title: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli induces modification of the focal adhesions of infected host cells.
abstract: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a human-specific pathogen that causes severe diarrhoea in young children. The disease involves intimate interaction between the pathogen and the brush border of enterocytes. During infection, EPEC uses a type III secretion system (TTSS) to inject several proteins into the infected cells, and these effector proteins modify specific processes in the host cell. We show that, upon infection, EPEC induces detachment of the infected host cells from the substratum, modification of focal adhesions (FA) in the infected cells and specific dephosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK). We also show that EPEC-induced cell detachment is dependent on FAK expression by the infected cells. Finally, we demonstrate that cell detachment, FA modification and FAK dephosphorylation are dependent on functional TTSS in the infecting EPEC. These results suggest that EPEC is using its TTSS to inject protein(s) into the infected cells, which can induce FAK dephosphorylation, as well as FAK-dependent FA modification and cell detachment. These processes are specific and probably play an important role in EPEC virulence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology, The Hebrew University, Faculty of Medicine, POB 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel.
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shifrin
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kirschner
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Geiger
authors.forename: Ilan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rosenshine
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D022001:Focal Adhesions / Q000378:metabolism*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D051419:Paxillin; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051419:Paxillin; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C496061:PXN protein, human; C496050:PTK2 protein, human