title: Bacterial martyrdom: phagocytes disabled by type VI secretion after engulfing bacteria.
abstract: To colonize during disease and prevent consumption by environmental unicellular eukaryotes, bacteria often disrupt phagocytosis. In this issue, Ma et al. (2009) show that Vibrio cholerae delivers the actin-crosslinking T6SS effector VgrG-1 following phagocytosis. The effector then causes irreversible cytoskeleton destruction, leading to bystander protection of the extracellular bacterial population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 303 E. Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. k-satchell@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: Karla J F
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Satchell
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010586:Phagocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D026901:Membrane Transport Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors