title: Creating a customized intracellular niche: subversion of host cell signaling by Legionella type IV secretion system effectors.
abstract: The Gram-negative facultative intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila infects a wide range of different protozoa in the environment and also human alveolar macrophages upon inhalation of contaminated aerosols. Inside its hosts, it creates a defined and unique compartment, termed the Legionella-containing vacuole (LCV), for survival and replication. To establish the LCV, L. pneumophila uses its Dot/Icm type IV secretion system (T4SS) to translocate more than 300 effector proteins into the host cell. Although it has become apparent in the past years that these effectors subvert a multitude of cellular processes and allow Legionella to take control of host cell vesicle trafficking, transcription, and translation, the exact function of the vast majority of effectors still remains unknown. This is partly due to high functional redundancy among the effectors, which renders conventional genetic approaches to elucidate their role ineffective. Here, we review the current knowledge about Legionella T4SS effectors, highlight open questions, and discuss new methods that promise to facilitate the characterization of T4SS effector functions in the future.
authors.affiliation: a MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.|b Department of Chemistry, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Ernest C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: So
authors.affiliation: a MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Corinna
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mattheis
authors.affiliation: b Department of Chemistry, South Kensington Campus, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Edward W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Tate
authors.affiliation: a MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Gad
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Frankel
authors.affiliation: a MRC Centre for Molecular Bacteriology and Infection, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College, London, SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Gunnar N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Schroeder
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D016952:Legionella pneumophila / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar; D021381:Protein Transport; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000069319:Type IV Secretion Systems / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000069319:Type IV Secretion Systems
keywords: Legionella; Legionella-containing vacuole; effecteurs; effectors; système de sécrétion de type IV; type IV secretion system; vacuole contenant Legionella