title: Rab32 restriction of intracellular bacterial pathogens.
abstract: Our immune system is engaged in a continuous battle against invading pathogens, many of which have evolved to survive in intracellular niches of mammalian hosts. A variety of cellular processes are involved in preventing bacterial invasion or in killing bacteria that successfully invade host cells. Recently, the Rab GTPase Rab32 emerged as critical regulator of a host defense pathway that can eliminate bacterial pathogens. Salmonella enterica is an intracellular bacterium and a major cause of infections and deaths in humans. Rab32 and its guanine nucleotide exchange factor BLOC-3 are essential to prevent the growth of the human-restricted Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) in mice, a non-susceptible host. The importance of the Rab32/BLOC-3 pathway has been recently confirmed by the finding that broad-host Salmonella enterica serovars deliver 2 bacterial effectors to neutralize this pathway and infect mice. Rab32 has also been shown to control infection by Listeria monocytogenes, another medically relevant intracellular pathogen. In addition, genetic evidence indicate a possible role of Rab32 in controlling leprosy, a disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae in humans, suggesting that a Rab32-dependent pathway can also act as a host defense pathway in humans. The Rab32 role in bacterial pathogen restriction is discussed here and compared to the function of this GTPase in other cellular processes.
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen , Foresterhill , Aberdeen , UK.
authors.forename: Virtu
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Solano-Collado
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen , Foresterhill , Aberdeen , UK.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rofe
authors.affiliation: a Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen , Foresterhill , Aberdeen , UK.
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spanò
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001692:Biological Transport; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D042541:Intracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020691:rab GTP-Binding Proteins
keywords: Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome; Rab GTPases; Salmonella; bacterial pathogens; host-pathogen interaction; innate immunity; lysosome-related organelles; typhoid fever