Vibrio vulnificus RtxA1 cytotoxin targets filamin A to regulate PAK1- and MAPK-dependent cytoskeleton reorganization and cell death.

Cytoskeletal rearrangement and acute cytotoxicity occur in Vibrio vulnificus-infected host cells. RtxA1 toxin, a multifunctional autoprocessing repeats-in-toxin (MARTX), is essential for the pathogenesis of V. vulnificus and the programmed necrotic cell death. In this study, HeLa cells expressing RtxA1 amino acids 1491-1971 fused to GFP were observed to be rounded. Through yeast two-hybrid screening and subsequent immunoprecipitation validation assays, we confirmed the specific binding of a RtxA11491-1971 fragment with host-cell filamin A, an actin cross-linking scaffold protein. Downregulation of filamin A expression decreased the cytotoxicity of RtxA1 toward host cells. Furthermore, the phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAPKs was induced by the RtxA1-filamin A interaction during the toxin-mediated cell death. However, the phosphorylation of these MAPKs was not observed during the RtxA1 intoxication of filamin A-deficient M2 cells. In addition, the depletion of pak1, which appeared to be activated by the RtxA1-filamin A interaction, inhibited RtxA1-induced phosphorylation of JNK and p38, and the cells treated with a pak1 inhibitor exhibited decreased RtxA1-mediated cytoskeletal rearrangement and cytotoxicity. Thus, the binding of filamin A by the RtxA11491-1971 domain appears to be a requisite to pak1-mediated MAPK activation, which contributes to the cytoskeletal reorganization and host cell death.