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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2005, p. 2881-2889, Vol. 187, No. 8
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.8.2881-2889.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Polarity of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli EspA Filament Assembly and Protein Secretion

Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Imperial College London, London,¹ Institute of Child Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom²

Received 22 November 2004/ Accepted 3 January 2005

Type III secretion systems (TTSS) are sophisticated macromolecular structures that play an imperative role in bacterial infections and human disease. The TTSS needle complex is conserved among bacterial pathogens and shows broad similarity to the flagellar basal body. However, the TTSS of enteropathogenic and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, two important human enteric pathogens, is unique in that it has a 12-nm-diameter filamentous extension to the needle that is composed of the secreted translocator protein EspA. EspA filaments and flagellar structures have very similar helical symmetry parameters. In this study we investigated EspA filament assembly and the delivery of effector proteins across the bacterial cell wall. We show that EspA filaments are elongated by addition of EspA subunits to the tip of the growing filament. Moreover, EspA filament length is modulated by the availability of intracellular EspA subunits. Finally, we provide direct evidence that EspA filaments are hollow conduits through which effector proteins are delivered to the extremity of the bacterial cell (and subsequently into the host cell).

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