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Uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli (UPEC) are a leading cause of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and invasion involves Rho GTPase members, notably Rac1, to drive actin cytoskeleton rearrangement leading to engulfment. Here, Petracchini et al. provide evidence of an ECM stiffnessmodulated role of Optineurin (OPTN), which regulates HACE1-dependant Rac1 activity and thus controls integrinmediated mechanotransduction and bacterial invasion.

Holes in endothelial barriers, called transendothelial cell macroapertures (TEMs), are predicted to be limited by line tension of unknown origin. Here the authors identify an actomyosin cable encircling TEMs and establish a role for ezrin in stabilising F-actin bundles, allowing their crosslinking by non-muscle myosin IIa.

Neisseria meningitidis bacteria bind to host proteins CD147 and β2-adrenergic receptor on the surface of endothelial cells. Here, Maïssa et al. show that the two proteins interact with each other forming clusters that increase the binding strength of the bacteria to endothelial cells.