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Electroporation of Functional Bacterial Effectors into Mammalian Cells
Published on: January 19, 2015
Protein delivery into eukaryotic cells by type III secretion machines
Jorge E Galán1, Hans Wolf-Watz
1Section of Microbial Pathogenesis, Yale University School of Medicine, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 0636, USA. jorge.galan@yale.edu
Nature
|December 1, 2006
Summary
Bacteria use the type III secretion system (T3SS) to inject proteins into host cells. This remarkable adaptation is crucial for survival and replication in symbiotic and pathogenic bacteria across diverse species.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Cell Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Bacteria living closely with eukaryotes develop specialized survival mechanisms.
- The type III secretion system (T3SS) is a key bacterial adaptation for interacting with host cells.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the significance of the type III secretion system (T3SS) in bacterial-eukaryotic interactions.
- To explore the broad implications of T3SS in various host-pathogen and symbiotic relationships.
Main Methods:
- Comparative genomics to identify T3SS genes across bacterial species.
- Functional assays to study protein delivery into eukaryotic cells.
- Phylogenetic analysis to understand T3SS evolution.
Main Results:
- T3SS is present in diverse bacterial lineages, including pathogens and symbionts.
- The system is essential for injecting effector proteins directly into host cells.
- T3SS plays critical roles in pathogenesis and symbiotic associations.
Conclusions:
- The type III secretion system (T3SS) represents a convergent evolutionary adaptation for bacterial host manipulation.
- Studying T3SS provides insights into fundamental processes of organelle assembly, protein secretion, symbiosis, and pathogenesis.
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