Small GTPases promote actin coat formation on microsporidian pathogens traversing the apical membrane of Caenorhabditis elegans intestinal cells.

ABSTRACT: Many intracellular pathogens co-opt actin in host cells, but little is known about these interactions in vivo. We study the in vivo trafficking and exit of the microsporidian Nematocida parisii, which is an intracellular pathogen that infects intestinal cells of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. We recently demonstrated that N. parisii uses directional exocytosis to escape out of intestinal cells into the intestinal tract. Here, we show that an intestinal-specific isoform of C. elegans actin called ACT-5 forms coats around membrane compartments that contain single exocytosing spores, and that these coats appear to form after fusion with the apical membrane. We performed a genetic screen for host factors required for actin coat formation and identified small GTPases important for this pr

SUBMITTER: Szumowski SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5522806 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature