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- Title
Pathogen-host reorganization during C hlamydia invasion revealed by cryo-electron tomography.
- Authors
Nans, Andrea; Saibil, Helen R.; Hayward, Richard D.
- Abstract
Invasion of host cells is a key early event during bacterial infection, but the underlying pathogen-host interactions are yet to be fully visualized in three-dimensional detail. We have captured snapshots of the early stages of bacterial-mediated endocytosis in situ by exploiting the small size of chlamydial elementary bodies ( EBs) for whole-cell cryo-electron tomography. C hlamydiae are obligate intracellular bacteria that infect eukaryotic cells and cause sexually transmitted infections and trachoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness. We demonstrate that C hlamydia trachomatis LGV2 EBs are intrinsically polarized. One pole is characterized by a tubular inner membrane invagination, while the other exhibits asymmetric periplasmic expansion to accommodate an array of type III secretion systems ( T3 SSs). Strikingly, EBs orient with their T3 SS-containing pole facing target cells, enabling the T3 SSs to directly contact the cellular plasma membrane. This contact induces enveloping macropinosomes, actin-rich filopodia and phagocytic cups to zipper tightly around the internalizing bacteria. Once encapsulated into tight early vacuoles, EB polarity and the T3 SSs are lost. Our findings reveal previously undescribed structural transitions in both pathogen and host during the initial steps of chlamydial invasion.
- Subjects
HOST-parasite relationships; CHLAMYDIA infections; ENDOCYTOSIS; TOMOGRAPHY; CELL membranes; TRACHOMA
- Publication
Cellular Microbiology, 2014, Vol 16, Issue 10, p1457
- ISSN
1462-5814
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/cmi.12310