Actin-based bacterial motility: towards a definition of the minimal requirements

At the border line between microbiology and cell biology, the spectacular capacity o f some intracellular bacterial pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexneri and several Rickettsias, to use actin polymerization as a driving force for intracellular movement, cell-to-cell spreading and dissemination within the infected tissue is being increasingly studied. Now that it is possible to manipulate the bacterial surface proteins involved in this process - ActA o f L. monocytogenes and IcsA of S. flexneri - these bacterial systems are providing experimental models in which to investigate the role o f actin filament dynamics in cell motility.