituent of the actin cytoskeleton, which by its dynamic behavior participates in many cellular activities. The organization of the actin cytoskeleton is regulated by a large number of proteins and represents one of the major targets of bacterial toxins. A number of bacterial effector proteins directly modify actin: Clostridial bacteria produce toxins, which ADP-ribosylate actin at Arg177 leading to inhibition of actin polymerization. The bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens produces several types of protein toxins, including the high molecular weight Tc toxin complex, whose component TccC3 ADP-ribosylates actin at Thr148 promoting polymerization and aggregation of intracellular F-actin leading to inhibition of several cellular functions, such as phagocytosis. Here, we review recent findings about the functional consequences of these actin modifications and for the Thr148-ADP-ribosylated actin the subsequent alterations in the interaction with actin-binding proteins . In addition, we describe the effects of ADP-ribosylation of Rho GTPases by the TccC5 component.