Candida albicans internalization by host cells is mediated by a clathrin-dependent mechanism

Candida albicans is a major cause of oropharyngeal, vulvovaginal and haematogenously disseminated candidiasis. Endocytosis of C. albicans hyphae by host cells is a prerequisite for tissue invasion. This internalization involves interactions between the fungal invasin Als3 and host E- or N-cadherin. Als3 shares some structural similarity with InlA, a major invasion protein of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes . InlA mediates entry of L. monocytogenes into host cells through binding to E-cadherin. A role in internalization, for a non-classical stimulation of the clathrin-dependent endocytosis machinery, was recently highlighted. Based on the similarities between the C. albicans and L. monocytogenes invasion proteins, we studied the role of clathrin in the internalization of C. albicans . Using live-cell imaging and indirect immunofluorescence of epithelial cells infected with C. albicans , we observed that host E-cadherin, clathrin, dynamin and cortactin accumulated at sites of C. albicans internalization. Similarly, in endothelial cells, host N-cadherin, clathrin and cortactin accumulated at sites of fungal endocytosis. Furthermore, clathrin, dynamin or cortactin depletion strongly inhibited C. albicans internalization by epithelial cells. Finally, beads coated with Als3 were internalized in a clathrin-dependent manner. These data indicate that C. albicans , like L. monocytogenes, hijacks the clathrin-dependent endocytic machinery to invade host cells.     

Inhibition of ROCK activity allows InlF-mediated invasion and increased virulence of Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular bacterial pathogen that causes life-threatening disease. The mechanisms used by L. monocytogenes to invade non-professional phagocytic cells are not fully understood. In addition to the requirement of bacterial determinants, host cell conditions profoundly influence infection. Here, we have shown that inhibition of the RhoA/ROCK pathway by pharmacological inhibitors or RNA interference results in increased L. monocytogenes invasion of murine fibroblasts and hepatocytes. InlF, a member of the internalin multigene family with no known function, was identified as a L. monocytogenes -specific factor mediating increased host cell binding and entry. Conversely, activation of RhoA/ROCK activity resulted in decreased L. monocytogenes adhesion and invasion. Furthermore, virulence of wild-type bacteria during infection of mice was significantly increased upon inhibition of ROCK activity, whereas colonization and virulence of an inlF deletion mutant was not affected, thus supporting a role for InlF as a functional virulence determinant in vivo under specific conditions. In addition, inhibition of ROCK activity in human-derived cells enhanced either bacterial adhesion or adhesion and entry in an InlF-independent manner, further suggesting a host species or cell type-specific role for InlF and that additional bacterial determinants are involved in mediating ROCK-regulated invasion of human cells.     

Listeria monocytogenes, an invasive bacterium, stimulates MAP kinase upon attachment to epithelial cells.

Protein tyrosine phosphorylation is an important regulatory mechanism for many cellular processes in eucaryotic cells. During the invasion of the gram-positive pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes, into host epithelial cells, two host proteins become tyrosine phosphorylated. We have identified these major tyrosine phosphorylated species to be two isoforms of mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase, the 42 and 44 kDa MAP kinases. This activation begins within 5 to 15 min of bacterial infection. The tyrosine kinase inhibitor, genistein, blocks invasion as well as the tyrosine phosphorylation of these MAP kinases. Using cytochalasin D to block bacterial internalization but not adhesion, we showed that bacterial adherence rather than uptake is required for MAP kinase activation. Internalin mutants, which are unable to adhere efficiently to host cells, do not trigger MAP kinase activation. Other invasive bacteria, including enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), and E. coli expressing Yersinia enterocolitica invasion, were not observed to activate MAP kinase during invasion into cultured epithelial cells. These results suggest that L. monocytogenes activates MAP kinase during invasion and a MAP kinase signal transduction pathway may be involved in mediating bacterial uptake.     

