InvB is a type III secretion-associated chaperone for the Salmonella enterica effector protein SopE.

SopE is a bacteriophage-encoded effector protein of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium that is translocated into the cytosol of eukaryotic cells by a type III secretion system (TTSS) (W.-D. Hardt, H. Urlaub, and J. E. Galán, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:2574-2579, 1998; M. W. Wood, R. Rosqvist, P. B. Mullan, M. H. Edwards, and E. E. Galyov, Mol. Microbiol. 22:327-338, 1996). In this study, we provide evidence that an unlinked gene carried within the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1), invB (K. Eichelberg, C. Ginocchio, and J. E. Galán, J. Bacteriol. 176:4501-4510, 1994), is required for the secretion of SopE through the SPI-1 TTSS. Furthermore, far-Western blotting analysis shows that SopE directly interacts with InvB through a domain located at its amino terminus. We conclude that InvB is the TTSS-associated chaperone for SopE.