HeLa cell infected with Salmonella Typhimurium

NIAID Scientists Find Second Wave of Salmonella Syringe Activity in Intestinal Cells

NIAID scientists studying how Salmonella interacts with human cells have found a new way that this bacterial pathogen can postpone death of infected cells. Salmonella invade epithelial cells, such as those lining the intestine, by using a molecular syringe to inject bacterial proteins into the host cell. Now, they have identified an additional function for this syringe inside host cells by studying the activity of a bacterial protein, SopB. This protein targets Akt, a crucial controller of cell survival that is implicated in many different types of cancer. This discovery of a “second wave” of syringe activity inside host cells has important implications for how Salmonella causes disease. Additionally, because Salmonella is considered a potential platform for cancer therapeutics and vaccines, the findings could accelerate development in those areas.