The protein p53 responds to DNA damage and intracellular infection by activating pathways that arrest the cell cycle, repair DNA, and elicit apoptosis. Here, Allen et al. show that the obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi inhibits p53 expression and protects host cells from DNA damage, thus delaying apoptosis and favouring bacterial replication.
- Paige E. Allen
- David L. Armistead
- Jason A. Carlyon