The bacterial weaponry: lessons from Shigella.
Shigella, a Gram-negative bacterial species of the family Enterobacteriaceae, causes bacillary dysentery in humans, an acute rectocolitis that reflects the capacity of the microorganism to disrupt, invade, and cause the inflammatory destruction of the intestinal epithelium. Here, the pathogenesis of Shigella infection is analyzed in the context of the disruption of the homeostatic balance that protects the gut against inflammation in the presence of its commensal flora. Thus a unified view by which enteroinvasive pathogens allow identification of key signalling molecules and pathways involved in the regulation of intestinal inflammation, thereby providing keys to understand inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
Sansonetti
Philippe J
PJ
Unité de Pathogénie Microbienne Moléculaire, INSERM U389, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Institut Pasteur, 28 Rue du Docteur Roux, 75724 Paris cedex 15, France. psanson@pasteur.fr
D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000382:microbiology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D012760:Shigella / Q000502:physiology*