Arne Rietsch, PhD

My laboratory studies how the bacterial pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes disease. In particular, we are focusing on the type III secretion system that allows P. aeruginosa to deliver protein toxins directly into the cytoplasm of targeted host cells. Secretion is triggered by cell contact. This mode of intoxication is therefore often referred to as contact-dependent secretion.

Our interest in type III secretion centers on triggering of effector secretion by cell contact. We are currently focusing on three aspects of this process.

• Translocator protein secretion: We have discovered that translocator proteins are secreted prior to cell contact at a point in time when effector secretion is off. Current efforts are directed at identifying the translocator signals that direct their export prior to cell contact, as well as the apparatus components that parse these signals.
• Effector secretion is actively prevented prior to cell contact by two sets of proteins PcrG/PcrV and the PopN complex. We recently presented evidence that PcrV controls effector secretion allosterically by assembling at the needle tip and switching the apparatus to the effector secretion ‘off’ conformation. We are currently engaged in defining the role of PcrG (which is cytoplasmic) in this process, as well as integrating control by the PopN complex into our model.
• The mechanism by which cell-contact triggers effector secretion is poorly understood. We have discovered that translocation of effector proteins into certain host-cells is feedback inhibited by the action of the type III effector ExoS. This feedback inhibition specifically affects triggering of effector secretion, not insertion of the translocon. Experiments are underway to probe the structure of the translocon, with the long-range goal of identifying the cue that triggers effector secretion and how this signal is perceived by the T3SS.