National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases 5R21AI185853-02

Structure and functions of a bacterial Type IV effector complex

This NIH grant funds research to characterize the structure, assembly, and functions of a multi-effector protein complex injected by the bacterial pathogen Brucella abortus into host cells. The study aims to understand how these effector proteins coordinate to promote bacterial intracellular survival and virulence, potentially informing new paradigms in bacterial pathogenesis.

Description

Many bacterial diseases are caused by intracellular pathogens that deliver proteins into host cells to remodel them into a niche of survival, replication or persistence. These so-called “effector” proteins act together to promote bacterial virulence, yet how their functions are coordinated in space and time remain elusive. We found that the zoonotic bacterial pathogen Brucella abortus injects into host cells three effector proteins that form an intracellular complex. This proposal aims to characterize the structure, assembly and functions of this unique multi-effector platform and determine whether it allows coordination of effector functions during the Brucella intracellular cycle.

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