Work

A quantitative interactome map reveals affinity tailored hijacking of human cellular functions by resident and pathogenic bacteria

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Bacteria employ molecular mimicry to hijack host cellular functions for their own benefit. Despite the wealth of data mapping human-bacteria interactions, a comprehensive view of how these networks are fine-tuned remains elusive. In particular, there have been no large-scale screenings measuring human-bacterial protein-protein binding affinities to explore their role in functional and pathological outcomes. Here, we report the largest quantitative interactome to date between the family of human PDZ domains and C-terminal PDZ-binding motifs (PBMs) in effectors from pathogenic and resident gut bacteria. We show that bacteria tailor effector sequences to bind PDZ domains with similar or higher binding affinities than human PBMs to hijack their associated cellular functions. For a subset of the dataset, we validate PDZ-PBM interactions with the corresponding full-length proteins and show that for pathogenic E. coli effector NleA, its C-terminal PBM is necessary for interactions with proteins involved in intracellular transport and membrane organization, probably impacting the host glycocalyx to favor infection. Finally, we show that motifs overlapping with effector PBMs target interaction modules other than PDZ domains, adding an additional layer of complexity to the host-microbe molecular dialogue.

Source: bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)

DOI: 10.64898/2026.10.02.755967