Delivery of Virulence Factors by Bacterial Membrane Vesicles to Mammalian Host Cells

Abstract

Bacterial membrane vesicles represent a universal secretion mechanism enabling both Gram-negative and Gram-positive organisms to transfer cargo to eukaryotic cells, as well as to other bacterial cells. Bacterial vesicles can deliver to target cells an extremely wide range of virulence factors, including exotoxins, lipids, nucleic acids, and small molecules. Although there has been extensive research to decipher the mechanisms regulating cellular uptake of Gram-negative bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), much less is known about the cellular uptake of Gram-positive bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs). This chapter focuses on a selection of major bacterial pathogens and summarizes the present knowledge of OMV and MV-mediated virulence factor delivery, as well as mechanisms of bacterial vesicle–host cell interaction and uptake by mammalian cells.