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Science 4 August 2000:
Vol. 289. no. 5480, pp. 732 - 733
DOI: 10.1126/science.289.5480.732
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Perspectives

CELL BIOLOGY:
Bacterial Spelunkers

Matthew A. Mulvey and Scott J. Hultgren

Bacteria that are engulfed by phagocytic cells of the immune system are usually destroyed once inside the host cell but not always. Why is it that sometimes engulfed bacteria survive and thrive quite happily inside the host cell? As Mulvey and Hultgren explain in their Perspective, the answer may lie in small indentations in the host cell plasma membrane called caveolae that direct certain signal transduction pathways inside the host cell (Shin et al.). If bacteria adhere to regions of the host cell surface that is rich in caveolae, they are better able to survive once inside the cell.

The authors are in the Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110-1093, USA. E-mail: mulvey{at}borcim.wustl.edu

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Caveolin-1 Confers Antiinflammatory Effects in Murine Macrophages via the MKK3/p38 MAPK Pathway.
X. M. Wang, H. P. Kim, R. Song, and A. M. K. Choi (2006)
Am. J. Respir. Cell Mol. Biol. 34, 434-442
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Blockade of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Expression by Caveolin-1.
M. Llano, T. Kelly, M. Vanegas, M. Peretz, T. E. Peterson, R. D. Simari, and E. M. Poeschla (2002)
J. Virol. 76, 9152-9164
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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