Legionella pneumophila translocated translation inhibitors are required for bacterial-induced host cell cycle arrest

The cell cycle machinery controls diverse cellular pathways and is tightly regulated. Misregulation of cell division plays a central role in the pathogenesis of many disease processes. Various microbial pathogens interfere with the cell cycle machinery to promote host cell colonization. Although cell cycle modulation is a common theme among pathogens, the role this interference plays in promoting diseases is unclear. Previously, we demonstrated that the G1 and G2/M phases of the host cell cycle are permissive for Legionella pneumophila replication, whereas S phase provides a toxic environment for bacterial replication. In this study, we show that L. pneumophila avoids host S phase by blocking host DNA synthesis and preventing cell cycle progression into S phase. Cell cycle arrest upon Legionella contact is dependent on the Icm/Dot secretion system. In particular, we found that cell cycle arrest is dependent on the intact enzymatic activity of translocated substrates that inhibits host translation. Moreover, we show that, early in infection, the presence of these translation inhibitors is crucial to induce the degradation of the master regulator cyclin D1. Our results demonstrate that the bacterial effectors that inhibit translation are associated with preventing entry of host cells into a phase associated with restriction of L. pneumophila. Furthermore, control of cyclin D1 may be a common strategy used by intracellular pathogens to manipulate the host cell cycle and promote bacterial replication.