Several intracellular bacterial pathogens, including Listeria monocytogenes, Shigella flexerni, and Rickettsia spp. use an actin-based motility process to spread in mammalian cell monolayers. Cell-to-cell spread is mediated by protrusive structures that contain bacteria encased in the host cell plasma membrane. These protrusions, which form in infected host cells, are internalized by neighboring cells. In this review, we summarize key findings on cell-to-cell spread, focusing on recent work on mechanisms of protrusion formation and internalization. We also discuss the dynamic behavior of bacterial populations during spread, and highlight recent findings showing that intercellular spread by an extracellular bacterial pathogen.

几种细胞内细菌病原体，包括单核细胞增生李斯特菌、弗氏志贺菌和立克次氏菌。使用基于肌动蛋白的运动过程在哺乳动物细胞单层中传播。细胞间传播由包含包裹在宿主细胞质膜中的细菌的突出结构介导。这些在受感染宿主细胞中形成的突起被相邻细胞内化。在这篇综述中，我们总结了关于细胞间传播的主要发现，重点是最近关于突起形成和内化机制的研究。我们还讨论了细菌种群在传播过程中的动态行为，并强调了最近的发现，这些发现表明细胞外细菌病原体在细胞间传播。