Cellular Prion Protein Promotes Brucella Infection into Macrophages

Absence of evidence for the participation of the macrophage cellular prion protein in infection with Brucella suis.

Brucella spp. are stealthy bacteria that enter host cells without major perturbation. The molecular mechanism involved is still poorly understood, although numerous studies have been published on this subject. Recently, it was reported that Brucella abortus utilizes cellular prion protein (PrP(C)) to enter the cells and to reach its replicative niche. The molecular mechanisms involved were not ...

Dangerous Liaisons between a Microbe and the Prion Protein

Aren’t bugs a source of continuous amazement? Consider, for example, how cunningly bacteria conspire to shanghai the molecular machines of their mammalian hosts for their own goals. Besides serving the bugs, this evil intelligence is exploitable for studying cellular physiology, and the bewildering affinity of bacterial toxins for crucial host cell proteins has taught us many a thing on how cel...

Brucella suis Infection with of the Macrophage Cellular Prion Protein in Absence of Evidence for the Participation

Cutting Edge: Brucella abortus exploits a cellular prion protein on intestinal M cells as an invasive receptor.

Brucella abortus is a Gram-negative bacterium causing brucellosis. Although B. abortus is known to infect via the oral route, the entry site in the gastrointestinal tract has been unclear. We found that B. abortus was selectively internalized by microfold cells (M cells), a subset of epithelial cells specialized for mucosal Ag uptake. During this process, colocalization of cellular prion protei...

Commentary: A bacterial global regulator forms a prion

The recently reported identification, within the transcription terminator Rho of Clostridium botulinum (Cb-Rho), of a prion-like domain functionally similar to that of a yeast prion-forming protein, along with the amyloidogenicity conferred by it on Cb-Rho, represent findings of extraordinary scientific relevance (Yuan and Hochschild, 2017). In this respect, another recent study has shown that ...