Molecular weapons: the type III secretion system
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22201/cuaieed.16076079e.2022.23.4.5Keywords:
Pseudomonas, virulence, bacteria, quorum sensing, RsmA, type III secretion systemAbstract
Most bacteria are beneficial to humans but some of them are able to infect us and cause disease, due to virulence factors. An important virulence factor is the type III secretion system (T3SS) that bacteria use as a molecular weapon that allows them to inject toxins into our cells causing death. One of these bacteria is Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen that can be resistant to multiple antibiotics. Moreover, these bacteria can communicate with each other and coordinate a group behavior by the quorum sensing systems (QS) that activates the production of virulence factors. The T3SS activation depends upon on the ExsA protein that is regulated at transcriptional and translational levels by the QS and Rsm systems, respectively. Since inactivation of the T3SS impairs the virulence of this bacterium, it is important to understand the mechanisms that control its expression, which will allow the design of strategies to avoid its activation and thus assist to the treatment of the infections caused by this microorganism.
References
Azam, M. W., y Khan, A. U. (2019). Updates on the pathogenicity status of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Drug Discovery Today, 24(1), 350-359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drudis.2018.07.003.
Brencic, A., y Lory, S. (2009). Determination of the regulon and identification of novel mRNA targets of Pseudomonas aeruginosa RsmA. Molecular Microbiology, 72(13), 616-632. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2009.06670.x.
Deng, W., Marshall, N. C., Rowland, J. L., McCoy, J. M., Worrall, L. J., Santos, A. S., Strynadka, N. C. J., y Finlay, B. B. (2017). Assembly, structure, function, and regulation of type iii secretion systems. Nature Review Microbiology, 15(6), 323-337. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2017.20.
Dey, S., Chakravarty, A., Guha Biswas, P., y De Guzman, R. N. (2019). The type iii secretion system needle, tip, and translocon. Protein Science, 28(9),1582-1593. https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.3682.
Green, E. R., y Mecsas, J. (2016). Bacterial Secretion Systems: An Overview. Microbiology Spectrum, 4(1), https://doi.org/gf439f.
Hauser, A. R. (2009). The type iii secretion system of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: infection by injection. Nature Review Microbiology, 7(9), 654-665. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2199.
Hogardt, M., Roeder, M., Schreff, A. M., Eberl, L., y Heesemann, J. (2004). Expression of Pseudomonas aeruginosa exoS is controlled by quorum sensing and RpoS. Microbiology (Reading), 150(Pt 4), 843-851. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26703-0.
Marchesi, J. R., Adams, D. H., Fava, F., Hermes, G. D. A., Hirschfield, G. M., Hold, G., Quraishi, M. N., Kinross, J., Smidt, H., Tuohy, K. M., Thomas, L. V., Zoetendal, E., y Hart, A. (2016). The gut microbiota and host health: a new clinical frontier. Gut, 65(2), 330-9. https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309990.
McMackin, E. A. W., Djapgne, L., Corley, J. M., y Yahr, T. L. (2019). Fitting Pieces into the Puzzle of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Type iii Secretion System Gene Expression. Journal Bacteriology, 201(13), e00209-19. https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.00209-19.
Oosthuizen, J. (2013). Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Public Health Image Library, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://phil.cdc.gov/Details.aspx?pid=16876.
Plano, G. V., y Schesser, K. (2013). The Yersinia pestis type iii secretion system: expression, assembly and role in the evasion of host defenses. Immunologic Research, 57(1-3), 237-45. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-013-8454-3.
Rüter, C., Lubos, M. L., Norkowski, S., y Schmidt, M. A. (2019). All in-Multiple parallel strategies for intracellular delivery by bacterial pathogens. International Journal of Medical Microbiology, 308(7), 872-881. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmm.2018.06.007.
Published
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Revista Digital Universitaria es editada por la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México se distribuye bajo una Licencia Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional. Basada en una obra en http://revista.unam.mx/.