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Summary Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the USA and one of the most common causes of diarrhoea worldwide. Central to its pathogenicity is its ability to induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-8 in intestinal epithelial cells. Here, we demonstrated that C. jejuni infection of intestinal epithelial cells results in the activation of the ERK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases and that the ERK kinase pathway is essential for IL-8 production. We found that MAP kinase stimulation leading to IL-8 secretion requires C. jejuni gene products whose production is stimulated upon contact with epithelial cells. We also found that C. jejuni flagellin is a very poor stimulator of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-5 and therefore does not play a significant role in the stimulation of cytokine production.

Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the USA and one of the most common causes of diarrhoea worldwide. Central to its pathogenicity is its ability to induce the production of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-8 in intestinal epithelial cells. Here, we demonstrated that C. jejuni infection of intestinal epithelial cells results in the activation of the ERK and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases and that the ERK kinase pathway is essential for IL-8 production. We found that MAP kinase stimulation leading to IL-8 secretion requires C. jejuni gene products whose production is stimulated upon contact with epithelial cells. We also found that C. jejuni flagellin is a very poor stimulator of Toll-like receptor (TLR)-5 and therefore does not play a significant role in the stimulation of cytokine production.

Salmonella has evolved an intimate functional interface with its host. Central to this interface is a battery of bacterial proteins delivered into host cells via a specialized organelle termed the type III secretion system. A subset of these bacterial proteins stimulates cellular responses by activating the Rho family GTPases Cdc42 and Rac. Stimulation of these responses leads to actin cytoskeleton reorganization and the activation of cellular transcription factors that result in bacterial uptake and proinflammatory cytokine production. Remarkably, the cellular responses stimulated by Salmonella are quickly reversed by another bacterial protein, SptP, which exerts its function as a GTPase-activating protein (GAP) for Cdc42 and Rac. In addition to its GAP activity located within its amino-terminus, the carboxy-terminal domain of SptP possesses potent tyrosine phosphatase activity. We show here that the tyrosine phosphatase activity of SptP is involved in reversing the MAP kinase activation that results from Salmonella infection. We also demonstrate an important role for tyrosine kinases, including ACK, in the cellular responses induced by Salmonella. We also found that a potential target for the tyrosine phosphatase activity of SptP is the intermediate filament protein vimentin, which is recruited to the membrane ruffles stimulated by Salmonella.