Vibrio cholerae relies on two main virulence factors, the toxin co-regulated pilus (TCP) and cholera toxin, to cause the gastrointestinal disease cholera. TCP is a type IV pilus that mediates bacterial auto-agglutination and colonization of the intestine. TCP is encoded by the tcp operon, which also encodes TcpF (toxin co-regulated pilus biosynthesis protein F). TcpF is a soluble secreted protein that is critical for V. cholerae colonization, although its exact role in this process has yet to be determined. This protein is comprised by N- and C-terminal domains joined by a linker, suggesting that the cleft between the domains is used to bind to a substrate.

This entry represents the C-terminal domain TcpF.