title: Breaking the wall: targeting of the endothelium by pathogenic bacteria.
abstract: The endothelium lining blood and lymphatic vessels is a key barrier separating body fluids from host tissues and is a major target of pathogenic bacteria. Endothelial cells are actively involved in host responses to infectious agents, producing inflammatory cytokines, controlling coagulation cascades and regulating leukocyte trafficking. In this Review, a range of bacteria and bacterial toxins are used to illustrate how pathogens establish intimate interactions with endothelial cells, triggering inflammatory responses and coagulation processes and modifying endothelial cell plasma membranes and junctions to adhere to their surfaces and then invade, cross and even disrupt the endothelial barrier.
authors.affiliation: INSERM, U895, Toxines Microbiennes dans la Relation Hôte Pathogènes, Centre Méditerranéen de Médecine Moléculaire, C3M, Nice, 06204, Cedex 3, France. lemichez@unice.fr
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lemichez
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lecuit
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Nassif
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bourdoulous
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004729:Endothelium, Lymphatic / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000382:microbiology*
chemical_list: D001427:Bacterial Toxins