title: Ats-1: a novel bacterial molecule that links autophagy to bacterial nutrition.
abstract: Obligatory intracellular life style and a small number of genes for biosynthesis and metabolism necessitate the Gram-negative bacterium, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, to depend on the host cell for nutrients. A. phagocytophilum resides in a membrane-bound inclusion, and secretes a protein, Ats-1 (Anaplasma translocated substrate-1), into the host cell cytoplasm. Ats-1 binds BECN1, a protein critical for autophagy nucleation, and induces autophagosome formation. The autophagosomes traffic to, and fuse with, A. phagocytophilum inclusions, delivering autophagic cargo into the inclusions, which can serve as nutrients for bacterial growth. This finding demonstrates that A. phagocytophilum subverts host cell autophagic machinery to facilitate infection by secreting a BECN1-binding molecule.
authors: Department of Veterinary Biosciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors: Hua
authors: H
authors: Niu
authors: Yasuko
authors: Y
authors: Rikihisa
mesh_terms: D041081:Anaplasma phagocytophilum / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001343:Autophagy; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D016873:Ehrlichiosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology / Q000473:pathology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D008561:Membrane Fusion; D010588:Phagosomes / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: ATG14; Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Ats-1; BECN1; autophagy; bacterial nutrition; obligatory intracellular bacterium; omegasome; type IV secretion