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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Intracellular bacterial pathogens are a highly diverse and medically relevant group of pathogens. Replication within host cells occurs through hijack and evasion of highly evolved degradative and cell-autonomous host cell pathways. Intracellular bacterial pathogens have evolved to replicate within specialized membrane-bound compartments or within the host cell cytosol. Pathogen-encoded virulence factors, such as secreted proteins, translocated effectors, and cell surface macromolecules permit evasion of host cell defenses and replication within host cells. Studies of virulence factors from intracellular pathogens have provided insight into potential antivirulence therapeutics, host cell biology, and cell autonomous defenses.

This Special Issue of Pathogens is focused on strategies used by intracellular bacterial pathogens to replicate within host cells. We invite you to submit primary research articles, review articles, or commentaries related to the broad scope of intracellular bacterial pathogen virulence strategies, virulence factor function, and the challenges of treating infection. This issue will complement the current literature on intracellular bacterial pathogens and their diverse virulence strategies.

We look forward to your contribution.

Dr. Stephanie Shames
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

pathogenicity
intracellular bacteria
virulence
infection
virulence factors

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

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7 pages, 844 KiB

Open AccessReview

Affecting the Effectors: Regulation of Legionella pneumophila Effector Function by Metaeffectors

by Ashley M. Joseph and Stephanie R. Shames

Pathogens 2021, 10(2), 108; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10020108 - 22 Jan 2021

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 2713

Abstract

Many bacterial pathogens utilize translocated virulence factors called effectors to successfully infect their host. Within the host cell, effector proteins facilitate pathogen replication through subversion of host cell targets and processes. Legionella pneumophila is a Gram-negative intracellular bacterial pathogen that relies on hundreds of translocated effectors to replicate within host phagocytes. Within this large arsenal of translocated effectors is a unique subset of effectors called metaeffectors, which target and regulate other effectors. At least one dozen metaeffectors are encoded by L. pneumophila; however, mechanisms by which they promote virulence are largely unknown. This review details current knowledge of L pneumophila metaeffector function, challenges associated with their identification, and potential avenues to reveal the contribution of metaeffectors to bacterial pathogenesis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens and Virulence)

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Other

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11 pages, 830 KiB

Open AccessOpinion

Challenges in Drug Discovery for Intracellular Bacteria

by Allison N. Tucker, Travis J. Carlson and Aurijit Sarkar

Pathogens 2021, 10(9), 1172; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/pathogens10091172 - 11 Sep 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3099

Abstract

Novel drugs are needed to treat a variety of persistent diseases caused by intracellular bacterial pathogens. Virulence pathways enable many functions required for the survival of these pathogens, including invasion, nutrient acquisition, and immune evasion. Inhibition of virulence pathways is an established route for drug discovery; however, many challenges remain. Here, we propose the biggest problems that must be solved to advance the field meaningfully. While it is established that we do not yet understand the nature of chemicals capable of permeating into the bacterial cell, this problem is compounded when targeting intracellular bacteria because we are limited to only those chemicals that can permeate through both human and bacterial outer envelopes. Unfortunately, many chemicals that permeate through the outer layers of mammalian cells fail to penetrate the bacterial cytoplasm. Another challenge is the lack of publicly available information on virulence factors. It is virtually impossible to know which virulence factors are clinically relevant and have broad cross-species and cross-strain distribution. In other words, we have yet to identify the best drug targets. Yes, standard genomics databases have much of the information necessary for short-term studies, but the connections with patient outcomes are yet to be established. Without comprehensive data on matters such as these, it is difficult to devise broad-spectrum, effective anti-virulence agents. Furthermore, anti-virulence drug discovery is hindered by the current state of technologies available for experimental investigation. Antimicrobial drug discovery was greatly advanced by the establishment and standardization of broth microdilution assays to measure the effectiveness of antimicrobials. However, the currently available models used for anti-virulence drug discovery are too broad, as they must address varied phenotypes, and too expensive to be generally adopted by many research groups. Therefore, we believe drug discovery against intracellular bacterial pathogens can be advanced significantly by overcoming the above hurdles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Intracellular Bacterial Pathogens and Virulence)

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