Invasion of Epithelial Cells by Bacterial Pathogens

A necessary step in the successful colonization and production of disease by microbial pathogens is their ability to persist in the host. Pathogenic bacteria have achieved this goal by developing mechanisms to adhere to mucosal surfaces or, going even further, by entering into and surviving within eukaryotic cells. Shigella is a well-studied example of a facultative intracellular bacterium that is able to enter into non-professional phagocytes and disseminate in the infected tissue. Thus, Shigella infection can be used as a model system to study the complex interplay between host and pathogen that occurs during the process of disease. In this review, we will discuss how the unraveling of the molecular mechanisms underlying this lifestyle can help to understand and combat the disease caused by this pathogen and provide insights into basic host cell functions that are exploited by the bacterium.