贝氏柯克斯体效应蛋白CpeB与宿主蛋白Rab11a相互作用影响其胞内生存的机制研究

贝氏柯克斯体是人兽共患病-Q热的病原体，其效应蛋白与贝氏柯克斯体的致病性直接相关，但目前绝大多数效应蛋白的功能以及与其互作的宿主靶蛋白仍未明确。其中，CpeB为贝氏柯克斯体所有分离株质粒上保守存在且功能未知的效应蛋白。我们前期利用亲和层析联合串联质谱技术鉴定了CpeB的宿主靶蛋白为Rab11a,并验证了Rab11a的表达能够影响贝氏柯克斯体的胞内生存。Rab11a是宿主小分子GTP酶，在囊泡转运和信号转导等方面发挥重要作用。本项目中，我们拟研究CpeB对宿主蛋白Rab11a的影响，并阐明其作用方式和主要功能域，以及这种相互作用对贝氏柯克斯体致病力的影响。本研究将揭示效应蛋白通过作用于宿主蛋白影响贝氏柯克斯体致病的机理，对丰富Q热的致病机制研究和建立有效防治手段具有重要意义。

Coxiella burnetii is the pathogen of zoonotic Q fever. Its effector proteins are directly related to the pathogenicity of Coxiella burnetii. However, the functions of most effector proteins and their host targets remain unclear. Among them, CpeB is an effector protein that is conserved on the plasmids of all isolates of Coxiella burnetii and its function is still unknown. Through the affinity purification and mass spectrometry (AP-MS), we identified the host protein Rab11a interacted with CpeB and affected the intracellular survival of Coxiella burnetii. Rab11a is a small GTPase that plays an important role in vesicle transport and signal transduction. In this project, we intend to study the effect of CpeB on Rab11a and elucidate the mode of interaction and main functional domains, as well as the role of this interaction in the pathogenicity of Coxiella burnetii. This study is expected to reveal the mechanism by which effector proteins affect Coxiella burnetii pathogenicity through host proteins, which is of great significance for enriching its pathogenic mechanism and establishing effective control methods.