Nature Communications (Jun 2021)

The bacterial toxin ExoU requires a host trafficking chaperone for transportation and to induce necrosis

  • Vincent Deruelle,
  • Stéphanie Bouillot,
  • Viviana Job,
  • Emmanuel Taillebourg,
  • Marie-Odile Fauvarque,
  • Ina Attrée,
  • Philippe Huber

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-24337-9
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 14

Abstract

Read online

Phospholipase ExoU from Pseudomonas aeruginosa acts on plasma membrane lipids in infected cells, causing membrane rupture and host cell necrosis. Here, Deruelle et al. show that once injected into the host cytoplasm, ExoU requires a host chaperone found on secretory vesicles to reach the plasma membrane and exerts its phospholipase activity.