INVESTIGADORES
COMERCI Diego Jose
artículos
Título:
Essential Role Of VirB Machinery In The Maturation Of Brucella abortus Containing Vacuole
Autor/es:
DIEGO JOSE COMERCI; LORENZO, M. J. M.; SIEIRA RODRIGO; JEAN-PIERRE GORVEL; UGALDE, R. A.
Revista:
CELLULAR MICROBIOLOGY (PRINT)
Editorial:
Blackwell Publishing ltd.
Referencias:
Año: 2001 vol. 3 p. 159 - 168
ISSN:
1462-5814
Resumen:
In epithelial cells, the intracellular pathogen Brucella
abortus escapes from the endocytic pathway,
exploits the autophagic machinery of the host cell
and establishes a unique replication niche in the
endoplasmic reticulum. The molecular mechanisms
underlying these processes are still poorly understood.
Recently, a B. abortus type IV-related secretion
system encoded by the virB operon has been
described as being involved in the intracellular
trafficking of the bacteria. In this study, we have
analysed the intracellular pathway of B. abortus
virB10 mutant strains by confocal microscopy. We
demonstrate that a functional virB operon is essential
for the biogenesis of the Brucella-containing vacuole.
Polar mutation preventing the transcription of virB10
and downstream sequences did not allow Brucella to
bypass the endocytic pathway. Consequently, polar
mutant-containing vacuoles fused with lysosomes in
which bacteria underwent a degradation process. In
contrast, virB10 non-polar mutants were capable of
avoiding interactions with the endocytic pathway but,
diverging to wild-type Brucella, were unable to reach
the endoplasmic reticulum to establish their intracellular
replication niche and seemed to be recycled
to the cell surface. Based on the two particular
phenotypes described in this work, a model of maturation
of the Brucella-containing vacuole is proposed.