Effector Translocation by the Legionella Dot/Icm Type IV Secretion System

Legionella pneumophila is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for Legionnaires' disease. This bacterium survives and replicates within phagocytes by bypassing their bactericidal activity. Intracellular replication of L. pneumophila requires the Dot/Icm type IV secretion system made of approximately 27 proteins that presumably traverses the bacterial and phagosomal membranes. The perturbation of the host killing ability largely is mediated by the collective functions of the protein substrates injected into host cells via the Dot/Icm transporter. Proper protein translocation by Dot/Icm is determined by a number of factors, including signals recognizable by the translocator, chaperones that may facilitate the proper folding of substrates and transcriptional regulation and protein stability that determine the abundance and temporal transfer of the substrates. Although a large number of Dot/Icm substrates have been identified, investigation to understand the translocation is ongoing. Here we summarized the recent advancements in our understanding of the factors that determine the protein translocation activity of the Dot/Icm transporter.