Pathogenic bacteria for human and animals have developed sophisticated weapons, termed virulence factors, to ensure their replication and persistence into their hosts. The authors in this volume show a synthesis on how the various host cellular Rho GTPases activities are manipulated by bacteria to fulfil their virulence.

Pathogenic bacteria for human and animals have developed sophisticated weapons, termed virulence factors, to ensure their replication and persistence into their hosts. The authors in this volume show a synthesis on how the various host cellular Rho GTPases activities are manipulated by bacteria to fulfil their virulence.

The Comprehensive Sourcebook of Bacterial Protein Toxins, Fourth Edition, contains chapters written by internationally known and well-respected specialists. This book contains chapters devoted to individual toxins, as well as chapters that consider the different applications of these toxins. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the structure, function, interaction and trafficking into cells, as well as mechanism of action of toxins. Bacterial toxins are involved in the pathogenesis of many bacteria, some of which are responsible for severe diseases in human and animals, but can also be used as tools in cell biology to dissect cellular processes or used as therapeutic agents. Novel recombinant toxins are already proposed in the treatment of some diseases, as well as new vaccines. Alternatively, certain toxins are also considered as biological weapons or bioterrorism threats. Given the multifaceted aspects of toxin research and the multidisciplinary approaches adopted, toxins are of great interest in many scientific areas from microbiology, virology, cell biology to biochemistry and protein structure. This new edition is written with a multidisciplinary audience in mind and contains 5 new chapters that reflect the latest research in this area. Other chapters have been combined, deleted and fully revised as necessary to deliver relevant and valuable content. - Descriptions of relevant toxins as well as representative toxins of the main bacterial toxin families to allow for a better comparison between them - Focused chapters on toxin applications and common properties or general features of toxins

Rho GTPases control many aspects of cell physiology. This includes polarity, endo/exocytosis, adhesion, motility, transcriptional activation, cell cycle progression or apoptosis. In view of such pleiotropic activities, Rho-controlled signaling has proven to be of medical relevance, especially in tumorigenesis, disease-associated bone remodeling and infectiology.This book is divided into three parts. Part 1 gives an evolutionary perspective of the Rho family, its atypical members, and an overview of how Rho activity is regulated. Part 2 addresses two important aspects of multicellularity controlled by Rho-dependent pathways, namely, cell-cell interactions and mechanotransduction. It also describes how post-translational modifications control Rho activity and how this is exploited by pathogenic bacteria. Part 3 explores several examples of the variety of pathophysiological processes controlled by Rho signaling, and gives a successful example of translational research, from the inhibition of Rho activation to the development of new molecules against osteoporosis.This updated review on the biology of Rho GTPases is an essential read for molecular and cell biologists. It is also an invaluable guide to post-graduate and medical students who wish to deepen their knowledge in cell biology.

Bacterial Pathogens and their Virulence Factors contains a detailed description of 32 major bacterial pathogens that affect human health and their associated virulence determinants. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the different types and classes of general virulence factors involved in host cell adherence and invasion, dissemination within the host, host cell damage, and evasion of host defense systems, as well as mechanisms by which these virulence factors are regulated. Chapters 2 through 33 give concise descriptions of the disease states associated with the 32 bacterial genera and their major pathogenic species, along with an in-depth description of the individual virulence factors that have been found to be functionally involved in pathogenicity. A detailed bibliography derived from primary literature and review articles accompanies each of these chapters, allowing the reader to delve more deeply into individual pathogens and their virulence determinants. Chapter 34 discusses the exciting possibilities and initial successes of using detailed information on a pathogen’s virulence toolkit to design new therapeutics aimed at specific virulence traits.

Most studies of bacterial or fungal infectious diseases focus separately on the pathogenic microbe, the host response, or the characterization of therapeutic compounds. Compartmentalization of pathogenesis-related research into an analysis of the “pathogen”, the “host,” or the “antimicrobial compound” has largely been dictated by the lack of model systems in which all of these approaches can be used simultaneously, as well as by the traditional view that microbiology, immunology, and chemical biology and pharmacology are separate disciplines. An increasing number of workers from different fields have turned to insects, fish, worms and other model hosts as facile, ethically expedient, relatively simple, and inexpensive hosts to model a variety of human infectious diseases and to study host responses and innate immunity. Because many of these hosts are genetically tractable, they can be used in conjunction with an appropriate pathogen to facilitate the discovery of novel features of the host innate immune response. This book provides a series of reports from the 1st International Conference on Model Hosts. This first of its kind meeting focused on invertebrate, vertebrate and amoeboid systems used for the study of host-pathogen interactions, virulence and immunity, as well as on the relevance of these pathogenesis systems and mammalian models. Importantly, a common, fundamental set of molecular mechanisms is employed by a significant number of microbial pathogens against a widely divergent array of metazoan hosts. Moreover, the evolutionarily conserved immune responses of these model hosts have contributed important insights to our understanding of the innate immune response of mammals. This book provides a series of reports from the 1st International Conference on Model Hosts. This first of its kind meeting focused on invertebrate, vertebrate and amoeboid systems used for the study of host-pathogen interactions, virulence and immunity, as well as on the relevance of these pathogenesis systems and mammalian models. Importantly, a common, fundamental set of molecular mechanisms is employed by a significant number of microbial pathogens against a widely divergent array of metazoan hosts. Moreover, the evolutionarily conserved immune responses of these model hosts have contributed important insights to our understanding of the innate immune response of mammals.

This volume describes the mechanisms which bacteria have created to secure their survival, proliferation and dissemination by subverting the actin cytoskeleton of host cells. Bacteria have developed a veritable arsenal of toxins, effector proteins and virulence factors that allow them to modify the properties of the intracellular actin cytoskeleton for their own purposes. Bacterial factors either modify actin directly as the main component of this part of the cytoskeleton or functionally subvert regulatory or signalling proteins terminating at the actin cytoskeleton. In short, this volume provides an overview of the various tricks bacteria have evolved to “act on actin” in order to hijack this essential host cell component for their own needs. As such, it will be of interest to scientists from many fields, as well as clinicians whose work involves infectious diseases.

An emerging theme in molecular and cellular microbiology has been the ability of many pathogens to usurp the host cell and eventually colonize the host. This interaction between bacteria and host is not unidirectional - both pathogens and host cells engage in a signalling cross-talk. Research focused on this cross-talk and discussed in this volume, reveals not only novel aspects of bacterial pathogenesis, but also key information about epithelial biology with broader implications in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. Written by leading researchers in this field, this book provides a valuable overview of the host-bacterial interactions that occur at mucosal surfaces including the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urogenital tracts. It will therefore be a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers working on these systems or in the fields of molecular and cellular microbiology or infectious disease medicine.