{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T13:29:04Z","timestamp":1787232544002,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["JP20K07504"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JP20K07504"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001691","name":"Japan Society for the Promotion of Science","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["JP16K18926"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["JP16K18926"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001691","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Hiroshima International University Special Research Grant Program for Research Projects Pursuing Novel Developments","award":["TK2506865"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TK2506865"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["J Bacteriol"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title\/>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Infections by\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Aeromonas<\/jats:italic>\n                      can rapidly progress from mucosal colonization to invasive disease, but how these bacteria efficiently breach epithelial barriers is unclear. Here, we define a coordinated two-component virulence strategy in\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Aeromonas veronii<\/jats:italic>\n                      biotype sobria (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">A. veronii<\/jats:italic>\n                      sobria) involving a secreted serine protease (ASP) and aerolysin. In polarized T84 monolayers, wild-type infection caused rapid transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) loss and degradation of junctional\/adhesion proteins. An ASP-deficient strain exhibited delayed barrier collapse with reduced cleavage of ZO-1\/2\/3 and EpCAM, and purified ASP restored these effects, indicating ASP is required but alone insufficient for full disruption. A transposon screen identified aerolysin and secretion-related genes as key contributors to junctional damage. Mechanistically, ASP directly converted recombinant pro-aerolysin into a hemolytically active toxin\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      , linking protease activity to toxin maturation. Functionally, ASP and aerolysin synergized to promote bacterial translocation across epithelial monolayers with marked sequence dependence; pro-aerolysin pretreatment enhanced ASP-mediated degradation of ZO proteins, claudin-7, and EpCAM. ASP further cleaved EpCAM at multiple extracellular sites, compromising adhesion and junctional homeostasis. Together, these findings establish an ASP\u2013aerolysin pathway that couples toxin activation with junctional proteolysis to drive structural epithelial breaches.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:sec>\n                      <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n                      <jats:p>\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Aeromonas<\/jats:italic>\n                        infections can rapidly progress from intestinal colonization to invasive disease, yet the molecular steps enabling epithelial breach are unclear. We show that\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Aeromonas veronii<\/jats:italic>\n                        sobria uses a coordinated two-factor pathway in which\n                        <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">Aeromonas<\/jats:italic>\n                        serine protease (ASP) both activates the pore-forming toxin aerolysin and directly cleaves key junctional\/adhesion proteins, including ZO-1\/2\/3 and EpCAM. Aerolysin primes cells for enhanced ASP-mediated proteolysis in an order-dependent manner, converting TEER loss into a physical barrier rupture that permits massive bacterial translocation. Targeting ASP\u2013aerolysin cooperation may provide a rational anti-virulence strategy.\n                      <\/jats:p>\n                    <\/jats:sec>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/jb.00141-26","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T13:37:18Z","timestamp":1783690638000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["<i>Aeromonas veronii<\/i>\n                    biotype sobria serine protease activates aerolysin and cleaves EpCAM to breach the epithelial barrier"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"208","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5918-4268","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Hidetomo","family":"Kobayashi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiological Science, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hiroshima International University","place":["Kure, 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