The role of Rab GTPases in the transport of vacuoles containing Legionella pneumophila and Coxiella burnetii

Biochem Soc Trans. 2012 Dec 1;40(6):1353-9. doi: 10.1042/BST20120167.

Abstract

Intracellular pathogens survive in eukaryotic cells by evading a variety of host defences. To avoid degradation through the endocytic pathway, intracellular bacteria must adapt their phagosomes into protective compartments that promote bacterial replication. Legionella pneumophila and Coxiella burnetii are Gram-negative intracellular pathogens that remodel their phagosomes by co-opting components of the host cell, including Rab GTPases. L. pneumophila and C. burnetii are related phylogenetically and share an analogous type IV secretion system for delivering bacterial effectors into the host cell. Some of these effectors mimic eukaryotic biochemical activities to recruit and modify Rabs at the vacuole. In the present review, we cover how these bacterial species, which utilize divergent strategies to establish replicative vacuoles, use translocated proteins to manipulate host Rabs, as well as exploring which Rabs are implicated in vacuolar biogenesis in these two organisms.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Autophagy
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Bacterial Proteins / physiology
  • Biological Transport
  • Coxiella burnetii / physiology*
  • Host-Pathogen Interactions
  • Humans
  • Legionella pneumophila / physiology*
  • Legionnaires' Disease / microbiology
  • Q Fever / microbiology
  • Secretory Pathway
  • Vacuoles / enzymology*
  • Vacuoles / microbiology
  • rab GTP-Binding Proteins / physiology*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • rab GTP-Binding Proteins