Meningococci drive host membrane tubulation to recruit their signaling receptors

Audrey Laurent-Granger, Kévin Sollier, Bruno Saubamea, Virginie Mignon, Nicolas Goudin, Yaëlle Wormser, Morgane Wuckelt, Mahmoud Rifai, Thomas Heng, Lya L’hermitte, Marta Conflitti, Julie Meyer, Hervé Lecuyer, Anne Jamet, Nicolas Borghi, Philippe Girard, Emmanuelle Bille, Grégory Lavieu, Eric Rubinstein, Stefano Marullo () and Mathieu Coureuil ()
Additional contact information
Audrey Laurent-Granger: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Kévin Sollier: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Bruno Saubamea: Faculté de Pharmacie de Paris, Plateforme d’Imagerie Cellulaire et MOléculaire PICMO, Université Paris Cité, US25 Inserm, UAR3612 CNRS
Virginie Mignon: Faculté de Pharmacie de Paris, Plateforme d’Imagerie Cellulaire et MOléculaire PICMO, Université Paris Cité, US25 Inserm, UAR3612 CNRS
Nicolas Goudin: INSERM US 24, Platform for Image Analysis Center, SFR Necker
Yaëlle Wormser: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Morgane Wuckelt: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Mahmoud Rifai: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Thomas Heng: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Lya L’hermitte: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Marta Conflitti: University of Padova
Julie Meyer: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Hervé Lecuyer: Hôpital Necker Enfants Malades, Laboratoire de microbiologie clinique, AP-HP
Anne Jamet: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Nicolas Borghi: Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Cité, CNRS
Philippe Girard: Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Cité, CNRS
Emmanuelle Bille: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253
Grégory Lavieu: Campus Saints-Germain-des-Prés, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1334, CNRS UMR8175, Department of Biomedical and Fundamental Sciences
Eric Rubinstein: CIMI-Paris, Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Centre d’Immunologie et des Maladies Infectieuses
Stefano Marullo: Institut Cochin, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1016, CNRS UMR8104
Mathieu Coureuil: Institut Necker-Enfants Malades, Université Paris Cité, INSERM U1151, CNRS UMR8253

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-17

Abstract: Abstract Once passed into the bloodstream, bacterial pathogens have a limited time to interact with permissive receptors at the surface of host cells. Neisseria meningitidis has developed an extremely effective strategy allowing it to find its receptors in a few seconds. Here, we report that N. meningitidis type IV pili exploit the physical properties of host cells' plasma membranes to promote the formation of early tubular membrane structures essential for initial bacterial adhesion. These tubular structures, which form before any signaling events in host cells, concentrate and trap multiple plasma membrane-associated proteins in the vicinity of bacteria, thereby facilitating the selection, interaction and activation of specific adhesion and signaling receptors by bacterial ligands present on type IV pili. Our results define an additional paradigm for the recruitment of specific receptors by pathogenic bacteria, which depends on the physical property of bacterial pili to induce the formation of tubular plasma membrane structures enriched in integral plasma membrane receptors.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65436-1

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