Bacterial effectors targeting the host ubiquitin system
- 1Institute for Genetics, University of Cologne, Zülpicher Straße 47a, D-50674 Cologne, Germany
Abstract
Intracellular bacteria are largely shielded from humoral immunity but remain vulnerable to cell-autonomous defense mechanisms, many of which depend on the ubiquitin system. To evade autophagy and lysosomal targeting, numerous bacteria have evolved secreted effectors that disrupt or manipulate the host ubiquitin machinery to their advantage. Bacterial deubiquitinases can protect bacterial surfaces or their enclosing vacuoles from ubiquitin coating and interfere with host inflammatory and cell death pathways. Conversely, bacterial ubiquitin ligases may induce the degradation of host proteins, engaging in an evolutionary arms race with host ligases. In addition, ubiquitin-modifying and ubiquitin-crosslinking effectors can disable major host defense signaling pathways. In the present overview, we summarize currently known ubiquitin-directed effectors, their targets, and their roles in bacteria–host interaction.
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BibTeX
@article{eschger2026bacterial,
title = {{Bacterial effectors targeting the host ubiquitin system}},
author = {Paula Eschger and Thomas Hermanns and Kay Hofmann},
journal = {Biochemical Society Transactions},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1042/bst20260089},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1042/bst20260089},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bacterial effectors targeting the host ubiquitin system
AU - Paula Eschger
AU - Thomas Hermanns
AU - Kay Hofmann
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/29
JO - Biochemical Society Transactions
DO - 10.1042/bst20260089
UR - https://doi.org/10.1042/bst20260089
AB - Intracellular bacteria are largely shielded from humoral immunity but remain vulnerable to cell-autonomous defense mechanisms, many of which depend on the ubiquitin system. To evade autophagy and lysosomal targeting, numerous bacteria have evolved secreted effectors that disrupt or manipulate the host ubiquitin machinery to their advantage. Bacterial deubiquitinases can protect bacterial surfaces or their enclosing vacuoles from ubiquitin coating and interfere with host inflammatory and cell death pathways. Conversely, bacterial ubiquitin ligases may induce the degradation of host proteins, engaging in an evolutionary arms race with host ligases. In addition, ubiquitin-modifying and ubiquitin-crosslinking effectors can disable major host defense signaling pathways. In the present overview, we summarize currently known ubiquitin-directed effectors, their targets, and their roles in bacteria–host interaction.
SN - 0300-5127
SN - 1470-8752
ER -