UCLA

Iron is an important micronutrient that is required by bacteria to proliferate and to cause disease. Many bacterial pathogens forage iron from human hemoglobin (Hb) during infections, which contains this metal within heme (iron-protoporphyrin IX). Several clinically important pathogenic species within the Firmicutes phylum scavenge heme using surface-displayed or secreted NEAr Transporter (NEAT) domains. In this review, we discuss how these versatile proteins function in the Staphylococcus aureus Iron-regulated surface determinant system that scavenges heme-iron from Hb. S. aureus NEAT domains function as either Hb receptors or as heme-binding chaperones. In vitro studies have shown that heme-binding NEAT domains can rapidly exchange heme amongst one another via transiently forming transfer complexes, leading to the interesting hypothesis that they may form a protein-wire within the peptidoglycan layer through which heme flows from the microbial surface to the membrane. In Hb receptors, recent studies have revealed how dedicated heme- and Hb-binding NEAT domains function synergistically to extract Hbs heme molecules, and how receptor binding to the Hb-haptoglobin complex may block its clearance by macrophages, prolonging microbial access to Hbs iron. The functions of NEAT domains in other Gram-positive bacteria are also reviewed.