The role of mitochondria in Coxiella burnetii infection

Summary . We are interested to characterise how these effector proteins are delivered to the mitochondrion and study how they interact with mitochondrial proteins to allow C. burnetii to replicate within a eukaryotic cell.

Project Details

Some pathogenic bacteria replicate to large numbers inside human cells. This strategy requires that the bacteria manipulate the eukaryotic cell biology to create a replicative niche and evade killing. To achieve this, intracellular bacterial pathogens transport virulence proteins, termed effectors, into the host cytosol. The intracellular bacterial pathogen Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q-fever, delivers a unique cohort of effectors into the host cell.

We have identified a number of the C. burnetii effector proteins that are targeted to mitochondria. We are interested to characterise how these effector proteins are delivered to the mitochondrion and study how they interact with mitochondrial proteins to allow C. burnetii to replicate within a eukaryotic cell. We will do this by employing a range of cell and molecular biology techniques, including tissue culture, microscopy, protein chemistry and proteomics.

Relevant references:

Infection and Immunity (2017) 1;85(5). pii: e01046-16. “A prenylated Coxiella burnetii effector forms a multimeric complex at the mitochondrial outer membrane during infection.” Fielden L., Moffatt J., Kang Y., Baker MJ., Khoo C., Roy C., Stojanovski D., and Newton H.

Cell Tissue Research (2016) 367: 141-154. “Targeting mitochondria: how intravacuolar bacterial pathogens manipulate mitochondria.” Fielden LF., Kang Y., and Newton HJ., Stojanovski D.