Taglialegna, Agustina

Loading...
Profile Picture

Email Address

Birth Date

Job Title

Last Name

Taglialegna

First Name

Agustina

person.page.departamento

Producción Agraria

person.page.instituteName

person.page.observainves

person.page.upna

Name

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • PublicationOpen Access
    The biofilm-associated surface protein Esp of Enterococcus faecalis forms amyloid-like fibers
    (Nature Research, 2020) Taglialegna, Agustina; Matilla Cuenca, Leticia; Dorado Morales, Pedro; Navarro, Susanna; Ventura, Salvador; Garnett, James A.; Lasa Uzcudun, Íñigo; Valle Turrillas, Jaione; Ciencias de la Salud; Osasun Zientziak
    Functional amyloids are considered as common building block structures of the biofilm matrix in different bacteria. In previous work, we have shown that the staphylococcal surface protein Bap, a member of the Biofilm-Associated Proteins (BAP) family, is processed and the fragments containing the N-terminal region become aggregation-prone and self-assemble into amyloid-like structures. Here, we report that Esp, a Bap-orthologous protein produced by Enterococcus faecalis, displays a similar amyloidogenic behavior. We demonstrate that at acidic pH the N-terminal region of Esp forms aggregates with an amyloid-like conformation, as evidenced by biophysical analysis and the binding of protein aggregates to amyloid-indicative dyes. Expression of a chimeric protein, with its Esp N-terminal domain anchored to the cell wall through the R domain of clumping factor A, showed that the Esp N-terminal region is sufficient to confer multicellular behavior through the formation of an extracellular amyloid-like material. These results suggest that the mechanism of amyloid-like aggregation to build the biofilm matrix might be widespread among BAP-like proteins. This amyloid-based mechanism may not only have strong relevance for bacteria lifestyle but could also contribute to the amyloid burden to which the human physiology is potentially exposed.
  • PublicationOpen Access
    Staphylococcal Bap proteins build amyloid scaffold biofilm matrices in response to environmental signals
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Taglialegna, Agustina; Navarro, Susanna; Ventura, Salvador; Garnett, James A.; Matthews, Steve; Penadés, José R.; Lasa Uzcudun, Íñigo; Valle Turrillas, Jaione; IdAB. Instituto de Agrobiotecnología / Agrobioteknologiako Institutua
    Major components of the biofilm matrix scaffold are proteins that assemble to create a unified structure that maintain bacteria attached to each other and to surfaces. We provide evidence that a surface protein present in several staphylococcal species forms functional amyloid aggregates to build the biofilm matrix in response to specific environmental conditions. Under low Ca2+ concentrations and acidic pH, Bap is processed and forms insoluble aggregates with amyloidogenic properties. When the Ca2+ concentration increases, metal-coordinated Bap adopts a structurally more stable conformation and as a consequence, the N-terminal region is unable to assemble into amyloid aggregates. The control of Bap cleavage and assembly helps to regulate biofilm matrix development as a function of environmental changes.