InlA和InlB介导单核细胞增生李斯特菌入侵宿主细胞分子机制的研究进展

单核细胞增生李斯特菌(Listeria monocytogenes)是一种革兰氏阳性食源性致病菌。在造成宿主食源性感染的过程中, 单核细胞增生李斯特菌能凭借其独特的表面蛋白入侵宿主的非吞噬细胞。内化素蛋白家族(Internalins)是介导单核细胞增生李斯特菌入侵宿主非吞噬细胞的主要因子。本文根据国内外一些最新的研究成果, 结合作者近几年的工作, 综述了在侵染宿主的过程中, 单核细胞增生李斯特菌主要的内化素蛋白InlA和InlB介导细菌入侵宿主细胞的分子机制, 以期为阐明食源性致病菌致病机理、预防和治疗食源性疾病提供理论基础。     

Invasion assay of Listeria monocytogenes using Vero and Caco-2 cells

The invasion ability of Listeria monocytogenes into cultured cells has been used to evaluate its pathogenicity. In this study, invasive ability was investigated using Vero and Caco-2 cell lines. The form of invasion showed no morphological differences between both cell lines inoculated with L. monocytogenes L89-H2 or L96-23C1 strains when double fluorescence stained with rhodamine and FITC or with Giemsa staining. Recovery count and recovery rate of L. monocytogenes from Vero cells was related to the number of inoculated bacteria (2 x 10(5) to 2 x 10(7)/ml) in a bell-shape pattern, though the relationship was unclear in Caco-2 cells. Recovery rate of L. monocytogenes was higher in Vero cells than Caco-2 cells at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) 10, though the rates in both cells showed different stable stages over a considerably wide range of MOI. The recovery rate of all five L. monocytogenes strains from listeriosis patients was 15% at MOI 10 from infected Vero cells, while meat-derived strains showed variable rates regardless of the serovar. These results suggest that the Vero cell line is suitable for an invasion assay and that a recovery rate of 15% may be the critical limit for the expression of pathogenicity in the host.     

The InlB protein of Listeria monocytogenes is sufficient to promote entry into mammalian cells

InlB is one of the two Listeria monocytogenes invasion proteins required for bacterial entry into mammalian cells. Entry into human epithelial cells such as Caco-2 requires InlA, whereas InlB is needed for entry into cultured hepatocytes and some epithelial or fibroblast cell lines such as Vero, HEp-2 and HeLa cells. InlB-mediated entry requires tyrosine phosphorylation, cytoskeletal rearrangements and activation of the host protein phosphoinositide (PI) 3-kinase, probably in response to engagement of a receptor. In this study, we demonstrate for the first time that InlB is sufficient to promote internalization. Indeed, coating of normally non-invasive bacteria or inert latex beads with InlB leads to internalization into mammalian cells. In addition, a soluble form of InlB also appears to promote uptake of non-invasive bacteria, albeit at a very low level. Similar to entry of L. monocytogenes , uptake of InlB-coated beads required tyrosine phosphorylation in the host cell, PI 3-kinase activity and cytoskeletal reorganization. Taken together, these data indicate that InlB is sufficient for entry of L. monocytogenes into host cells and suggest that this protein is an effector of host cell signalling pathways.     

Cytosolic expression of SecA2 is a prerequisite for long-term protective immunity

Induction of efficient adaptive T cell-mediated immunity against the intracellular bacterium Listeria monocytogenes requires its successful invasion of host cell cytosol. However, it is not clear whether its cytosolic escape and growth are sufficient to induce T cell-mediated clearance and protection upon secondary infection. To investigate this issue, we have searched for mutants that do not induce long-term protective immunity yet invade the cytosol of infected cells. We found that mice immunized with L. monocytogenes lacking the SecA2 ATPase, an auxiliary protein secretion system present in several Gram-positive pathogenic bacteria, mounted a robust cytolytic IFN-gamma-secreting CD8+ T cell response but were not protected against a secondary challenge with wild-type (wt) bacteria. Furthermore, CD8+ T cells from mice immunized with secA2- bacteria failed to transfer protection when injected into recipient mice demonstrating that they were unable to confer protection. Also, secA2- and wt L. monocytogenes spread to the same myeloid-derived cell types in vivo and SecA2 deficiency does not interfere with intracytosolic bacteria multiplication. Therefore, cytosol invasion is not sufficient for inducing secondary protective responses and induction of memory CD8+ T cells mediating long-term antibacterial protective immunity is dependent upon SecA2 expression inside the cytosol of host cells in vivo.     

