Sanchez de Groot, NataliaTorrent Burgas, Marc2021-03-232021-03-232020Sanchez de Groot N, Torrent Burgas M. Bacteria use structural imperfect mimicry to hijack the host interactome. PLoS Comput Biol. 2020 Dec 4; 16(12): e1008395. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.10083951553-734Xhttp://hdl.handle.net/10230/46909Bacteria use protein-protein interactions to infect their hosts and hijack fundamental pathways, which ensures their survival and proliferation. Hence, the infectious capacity of the pathogen is closely related to its ability to interact with host proteins. Here, we show that hubs in the host-pathogen interactome are isolated in the pathogen network by adapting the geometry of the interacting interfaces. An imperfect mimicry of the eukaryotic interfaces allows pathogen proteins to actively bind to the host's target while preventing deleterious effects on the pathogen interactome. Understanding how bacteria recognize eukaryotic proteins may pave the way for the rational design of new antibiotic molecules.application/pdfeng© 2020 de Groot, Burgas. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are creditedBacterisProteïnesProteïnes -- PathogensMalalties bacterianesinfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008395info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess