Meningococci drive host membrane tubulation to recruit their signaling receptors
Once passed into the bloodstream, bacterial pathogens have a limited time to interact with permissive receptors at the surface of host cells. Neisseria meningitidis has developed an extremely effective strategy allowing it to find its receptors in a few seconds. Here, we report that N. meningitidis type IV pili exploit the physical properties of host cells' plasma membranes to promote the formation of early tubular membrane structures essential for initial bacterial adhesion. These tubular structures, which form before any signaling events in host cells, concentrate and trap multiple plasma membrane-associated proteins in the vicinity of bacteria, thereby facilitating the selection, interaction and activation of specific adhesion and signaling receptors by bacterial ligands present on type IV pili. Our results define an additional paradigm for the recruitment of specific receptors by pathogenic bacteria, which depends on the physical property of bacterial pili to induce the formation of tubular plasma membrane structures enriched in integral plasma membrane receptors.
Authors
- Kévin Sollier
- Stéfano Marullo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9604-9973)
- Mathieu Coureuil (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7655-9685)
- Eric Rubinstein (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7623-9665)
- Bruno Saubaméa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6218-0460)
- Anne Jamet (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1902-6943)
- Nicolas Borghi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1558-5246)
- Marta Conflitti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0250-2065)
- Tracy Heng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4147-8986)
- Nicolas Goudin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3967-4016)
- Mahmoud Rifai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6012-2890)
- Ludovic Lhermitte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2498-0376)
- Hervé Lécuyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9227-4070)
- Morgane Wuckelt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-6358-1638)
- Audrey Laurent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0291-1532)
- Julie Meyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6144-927X)
- Grégory Lavieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9852-4977)
- Emmanuelle Bille (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9172-0510)
- Virginie Mignon
- Philippe Girard
- Yaëlle Wormser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7997-9425)
Institutions
- Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Padua (IT)
- Inserm (FR)
- Institut Pasteur (FR)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut Necker Enfants Malades (FR)
- Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (FR)
- Sorbonne Paris Cité (FR)
- Assistance Publique – Hôpitaux de Paris (FR)
- Institut Jacques Monod (FR)
- Centre d'Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses (FR)
- Institut Cochin (FR)
- Institut des Maladies Génétiques Imagine (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-25
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65436-1
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial Infections and Vaccines
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique