Campylobacter jejuni enters gut epithelial cells and impairs intestinal barrier function through cleavage of occludin by serine protease HtrA

In conclusion, HtrA functions as a secreted protease targeting the tight junctions, which enables the bacteria by cleaving occludin and subcellular redistribution of other tight junction proteins to transmigrate using a paracellular mechanism and subsequently invade epithelial cells.
Source: Gut Pathogens - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research