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Many bacterial pathogens can invade non-phagocytic cells and survive within a membrane-bound vacuole. However, few pathogens are able to escape the vacuoles and proliferate in the host cell cytosol. In this Review, Tang and colleagues discuss the mechanisms by which these pathogens enter the cytosol, obtain nutrients and subvert host immune responses.
The malaria parasite exports an array of proteins while it resides in the erythrocytes of its host. This Review describes the functions of parasite proteins that interact with the erythrocyte membrane skeleton or that promote delivery of the major virulence protein, PfEMP1, to the erythrocyte membrane.
The host cell and intracellular pathogens are in a continuous struggle. Flannagan, Cosío and Grinstein describe the pathway by which the bacteria are taken up, the antimicrobial mechanisms of the host cell and the different ways bacteria evade these mechanisms.
The mammalian intestine is colonized by complex indigenous bacterial communities that establish beneficial symbiotic relationships with their host, making important contributions to host metabolism and digestive efficiency. In this Opinion article, Lora Hooper explores the roles of immune suppression, evasion and subversion in the establishment of these important symbiotic relationships.
The use of microbial fuel cells to generate electrical current is increasingly being seen as a viable source of renewable energy production. In this Progress article, Bruce Logan highlights recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms used by exoelectrogenic bacteria to generate electrical current and the important factors to consider in microbial fuel cell design.
Movies, made possible by the combination of time-lapse microscopy, quantitative image analysis and fluorescent protein reporters, are allowing us to directly observe various cellular components over time in individual cells. As such, movies are providing powerful insights into the behaviour of genetic circuit behaviours in diverse microbial systems.
For diseases that are both rare and lethal, it is difficult to test vaccines. Sullivan and colleagues describe the use of immune correlates and the animal rule for the licensing of Ebola vaccines.