Mechanism of transmembrane delivery by bacterial nano-syringes (IMAGE)
Caption
This schematic illustrates the complete mechanical process of a bacteria-derived contractile injection system delivering engineered protein payloads directly into the cytosol. In the extracellular space, the system first achieves precise docking by binding its tail fibers to specific receptors on the host cell membrane; this interaction subsequently triggers the injection action, wherein the rapid contraction of the outer sheath (indicated by the downward arrow) drives a rigid, hollow inner tube to physically pierce the lipid bilayer. Finally, the ordered proteins initially packed within the tube are forcibly injected into the cytosol, where they emerge as functional delivered protein payloads, thereby achieving highly efficient, single-step intracellular delivery that completely bypasses the endosomal-lysosomal pathway.
Credit
Maosong Yang, Jiheng Wang, Chang Chen&Yang Liu
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Credit must be given to the creator. Only noncommercial uses of the work are permitted.
License
CC BY-NC