Trojan Horse Strategies Used by Pathogens to Influence the Small Ubiquitin-Like Modifier (SUMO) System of Host Eukaryotic Cells

A remarkable feature of pathogenic organisms is their ability to utilize the cellular machinery of host cells to their advantage in facilitating their survival and propagation. Posttranslational modification of proteins offers a quick way to achieve changes in the localization, binding partners or functions of a target protein. It is no surprise then that pathogens have evolved multiple ways to interfere with host posttranslational modifications and hijack them for their own purposes. Recently, modification of proteins by small ubiquitin-like modifier has emerged as an important posttranslational modification regulating transcription, DNA repair and cell division, and literature has started to emerge documenting how it could be utilized by pathogenic bacteria and viruses during infection. In this brief review, we focus on the host small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO) system and how disease causing agents influence SUMO conjugation and deconjugation, highlighting the common theme of global hypoSUMOylation upon infection by pathogens.