Tracking Iron-associated Proteome in Pathogens by a Fluorescent Approach

Porphyromonas gingivalis is a key oral anaerobic bacterium involved in human periodontitis, which may affect up to 15% adults worldwide. Using the membrane permeable fluorescent probe Fe-TRACER, we identified 17 iron-associated proteins in Porphyromonas gingivalis. We demonstrated the specific binding of the probe towards iron-associated proteins using transferrin as an example and provided an X-ray structure of the fluorescent probe-bound transferrin. Our study provides a basis for the understanding of iron homeostasis in pathogens, and our approach based on the integration of fluorescence imaging with proteomics and bioinformatics can be readily extended to mine other metalloproteomes in microbials.