InterPro domain: IPR008964

Two types of pathogenic Escherichia coli, enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), cause diarrhoeal disease by disrupting the intestinal environment through the intimate attachment of the bacteria to the intestinal epithelium. This process is mediated by intimin, an outer membrane protein that is homologous to the invasins of pathogenic Yersinia. EPEC and EHEC form characteristic lesions on infected mammalian cells called actin pedestals. Each of these two pathogens injects its own translocated intimin receptor (Tir) molecule into the plasma membranes of host cells. Interaction of translocated Tir with the bacterial outer membrane protein intimin is required to trigger the assembly of actin into focused pedestals beneath bound bacteria [ 1 ].

1. Tails of two Tirs: actin pedestal formation by enteropathogenic E. coli and enterohemorrhagic E. coli O157:H7. Curr. Opin. Microbiol. 6, 82-90