Type III machines of Gram-negative pathogens: injecting virulence factors into host cells and more.
Many Gram-negative bacteria that cause disease in either mammals or plants share a strategy of delivering toxic proteins into the cytoplasm of host cells known as type III secretion. Recent advances have provided a glimpse at the molecular nature of these lethal injection machines. Several groups have reported fibrous structures on bacterial surfaces that appear to be extensions of type III machines and necessary for toxin injection into host cells. Other research revealed complex mechanisms of secretion substrate recognition that presumably function to direct toxins to different locations during infection.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology UCLA School of Medicine 10833 Le Conte Avenue Los Angeles California 90095 USA. debbiea@ucla.edu
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D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D010935:Plant Diseases / Q000382:microbiology; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D018000:Receptors, Peptide / Q000378:metabolism; D018271:Signal Recognition Particle / Q000378:metabolism; D014774:Virulence
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D006023:Glycoproteins; D018160:Receptors, Cytoplasmic and Nuclear; D018000:Receptors, Peptide; D018271:Signal Recognition Particle; C115605:hibernation-related protein, vertebrate; C036318:signal peptide receptor