PHAGOCYTOSIS OF BACTERIAL PATHOGENS: MODIFICATION OF CELLULAR PROCESSES BY BACTERIAL FACTORS
O.A. Tsaplina
Institute of Cytology, RAS, St-Petersburg;
e-mail: olga566@mail.ru
Bacteria are able to invade eukaryotic cells manipulating their own uptake by the host cells phagocytosis, Invasive bacteria can induce this process using extracellular toxins,
cell surface ligands and virulence factors injected into the host cell. Two main mechanisms of invasion are recognized: the "zipper" mechanism in which bacteria bind host cell
receptors to initiate cytoskeletal rearrangements and membrane extensions necessary for invasion, and the trigger mechanism in which bacteria regulate their own phagocytosis
injecting regulatory proteins into the cytoplasm of the host cell. Most often, the targets in the host cell are signaling pathways not specific for phagocytosis and directly cytoskeleton.
In addition, phospholipid composition of the target cell membrane play important role in the regulation of bacterial invasion. Thus, the efficiency of invasion is determined not only by
bacterial virulence factors, but also by the life cycle, transformation, composition of the membrane and other physiological characteristics of the host cell.
Key words: invasion, bacterial pathogens, actin cytoskeleton, signalling pathways
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