SepZ/EspZ is secreted and translocated into HeLa cells by the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli type III secretion system.

ABSTRACT: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major bacterial cause of infantile diarrhea in developing countries and is the prototype for a group of gastrointestinal pathogens causing characteristic attaching and effacing (A/E) histopathology on intestinal epithelia. A/E pathogens utilize a type III secretion system (TTSS), encoded by the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE) pathogenicity island, to deliver effector proteins into host cells. Here, we investigate sequence divergence of the LEE-encoded SepZ protein and identify it as a TTSS-secreted and -translocated molecule. SepZ is hypervariable among A/E pathogens, with sequences sharing between 60 to 81% amino acid identity with SepZ of EPEC. A SepZ-CyaA fusion was secreted and translocated into HeLa cells in a TTSS-dependent manner. A

SUBMITTER: Kanack KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1168560 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature