Science signaling podcast for 16 may 2017: Vibrio rewires host cells

This Podcast features a conversation with Kim Orth and Nicole De Nisco, authors of a Research Resource that appears in the 16 May 2017 issue of Science Signaling, about how the marine bacterium Vibrio parahaemolyticus rewires host cell signaling networks. V. parahaemolyticus thrives in warm brackish waters and infects both shellfish and finfish. This bacterium causes gastroenteritis when humans consume contaminated seafood that is raw or undercooked. V. parahaemolyticus delivers virulence factors into host cells through two different type 3 secretion systems (T3SSes). Whereas T3SS2 mediates gastroenteritis, T3SS1 is required for the bacterium to survive in its natural environment and delivers virulence factors that target conserved cellular processes. De Nisco et al. examined transcriptional changes in human cells infected with a strain of V. parahaemolyticus that lacked T3SS2 but had an intact T3SS1. They found that the virulence factors delivered through T3SS1 initially induced transcriptional changes that promoted cell survival, then later repressed prosurvival signaling to induce cell death.