Structure of internalin,a major invasion protein of Listeria monocytogenes,in complex with its human receptor E-cadherin

Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne bacterial pathogen, enters mammalian cells by inducing its own phagocytosis. The listerial protein internalin (InlA) mediates bacterial adhesion and invasion of epithelial cells in the human intestine through specific interaction with its host cell receptor E-cadherin. We present the crystal structures of the functional domain of InlA alone and in a complex with the extracellular, N-terminal domain of human E-cadherin (hEC1). The leucine rich repeat (LRR) domain of InlA surrounds and specifically recognizes hEC1. Individual interactions were probed by mutagenesis and analytical ultracentrifugation. These include Pro16 of hEC1, a major determinant for human susceptibility to L. monocytogenes infection that is essential for intermolecular recognition. Our studies reveal the structural basis for host tro-pism of this bacterium and the molecular deception L. monocytogenes employs to exploit the E-cadherin system.     

Listeria InlB takes a different route to met

InlB, a surface protein of the human bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, interacts with the receptor tyrosine kinase Met on host cells to enable bacterial invasion. In this issue, Niemann et al. (2007) provide the first structural evidence that InlB does not compete for the same interaction site on Met as the natural ligand HGF.     

Involvement of CD44v6 in InlB-dependent Listeria invasion

Listeria monocytogenes , a Gram-positive bacterium, is the causative agent for the disease called listeriosis. This pathogen utilizes host cell surface proteins such as E-cadherin or c-Met in order to invade eukaryotic cells. The invasion via c-Met depends on the bacterial protein InlB that activates c-Met phosphorylation and internalization mimicking in many regards HGF, the authentic c-Met ligand. In this paper, we demonstrate that the activation of c-Met induced by InlB is dependent on CD44v6, a member of the CD44 family of transmembrane glycoproteins. Inhibiting CD44v6 by means of a blocking peptide, a CD44v6 antibody or CD44v6-specific siRNA prevents the activation of c-Met induced by InlB. Subsequently, signalling, scattering and the entry of InlB-coated beads into host cells are also impaired by CD44v6 blocking reagents. For the entry process, ezrin, a protein that links the CD44v6 cytoplasmic domain to the cytoskeleton, is required as well. Most importantly, this collaboration between c-Met and CD44v6 contributes to the invasion of L. monocytogenes into target cells as demonstrated by a drastic decrease in bacterial invasion in the presence of blocking agents such as the CD44v6 peptide or antibody.     

The pore-forming toxin listeriolysin O mediates a novel entry pathway of L. monocytogenes into human hepatocytes

Intracellular pathogens have evolved diverse strategies to invade and survive within host cells. Among the most studied facultative intracellular pathogens, Listeria monocytogenes is known to express two invasins-InlA and InlB-that induce bacterial internalization into nonphagocytic cells. The pore-forming toxin listeriolysin O (LLO) facilitates bacterial escape from the internalization vesicle into the cytoplasm, where bacteria divide and undergo cell-to-cell spreading via actin-based motility. In the present study we demonstrate that in addition to InlA and InlB, LLO is required for efficient internalization of L. monocytogenes into human hepatocytes (HepG2). Surprisingly, LLO is an invasion factor sufficient to induce the internalization of noninvasive Listeria innocua or polystyrene beads into host cells in a dose-dependent fashion and at the concentrations produced by L. monocytogenes. To elucidate the mechanisms underlying LLO-induced bacterial entry, we constructed novel LLO derivatives locked at different stages of the toxin assembly on host membranes. We found that LLO-induced bacterial or bead entry only occurs upon LLO pore formation. Scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy studies show that LLO-coated beads stimulate the formation of membrane extensions that ingest the beads into an early endosomal compartment. This LLO-induced internalization pathway is dynamin-and F-actin-dependent, and clathrin-independent. Interestingly, further linking pore formation to bacteria/bead uptake, LLO induces F-actin polymerization in a tyrosine kinase-and pore-dependent fashion. In conclusion, we demonstrate for the first time that a bacterial pathogen perforates the host cell plasma membrane as a strategy to activate the endocytic machinery and gain entry into the host cell.     

