Invasion and intracellular proliferation of Salmonella within non-phagocytic cells

Salmonella species penetrate (invade) and proliferate within non-phagocytic cells such as epithelial cells. These two processes are essential for Salmonella virulence and have been shown to occur in the intestinal epithelium and cultured epithelial cells. In recent years the signals that Salmonella transmits to the epithelial cell have begun to be elucidated. In this review, we summarize the most recent findings about the molecular nature of the interactions between Salmonella and epithelial cells. These studies reveal that Salmonella causes dramatic changes in the morphology of the host plasma membrane during bacterial invasion, and that this pathogen exploits other host structures such as actin filaments and lysosomes to trigger internalization and intracellular proliferation within non-phagocytic cells.