Modulation of Host Lipid Pathways by Pathogenic Intracellular Bacteria

Lipids are a broad group of molecules required for cell maintenance and homeostasis. Various intracellular pathogens have developed mechanisms of modulating and sequestering host lipid processes for a large array of functions for both bacterial and host cell survival. Among the host cell lipid functions that intracellular bacteria exploit for infection are the modulation of host plasma membrane microdomains (lipid rafts) required for efficient bacterial entry; the recruitment of specific lipids for membrane integrity of intracellular vacuoles; and the utilization of host lipid droplets for the regulation of immune responses and for energy production through fatty acid β-oxidation and oxidative phosphorylation. The majority of published studies on the utilization of these host lipid pathways during infection have focused on intracellular bacterial pathogens that reside within a vacuole during infection and, thus, have vastly different requirements for host lipid metabolites when compared to those intracellular pathogens that are released into the host cytosol upon infection. Here we summarize the mechanisms by which intracellular bacteria sequester host lipid species and compare the modulation of host lipid pathways and metabolites during host cell infection by intracellular pathogens residing in either a vacuole or within the cytosol of infected mammalian cells. This review will also highlight common and unique host pathways necessary for intracellular bacterial growth that could potentially be targeted for therapeutic intervention.