Type III secretion systems as targets for novel therapeutics.

Bacterial pathogens use common virulence factors to cause disease. One such virulence factor is the type III secretion system (T3SS), which allows for the direct injection of bacterial proteins, called effector proteins, into the contacting host cell. Pathogens with defective T3SSs are 1000- to 1 million-fold attenuated in animal models of infection. Thus, targeting antivirulence therapies to virulence factors such as the T3SS may provide a novel approach to treating infections. This article provides an overview of approaches used in identifying various classes of T3SS inhibitors, to enable the use of such inhibitors as novel therapeutics.