Expression of the EspB protein of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli within HeLa cells affects stress fibers and cellular morphology.

ABSTRACT: The EspB protein of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is essential for the signaling events that lead to the accumulation of actin beneath intimately attached bacteria, a process that is known as the attaching and effacing effect. EspB is targeted to the host cell cytoplasm by a type III secretion apparatus. To determine the effect of intracellular EspB on the host cell cytoskeleton, we transfected HeLa cells with a plasmid containing the espB gene under the control of an inducible eukaryotic promoter. A HeLa cell clone that expressed espB mRNA and EspB protein after induction was selected for further study. The expression of EspB in these cells caused a dramatic change in cell morphology and a marked reduction in actin stress fibers. Cells expressing EspB were significantly impaire

SUBMITTER: Taylor KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC96286 | biostudies-literature | 1999 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature