Neutrophil motility is crucial to effective host defenses against microorganisms. While uropod retraction is a critical step in the migration of neutrophils, the underlying molecular mechanism is not well understood. Here, we show that inhibition of the Rho small GTPase with C3 exoenzyme prevented the retraction of trailing uropods, indicating that the process of rear release is mediated by a R...

Treatment of human myeloid leukaemic (HL60) cells with Clostridium limosum exoenzyme, which inactivates the small GTP-binding protein Rho by ADP-ribosylation, decreased the basal F-actin content. Inhibition of F-actin occurred after long-term treatment (24 h) of intact HL60 cells or after introduction of the toxin by electropermeabilization in a toxin-concentration-dependent manner. Concomitant...

The intestinal epithelial barrier, which is regulated by the actin cytoskeleton, exhibits permeability changes during inflammation. Here we show that activation of the CysLT(1) receptor by the inflammatory mediator leukotriene D(4) (LTD(4)) causes a rapid increase in stress-fibre formation in intestinal epithelial cells. This effect was mimicked by cytotoxic necrotising factor-1 (CNF-1)-induced...

Resistance of Staphylococcus aureu8 to benzylpenicillin in clinical practice is usually caused by the production by the bacteria of an inducible penicillinase (EC 3.5.2.6) (Barber, 1962). The penicillinase of induced exponentially growing cultures of S. aureu8 is partitioned between the cells and the culture medium, the exact distribution varying from strain to strain and depending on the growt...

C3 exoenzyme is a mono-ADPribosyltransferase (ART) that catalyzes transfer of an ADP-ribose moiety from NAD to Rho GTPases. C3 has long been used to study the diverse regulatory functions of Rho GTPases. How C3 recognizes its substrate and ADP-ribosylation proceeds are still poorly understood. Crystal structures of C3-RhoA complex reveal that C3 recognizes RhoA via switch I, switch II and inter...

Vibrio vulnificus is an estuarine bacterium capable of causing rapidly fatal infections through both ingestion and wound infection. Like other opportunistic pathogens, V. vulnificus must adapt to potentially stressful environmental changes while living freely in seawater, upon colonization of the oyster gut, and upon infection of such diverse hosts as humans and eels. In order to begin to under...

Candida albicans is frequently detected with heavy infection by Streptococcus mutans in plaque-biofilms from children with early-childhood caries (ECC). This cross-kingdom biofilm contains an extensive matrix of extracellular α-glucans that is produced by an exoenzyme (GtfB) secreted by S. mutans. Here, we report that mannans located on the outer surface of C. albicans cell-wall mediates GtfB b...