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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Nov 1.
Published in final edited form as: FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2014 Sep 29;38(6):1250–1270. doi: 10.1111/1574-6976.12088

Fig. 6. Mechanisms of gut pathogens to colonize the intestinal mucosa and evade epithelial turnover.

Fig. 6

Gut pathogens use a variety of mechanisms to attach to the intestinal epithelium and evade epithelial shedding and turnover. Many pathogens use pili to attach to the epithelium. Many also breach tight junctions to gain access to deeper epithelial layers. Several, such as Shigella, cause cell cycle arrest, thereby delaying epithelial turnover. H. pylori and others obtain similar results by delaying apoptosis. L. monocytogenes and others trigger internalization into epithelial cells and some such as Shigella afterwards force matrix adhesion.