Coxiella burnetii inhibits host immunity by a protein phosphatase adapted from glycolysis

Abstract

Significance Many effectors of the Coxiella burnetii Dot/Icm transporter are important for its virulence, but the lack of understanding of their biochemical activity prevents the use of them as potential therapeutic targets. Here, we found that the effector Cbu0513 (CinF) is a protein phosphatase that attacks IκBα, a key regulatory protein in NF-κB signaling. Unlike its homologs such as ST0318 from the archaeon Sulfolobus tokodaii , CinF has lost the enzymatic activity as a fructose-1,6-bisphosphate aldolase/phosphatase. Instead, it specifically targets IκBα to make it resistant to proteasome-mediated degradation in cells stimulated with NF-κB agonists. Our finding has expanded the strategy used by bacterial pathogens to inhibit host immunity, which may provide leads for the development of immune modulators for disease treatment.