Actin-based bacterial motility: towards a definition of the minimal requirements.
At the border line between microbiology and cell biology, the spectacular capacity o f some intracellular bacterial pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri and several Rickettsias, to use actin polymerization as a driving force for intracellular movement, cell-to-cell spreading and dissemination within the infected tissue is being increasingly studied. Now that it is possible to manipulate the bacterial surface proteins involved in this process - ActA o f L. monocytogenes and IcsA of S. flexneri - these bacterial systems are providing experimental models in which to investigate the role o f actin filament dynamics in cell motility.
Lasa
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Unité des Interactions Bacteries-Cellules, Institut Pasteur, 28 rue du Docteur Roux, Paris 75015, France.
Cossart
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