FEATURES

FAMILY

DESCRIPTION

Also known as FMM1_NEIGO, pilE1. Major component of the type IV pilus (T4P) that plays a role in cellular adherence, microcolony formation, resistance to neutrophil mediated killing, twitching motility as well as transformation (PubMed:27213957). Mediates the attachment and the formation of bacterial microcolonies on host epithelial cells. Mechanistically, pili retractation induces host NF-kappa-B activation in infected cells, which is temporally associated with the formation of gonococcal microcolonies (PubMed:27213957). The pili are polar flexible filaments of about 5.4 nanometers diameter and 2.5 micrometers average length; they consist of only a single polypeptide chain arranged in a helical configuration of five subunits per turn in the assembled pilus.

EXTERNAL LINKS

pilE1

Type IV major pilin protein PilE1

pilE1

Molecular Synopsis