The actin cytoskeleton and Rho GTPase signaling to actin assembly are prime targets of bacterial and viral pathogens, simply because actin is involved in all motile and membrane remodeling processes, such as phagocytosis, macropinocytosis, endocytosis, exocytosis, vesicular trafficking and membrane fusion events, motility, and last but not least, autophagy. This article aims at providing an overview of the most prominent pathogen-induced or -hijacked actin structures, and an outlook on how future research might uncover additional, equally sophisticated interactions.
Keywords: actin dynamics; bacterial invasion; host-pathogen interaction; viral entry; virulence factors.
© 2018 The Authors. FEBS Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.