Pathogenic spirochetes cause a range of serious human diseases such as Lyme disease (LD), syphilis, leptospirosis, relapsing fever (RF), and periodontal disease. Motility is a critical virulence factor for spirochetes. From the mechanical perspective of the infection, it has been widely believed that flagella are the sole key players governing the migration and dissemination of these pathogens in the host. Here, we highlight the important contribution of spirochetal surface-exposed adhesive molecules and their dynamic interactions with host molecules in the process of infection, specifically in spirochetal swimming and crawling migration. We believe that these recent findings overturn the prevailing view depicting the spirochetal body to be just an inert elastic bag, which does not affect spirochetal cell locomotion.

Department of Applied Physics Graduate School of Engineering Tohoku University 6 6 05 Aoba Aoba ku Sendai Miyagi 980 8579 Japan

Department of Bacteriology 1 National Institute of Infectious Diseases 1 23 1 Toyama Shinjuku ku Tokyo 162 8640 Japan

Institute of Parasitology Biology Centre CAS Branišovská 31 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic; Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia Branišovská 1760 37005 České Budějovice Czech Republic

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Navigating infection by pathogenic spirochetes: The host-bacteria interface at the atomic level