Isolation of Listeria monocytogenes mutants with high-level in vitro expression of host cytosol-induced gene products

The facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes dramatically increases the expression of several key virulence factors upon entry into the host cell cytosol. actA, the protein product of which is required for cell-to-cell spread of the bacterium, is expressed at low to undetectable levels in vitro and increases in expression more than 200-fold after L. monocytogenes escape from the phagosome. To identify bacterial factors that participate in the intracellular induction of actA expression, L. monocytogenes mutants expressing high levels of actA during in vitro growth were selected after chemical mutagenesis. The resulting mutant isolates displayed a wide range of actA expression levels, and many were less sensitive to environmental signals that normally mediate repression of virulence gene expression. Several isolates contained mutations affecting actA gene expression that mapped at least 40 kb outside the PrfA regulon, supporting the existence of additional regulatory factors that contribute to virulence gene expression. Two actA in vitro expression mutants contained novel mutations within PrfA, a key regulator of L. monocytogenes virulence gene expression. PrfA E77K and PrfA G155S mutations resulted in high-level expression of PrfA-dependent genes, increased bacterial invasion of epithelial cells and increased virulence in mice. Both prfA mutant strains were significantly less motile than wild-type L. monocytogenes. These results suggest that, although constitutive activation of PrfA and PrfA-dependent gene expression may enhance L. monocytogenes virulence, it may conversely hamper the bacterium's ability to compete in environments outside host cells.     

Exploration of host-pathogen interactions using Listeria monocytogenes and Drosophila melanogaster

The facultative intracellular bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes is capable of replicating within a broad range of host cell types and host species. We report here the establishment of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a new model host for the exploration of L. monocytogenes pathogenesis and host response to infection. Listeria monocytogenes was capable of establishing lethal infections in adult fruit flies and larvae with extensive bacterial replication occurring before host death. Bacteria were found in the cytosol of insect phagocytic cells, and were capable of directing host cell actin polymerization. Bacterial gene products necessary for intracellular replication and cell-to-cell spread within mammalian cells were similarly found to be required within insect cells, and although previous work has suggested that L. monocytogenes virulence gene expression requires temperatures above 30 degrees C, bacteria within insect cells were found to express virulence determinants at 25 degrees C. Mutant strains of Drosophila that were compromised for innate immune responses demonstrated increased susceptibility to L. monocytogenes infection. These data indicate L. monocytogenes infection of fruit flies shares numerous features of mammalian infection, and thus that Drosophila has the potential to serve as a genetically tractable host system that will facilitate the analysis of host cellular responses to L. monocytogenes infection.     

Expression of listeriolysin O by intracellular Listeria monocytogenes following infection of lipopolysaccharide-treated or untreated J774.1 macrophage-like cells

Abstract Listeria monocytogenes replicates in a phagocytic cell following escape into the host cytoplasm. Listeriolysin O, secreted by L. monocytogenes , which belongs to the thiol-activated hemolysin family, is known to play an important role in the escape of the bacterium into the host cytoplasm. In this study, we demonstrated that expression of listeriolysin O by infecting L. monocytogenes was lightly induced in J774.1 macrophage-like cells pretreated with lipopolysaccharide, although the growth of the bacteria was suppressed. The number of viable L. monocytogenes decreased until 4 h post-infection and then increased between 4 and 8 h post-infection in untreated J774.1 host cells, but it decreased until 8 h post-infection in lipopolysaccharide-treated host cells. However, expression of listeriolysin O by L. monocytogenes was not induced in the untreated host cells, while it increased between 0 and 4 h post-infection in the lipopolysaccharide-treated host cells. Expression of listeriolysin O mRNA in the lipopolysaccharide-treated host cells was also induced at 2 h post-infection, suggesting that listeriolysin O was newly synthesized in the macrophage-like cells. These results suggest that macrophage activation induced with lipopolysaccharide could lead to the expression of the listeriolysin O gene and the synthesis of listeriolysin O protein under suppression of the intracellular growth of L. monocytogenes .     

Inhibition of calpain blocks the phagosomal escape of Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria monocytogenes is a gram-positive facultative intracellular bacterium responsible for the food borne infection listeriosis, affecting principally the immunocompromised, the old, neonates and pregnant women. Following invasion L. monocytogenes escapes the phagosome and replicates in the cytoplasm. Phagosome escape is central to L. monocytogenes virulence and is required for initiating innate host-defence responses such as the secretion of the cytokine interleukin-1. Phagosome escape of L. monocytogenes is reported to depend upon host proteins such as γ-interferon-inducible lysosomal thiol reductase and the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. The host cytosolic cysteine protease calpain is required in the life cycle of numerous pathogens, and previous research reports an activation of calpain by L. monocytogenes infection. Thus we sought to determine whether host calpain was required for the virulence of L. monocytogenes. Treatment of macrophages with calpain inhibitors blocked escape of L. monocytogenes from the phagosome and consequently its proliferation within the cytosol. This was independent of any direct effect on the production of bacterial virulence factors or of a bactericidal effect. Furthermore, the secretion of interleukin-1β, a host cytokine whose secretion induced by L. monocytogenes depends upon phagosome escape, was also blocked by calpain inhibition. These data indicate that L. monocytogenes co-opts host calpain to facilitate its escape from the phagosome, and more generally, that calpain may represent a cellular Achilles heel exploited by pathogens.     

