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Structural mimicry in bacterial virulence

Nature volume 412, pages 701–705 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

An important mechanism underlying the strategies used by microbial pathogens to manipulate cellular functions is that of functional mimicry of host activities. In some cases, mimicry is achieved through virulence factors that are direct homologues of host proteins. In others, convergent evolution has produced new effectors that, although having no obvious amino-acid sequence similarity to host factors, are revealed by structural studies to display mimicry at the molecular level.

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Figure 1: Host mimicry in the interaction of pathogenic bacteria with host cells.
Figure 2: Construction of a virulence factor by different evolutionary pathways.
Figure 3: The integrin-binding region of invasin mimics the host integrin ligand, fibronectin.

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Acknowledgements

C.E.S. was supported by a fellowship of the Cancer Research Fund of the Damon Runyon–Walter Winchell Foundation. This work was supported by Public Health Services grants to J.E.G.

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  1. Section of Microbial Pathogenesis, Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, 06536, Connecticut, USA

    C. Erec Stebbins & Jorge E. Galán

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Correspondence to Jorge E. Galán.

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Stebbins, C., Galán, J. Structural mimicry in bacterial virulence. Nature 412, 701–705 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35089000

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