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Sweet host revenge: Galectins and GBPs join forces at broken membranes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Coers, J
Published in: Cell Microbiol
December 2017

Most bacterial pathogens enter and exit eukaryotic cells during their journey through the vertebrate host. In order to endure inside a eukaryotic cell, bacterial invaders commonly employ bacterial secretion systems to inject host cells with virulence factors that co-opt the host's membrane trafficking systems and thereby establish specialised pathogen-containing vacuoles (PVs) as intracellular niches permissive for microbial growth and survival. To defend against these microbial adversaries hiding inside PVs, host organisms including humans evolved an elaborate cell-intrinsic armoury of antimicrobial weapons that include noxious gases, antimicrobial peptides, degradative enzymes, and pore-forming proteins. This impressive defence machinery needs to be accurately delivered to PVs, in order to fight off vacuole-dwelling pathogens. Here, I discuss recent evidence that the presence of bacterial secretion systems at PVs and the associated destabilisation of PV membranes attract such antimicrobial delivery systems consisting of sugar-binding galectins as well as dynamin-like guanylate-binding proteins (GBPs). I will review recent advances in our understanding of intracellular immune recognition of PVs by galectins and GBPs, discuss how galectins and GBPs control host defence, and highlight important avenues of future research in this exciting area of cell-autonomous immunity.

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Published In

Cell Microbiol

DOI

EISSN

1462-5822

Publication Date

December 2017

Volume

19

Issue

12

Location

India

Related Subject Headings

  • Vacuoles
  • Microbiology
  • Intracellular Membranes
  • Immunologic Factors
  • Humans
  • Galectins
  • GTP-Binding Proteins
  • Bacteria
  • Animals
  • 3107 Microbiology
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Coers, J. (2017). Sweet host revenge: Galectins and GBPs join forces at broken membranes. Cell Microbiol, 19(12). https://doi.org/10.1111/cmi.12793
Coers, Jörn. “Sweet host revenge: Galectins and GBPs join forces at broken membranes.Cell Microbiol 19, no. 12 (December 2017). https://doi.org/10.1111/cmi.12793.
Coers, Jörn. “Sweet host revenge: Galectins and GBPs join forces at broken membranes.Cell Microbiol, vol. 19, no. 12, Dec. 2017. Pubmed, doi:10.1111/cmi.12793.
Journal cover image

Published In

Cell Microbiol

DOI

EISSN

1462-5822

Publication Date

December 2017

Volume

19

Issue

12

Location

India

Related Subject Headings

  • Vacuoles
  • Microbiology
  • Intracellular Membranes
  • Immunologic Factors
  • Humans
  • Galectins
  • GTP-Binding Proteins
  • Bacteria
  • Animals
  • 3107 Microbiology