Structural mimicry in bacterial virulence.

C E Stebbins; J E Galán

doi:10.1038/35089000

Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 11507631

Structural mimicry in bacterial virulence.

C E Stebbins·J E Galán

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

An important mechanism underlying the strategies used by microbial pathogens to manipulate cellular functions is that of functional mimicry of host activities. In some cases, mimicry is achieved through virulence factors that are direct homologues of host proteins. In others, convergent evolution has produced new effectors that, although having no obvious amino-acid sequence similarity to host factors, are revealed by structural studies to display mimicry at the molecular level.

Explore related subjects

Adhesins, Bacterial Bacteria Bacterial Proteins Evolution, Molecular Fibronectins GTPase-Activating Proteins Models, Molecular Molecular Mimicry Protein Conformation Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases Salmonella Signal Transduction Virulence Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.Review

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

C E Stebbins, J E Galán. 2001-08-16. Structural mimicry in bacterial virulence.. https://doi.org/10.1038/35089000

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2007

Intimin types determined by heteroduplex mobility assay of intimin gene (eae)-positive Escherichia coli strains.

We developed a quick genetic approach to screen variants of the intimin gene (eae) by using a heteroduplex mobility assay (HMA) that targets the 5' conserved region of eae. The eae variants were categorized into 4 major HMA types and 10 minor subtypes.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

PubMed2007

Real-time detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 sequences using a circulating-flow system of quartz crystal microbalance.

A DNA piezoelectric biosensing method for real-time detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in a circulating-flow system was developed in this study. Specific probes [a 30-mer oligonucleotide with or without additional 12 deoxythymidine 5'-monophosphate (12-dT)] for the detection of E. coli O157:H7 gene eaeA, synthetic oligonucleotide targets (30 and 104 mer) and PCR-amplified DNA fragments from the E. coli O157:H7 eaeA gene (104 bp), were used to evaluate the efficiency of the probe immobilization and hybridization with target DNA in the circulating-flow quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) device. It was found that thiol modification on the 5'-end of the probes was essential for probe immobilization on the gold surface of the QCM device. The addition of 12-dT to the probes as a spacer, significantly enhanced (P<0.05) the hybridization efficiency (H%). The results indicate that the spacer enhanced the H% by 1.4- and 2-fold when the probes were hybridized with 30- and 104-mer targets, respectively. The spacer reduced steric interference of the support on the hybridization behavior of immobilized oligonucleotides, especially when the probes hybridized with relatively long oligonucleotide targets. The QCM system was also applied in the detection of PCR-amplified DNA from real samples of E. coli O157:H7. The resultant H% of the PCR-amplified double-strand DNA was comparable to that of the synthetic target T-104AS, a single-strand DNA. The piezoelectric biosensing system has potential for further applications. This approach lays the groundwork for incorporating the method into an integrated system for rapid PCR-based DNA analysis.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗

PubMed2007

A multistep epigenetic switch enables the stable inheritance of DNA methylation states.

In many prokaryotes and eukaryotes, DNA methylation at cis-regulatory sequences determines whether gene expression is on or off. Stable inheritance of these expression states is required in bacterial pathogenesis, cancer and developmental pathways. Here we delineate the factors that control the stability of these states by using the agn43 gene in Escherichia coli as a model system. Systematic disruption of this system shows that a functional switch requires the presence of several, rarely occupied, intermediate states that separate the 'on' and 'off' states. Cells that leave the on and off state enter different intermediate states, where there is a strong bias that drives cells back to their original state. The intermediate states therefore act as buffers that prevent back and forth switching. This mechanism of generating multiple states is an alternative to feedback regulation, and its general principle should be applicable to the analysis of other epigenetic switches and the design of synthetic circuits.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