Characterization of c-Src during Listeria monocytogenes cell-to-cell spreading.

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Listeria monocytogenes replicates within host cells and spreads from cell-to-cell using actin-based motility. Cell-to-cell movement of L. monocytogenes is achieved by creating actin-rich membrane protrusions (listeriopods), which generate corresponding invaginations in adjacent cells through caveolin-mediated endocytosis. We show that c-Src, a multifunctional tyrosine kinase, is enriched at invaginations and is crucial for efficient cell-to-cell spreading of the bacteria as cells expressing c-Src mutants that were either constitutively active or those that impeded the function of c-Src resulted in significantly more (or less) cell-to-cell spreading. This work demonstrates the importance of c-Src in influencing L. monocytogenes' ability to spread intercellularly.