Current Issues in Molecular Biology, Volume 25, Issue 1

In this review we examine the use of secretion systems by bacteria to subvert host functions. Bacteria have evolved multiple systems to interact with and overcome their eukaryotic host and other prokaryotes. Secretion systems are required for the rel...

Following colonization of host tissues, bacterial pathogens encounter new niches in which they must gain access to nutrients and cope with stresses and defence signals generated by the host. For some pathogens, the adaptation to a new 'within-host' l...

Macrophages represent one of the first lines of host immune defences against the invasion of pathogenic bacteria. Many receptors, immune signalling pathways and cellular processes in macrophages, including Toll-like receptors, Nod-like receptors, pha...

Autophagy is a highly conserved catabolic process, degrading unnecessary or damaged components in the eukaryotic cell to maintain cellular homeostasis, but it is also an intrinsic cellular defence mechanism to remove invading pathogens. A cross-talk...

Inflammasomes are multiprotein platforms assembled in the cytosol in response to pathogens and cell stress. Inflammasomes are recognized by their important role on defences against bacterial infections and have been also implicated in a range of huma...

Human and animal pathogens are able to circumvent, at least temporarily, the sophisticated immune defences of their hosts. Several serovars of the Gram-negative bacterium Salmonella enterica have been used as models for the study of pathogen–host int...

Mycobacteria are intracellular pathogens that have macrophages as their main host cells. However, macrophages are also the primary line of defence against invading microorganisms. To survive in the intracellular compartment, virulent mycobacteria hav...

Plant pathogenic bacteria are responsible for the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars each year, impacting a wide range of economically relevant agricultural crops. The plant immune system detects conserved bacterial molecules and deploys an arse...