Pathogen control of the cellular cytoskeleton : invasion and motility

The first lecture reviewed the history of the work that has shown that certain bacterial toxins, particularly (but not exclusively) from Clostridium , interfere with the dynamics of actin nucleation and polymerization. This work has also led to the discovery of the fundamental role of small GTPases of the Rho family as molecular switches of the major steps in actin dynamics, since these molecules (Rho, Rac and Cdc42) are the preferred targets of post-translational modifications by these toxins. What is commonly referred to as cellular microbiology has largely developed at the interface of microbial toxinology and cell biology. Since this pioneering work in the 1980s, the field of investigation has expanded considerably, and it has been shown that many pathogenic bacteria are capable of altering the cellular cytoskeleton, for example, when they need to enter the cell, or interfere with cell adhesion. New effectors secreted or injected into cells by dedicated secretion systems are regularly identified.