Binding of P. aeruginosa (red) increases apical PIP3 (green) and displaces apical proteins (purple).

A bacterium redecorates its host's membrane to make the host cell more hospitable, reveal Kierbel et al. (page 21). By converting the apical plasma membrane into basolateral membrane, Pseudomonas aeruginosa opens up a new cellular entryway for itself.

For unknown reasons, this opportunistic bacterium prefers to enter from the basolateral surface of polarized epithelial cells. A wound provides P. aeruginosa with some access to this surface, but in intact epithelia, tight junctions generally block their paths.

Now, Kierbel and colleagues show that P. aeruginosa makes the best of the available surface. Given access only to the apical side of a cell, the bug converts the membrane around it into a more basolateral environment.

Conversion starts with phospholipid decorations. The basolateral surface is high in PIP3, which P. aeruginosa induces in...

The Rockefeller University Press
2007
The Rockefeller University Press
2007
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