Crua Asensio, NúriaMuñoz Giner, ElisabetSanchez de Groot, NataliaTorrent, Marc2018-06-262018-06-262017Crua Asensio N, Muñoz Giner E, de Groot NS, Torrent Burgas M. Centrality in the host-pathogen interactome is associated with pathogen fitness during infection. Nat Commun. 2017 Jan 16;8:14092. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms140922041-1723http://hdl.handle.net/10230/34969To perform their functions proteins must interact with each other, but how these interactions influence bacterial infection remains elusive. Here we demonstrate that connectivity in the host-pathogen interactome is directly related to pathogen fitness during infection. Using Y. pestis as a model organism, we show that the centrality-lethality rule holds for pathogen fitness during infection but only when the host-pathogen interactome is considered. Our results suggest that the importance of pathogen proteins during infection is directly related to their number of interactions with the host. We also show that pathogen proteins causing an extensive rewiring of the host interactome have a higher impact in pathogen fitness during infection. Hence, we conclude that hubs in the host-pathogen interactome should be explored as promising targets for antimicrobial drug design.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2017. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms14092Bacterial systems biologyPathogensYersinia pestisinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess