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Related Concept Videos

SNAREs and Membrane Fusion01:43

SNAREs and Membrane Fusion

Once a transport vesicle has recognized its target organelle, the vesicular membrane needs to fuse with the target membrane to unload the cargo. Transmembrane proteins called SNAREs present on organelle membranes and their vesicles, mediate vesicle fusion.
SNAREs exist in pairs that symmetrically interact and catalyze the fusion of the lipid bilayers in vesicle and target organelle. v-SNARE in the vesicle membrane are single polypeptide chains that bind to a complementary t-SNARE, composed of 2...
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Aminoglycosides constitute a highly potent class of bactericidal antibiotics that exert their antimicrobial effects by targeting the bacterial ribosome, specifically disrupting protein synthesis. These polycationic molecules consist of amino-modified sugars linked via glycosidic bonds to an aminocyclitol core such as 2-deoxystreptamine or streptamine. Their strong positive charges facilitate tight binding to the negatively charged phosphate backbone of ribosomal RNA (rRNA), primarily at the 16S...
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Bacterial cells were initially considered simple, randomly organized structures lacking a cytoskeleton. However, the discovery of cytoskeleton homologs in bacteria led to the change of this opinion. Bacterial cytoskeletal filaments regulate the cell shape, cell polarity, cell division, and partitioning of plasmids during cell division. It was later discovered that bacterial cytoskeletal proteins, mainly actin and tubulin homologs, are diverse compared to their eukaryotic counterparts. On the...
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Antimicrobial proteins are important components of the immune system. They aid the body in combating pathogens by either killing them directly or hindering their replication processes. Four main types of antimicrobial substances are interferons, the complement system, iron-binding proteins, and antimicrobial proteins.
Interferons
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Intracellular Movement of Viruses and Bacteria

Intracellular bacteria and viruses often comprise a group of highly infectious pathogens that can cause several diseases. Bacterial pathogens include those belonging to the genus Rickettsia responsible for conditions such as rocky mountain spotted fever and the Mediterranean spotted fever; Chlamydia, a genus responsible for a sexually transmitted disease; Coxiella burnetii, an agent responsible for Q fever. Viral pathogens include vaccinia—a poxvirus, and herpes simplex virus—a virus that...
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 19, 2026

In-vitro Reconstitution of Bacterial Ubiquitination and VCP/p97-mediated Elimination
07:58

In-vitro Reconstitution of Bacterial Ubiquitination and VCP/p97-mediated Elimination

Published on: January 2, 2026

Intracellular bacteria encode inhibitory SNARE-like proteins.

Fabienne Paumet1, Jordan Wesolowski, Alejandro Garcia-Diaz

  • 1Thomas Jefferson University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America. fabienne.paumet@jefferson.edu

Plos One
|October 14, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Pathogenic bacteria use SNARE-like proteins to block host cell membrane fusion, preventing phagosome degradation. This mechanism, involving a specific motif, aids pathogen survival by manipulating cellular processes.

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Identification of Host Pathways Targeted by Bacterial Effector Proteins using Yeast Toxicity and Suppressor Screens
07:40

Identification of Host Pathways Targeted by Bacterial Effector Proteins using Yeast Toxicity and Suppressor Screens

Published on: October 25, 2019

Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Cell Biology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • Pathogens invade host cells using molecular machines that interfere with intracellular vesicular trafficking.
  • Viruses utilize glycoprotein fusion machinery similar to SNARE proteins to enter cells.
  • Intracellular pathogens must evade host defenses by blocking phagosome-endosome fusion.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which intracellular pathogens inhibit host cell membrane fusion.
  • To investigate the role of SNARE-like bacterial proteins in blocking phagosome-endosome fusion.
  • To identify the specific functional motifs responsible for inhibiting SNARE-mediated fusion.

Main Methods:

  • In vitro liposome fusion assays to directly measure membrane fusion inhibition.
  • Cellular assays to assess the impact of bacterial proteins on endogenous fusion pathways.
  • Biochemical analysis to identify the inhibitory motif within bacterial proteins.

Main Results:

  • SNARE-like bacterial proteins, IncA (Chlamydia) and IcmG/DotF (Legionella), directly inhibit SNARE-mediated membrane fusion.
  • These bacterial proteins specifically target and block the endocytic SNARE machinery.
  • A conserved SNARE-like motif within these proteins is responsible for their inhibitory function.

Conclusions:

  • Bacterial SNARE-like proteins are key effectors that manipulate host vesicular trafficking to promote pathogen survival.
  • The identified SNARE-like motif represents an evolutionarily conserved strategy for pathogens to subvert eukaryotic membrane fusion.
  • Targeting this motif offers potential avenues for developing novel anti-pathogen therapeutics.