Escherichia coli producing CNF1 toxin hijacks Tollip to trigger Rac1-dependent cell invasion

Rho GTPases, which are master regulators of both the actin cytoskeleton and membrane trafficking, are often hijacked by pathogens to enable their invasion of host cells. Here we report that the cytotoxic necrotizing factor-1 (CNF1) toxin of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) promotes Rac1-dependent entry of bacteria into host cells. Our screen for proteins involved in Rac1-dependent UPEC entry identifies the Toll-interacting protein (Tollip) as a new interacting protein of Rac1 and its ubiquitinated forms. We show that knockdown of Tollip reduces CNF1-induced Rac1-dependent UPEC entry. Tollip depletion also reduces the Rac1-dependent entry of Listeria monocytogenes expressing InlB invasion protein. Moreover, knockdown of Tollip, Tom1 and clathrin, decreases CNF1 and Rac1-dependent internalization of UPEC. Finally, we show that Tollip, Tom1 and clathrin associate with Rac1 and localize at the site of bacterial entry. Collectively, these findings reveal a new link between Rac1 and Tollip, Tom1 and clathrin membrane trafficking components hijacked by pathogenic bacteria to allow their efficient invasion of host cells.     

Listeria monocytogenes invades the epithelial junctions at sites of cell extrusion

Listeria monocytogenes causes invasive disease by crossing the intestinal epithelial barrier. This process depends on the interaction between the bacterial surface protein Internalin A and the host protein E-cadherin, located below the epithelial tight junctions at the lateral cell-to-cell contacts. We used polarized MDCK cells as a model epithelium to determine how L. monocytogenes breaches the tight junctions to gain access to this basolateral receptor protein. We determined that L. monocytogenes does not actively disrupt the tight junctions, but finds E-cadherin at a morphologically distinct subset of intercellular junctions. We identified these sites as naturally occurring regions where single senescent cells are expelled and detached from the epithelium by extrusion. The surrounding cells reorganize to form a multicellular junction that maintains epithelial continuity. We found that E-cadherin is transiently exposed to the lumenal surface at multicellular junctions during and after cell extrusion, and that L. monocytogenes takes advantage of junctional remodeling to adhere to and subsequently invade the epithelium. In intact epithelial monolayers, an anti-E-cadherin antibody specifically decorates multicellular junctions and blocks L. monocytogenes adhesion. Furthermore, an L. monocytogenes mutant in the Internalin A gene is completely deficient in attachment to the epithelial apical surface and is unable to invade. We hypothesized that L. monocytogenes utilizes analogous extrusion sites for epithelial invasion in vivo. By infecting rabbit ileal loops, we found that the junctions at the cell extrusion zone of villus tips are the specific target for L. monocytogenes adhesion and invasion. Thus, L. monocytogenes exploits the dynamic nature of epithelial renewal and junctional remodeling to breach the intestinal barrier.     

Exploitation of the ubiquitin system by invading bacteria

A variety of bacterial intracellular pathogens target the host cell ubiquitin system during invasion, a process that involves transient but fundamental changes in the actin cytoskeleton and plasma membrane. These changes are induced by bacterial proteins, which can be surface associated, secreted or injected directly into the host cell. Here, the invasion strategies of two extensively studied intracellular bacteria, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes, are used to illustrate some of the diverse ways by which bacterial pathogens intersect the host cell ubiquitin pathway.     

Designer bugs: structural engineering to build a better mouse model

Many animal models of bacterial diseases are hampered by differences in tissue tropism and the course of pathogenesis. In a recent issue of Cell, by rationally mutating a surface invasion protein (InlA) to have higher binding affinity for its cognate host receptor (E-cadherin), Wollert et al. were able to "murinize"Listeria monocytogenes, creating a strain capable of invading intestinal epithelial cells in mice, mimicking the route of infection in humans.