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The mammalian protein vinculin is often a target of bacterial pathogens to subvert locally host cell actin dynamics. In Chlamydia infection, vinculin has been implicated in RNA interference screens, but the molecular basis for vinculin requirement has not been characterized. In this report, we show that vinculin was involved in the actin recruitment and F-actin assembly at the plasma membrane to facilitate invasion. Vinculin was recruited to the plasma membrane via its interaction with a specific tripartite motif within TarP that resembles the vinculin-binding domain (VBD) found in the Shigella invasion factor IpaA. The TarP-mediated plasma membrane recruitment of vinculin resulted in the localized recruitment of actin. In vitro pulldown assays for protein-protein interaction and imaging-based evaluation of recruitment to the plasma membrane demonstrated the essential role of the vinculin-binding site 1 (VBS1), and the dispensability of VBS2 and VBS3. As further support for the functionality of VBD-vinculin interaction, VBD-mediated actin recruitment required vinculin. Interestingly, while both vinculin and the focal adhesion kinase (FAK) colocalized at the sites of adhesion, the recruitment of one was independent of the other; and the actin recruitment function of the VBD/vinculin signaling axis was independent of the LD/FAK pathway.

The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia penetrates the host epithelial cell by inducing cytoskeleton and membrane rearrangements reminiscent of phagocytosis. Here we report that Chlamydia induces a sharp and transient activation of the endogenous small GTP-binding protein ARF6, which is required for efficient uptake. We also show that a downstream effector of ARF6, phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase and its product, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate were instrumental for bacterial entry. By contrast, ARF6 activation of phospholipase D was not required for Chlamydia uptake. ARF6 activation was necessary for extensive actin reorganization at the invasion sites. Remarkably, these signalling players gathered with F-actin in a highly organized three-dimensional concentric calyx-like protrusion around invasive bacteria. These results indicate that ARF6, which controls membrane delivery during phagocytosis of red blood cells in macrophages, has a different role in the entry of this small bacterium, controlling cytoskeletal reorganization.

The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis rapidly induces its own entry into host cells. Initial attachment is mediated by electrostatic interactions to heparan sulfate moieties on the host cell, followed by irreversible binding to an unknown secondary receptor. This secondary binding leads to the recruitment of actin to the site of attachment, formation of an actin-rich, pedestal-like structure, and finally internalization of the bacteria. How chlamydiae induce this process is unknown. We have identified a high-molecular-mass tyrosine-phosphorylated protein that is rapidly phosphorylated on attachment to the host cell. Immunoelectron microscopy studies revealed that this tyrosine-phosphorylated protein is localized to the cytoplasmic face of the plasma membrane at the site of attachment of surface-associated chlamydiae. The phosphoprotein was isolated by immunoprecipitation with the antiphosphotyrosine antibody 4G10 and identified as the chlamydial protein CT456, a hypothetical protein with unknown function. The chlamydial protein (Tarp) appears to be translocated into the host cell by type III secretion because it is exported in a Yersinia heterologous expression assay. Phosphotyrosine signaling across the plasma membrane preceded the recruitment of actin to the site of chlamydial attachment and may represent the initial signal transduced from pathogen to the host cell. These results suggest that C. trachomatis internalization is mediated by a chlamydial type III-secreted effector protein.