In spite of our long and painful relationship with Campylobacter jejuni, we are just starting to answer basic questions about the bug that is the leading cause of bacterial food-borne illness in the United States, and one of the most common causes of diarrhea worldwide. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that "campylobacterioisis" strikes 2.4 million Americans a year.

While most sufferers recover after a few unpleasant days, it can be life threatening to those with compromised immune systems. A rare but serious complication of C. jejuni infection is the triggering of the autoimmune disorder, Guillain-Barr paralysis.

Yale researchers now have some answers to one of the most basic puzzles surrounding C. jejuni infections. How could such a large bacteria gain access to human intestinal epithelial cells that do not normally take up particles of such size" And once inside, how does C. jejuni disappear off the conventional endocytic road map"

Robert Watson and Jorge Galan of Yale University School of Medicine report that C. jejuni apparently rolls in on the cells regular endocytic pathway but quickly exits, heading off-road for its own network of intracellular hideouts. These C. jejuni-filled vacuoles make their own way toward the nucleus, taking up strategic positions near the cells transportation hub, the Golgi apparatus.

Previous studies showing C. jejuni gaining intracellular access to intestinal epithelial cells despite its large size suggested to Watson and Galan that the bug had evolved a special mechanism to induce its uptake into these nonphagocytic cells and establish its own intracellular niche. Watson and Galan set out to follow C. jejuni down the host cells endocytic pathway. Much of the cells incoming traffic is usually routed to compartments called lysosomes, where an acidic brew of hydrolase enzymes chews it up. By monitoring endosomal marker proteins, the researchers could watch as C. jejuni infected a ho
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Contact: John Fleischman
jfleischman@ascb.org
513-929-4635
American Society for Cell Biology
12-Dec-2006