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Structural Aspects of Adhesion to and Invasion of Host Cells by the Human Pathogen Listeria monocytogenes
Author(s) -
Schubert WolfDieter,
Heinz Dirk W.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
chembiochem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.05
H-Index - 126
eISSN - 1439-7633
pISSN - 1439-4227
DOI - 10.1002/cbic.200300624
Subject(s) - listeria monocytogenes , microbiology and biotechnology , pathogen , listeria , biology , bacteria , cadherin , host (biology) , fimbria , cell , virulence , biochemistry , gene , genetics
Molecular Infection. Listeria monocytogenes , a widespread contaminant of processed food, infects both humans and other mammals by the oral route. The first dedicated step of the infection process is the recognition of human E‐cadherin (purple) by the listerial protein internalin (InlA, yellow‐green). The bacterium thereby adheres to the epithelial lining of the intestine. It then induces its own uptake into the host cells, where it finds ideal conditions to multiply and spread to neighboring cells. The affinity of InlA for E‐cadherin, controlled by Ca 2+ (orange sphere), is fine‐tuned to allow complex formation in the intestinal lumen and dissociation when uptake has occurred to release the bacterium into the epithelial cell.