Surface layer (S-layer) proteins are crystalline arrays of proteinaceous subunits present as the outermost component of the cell wall in several Lactobacillus species. The underlying mechanism for how S-layer proteins inhibit pathogen infections remains unclear. To gain insights into the mechanism of the antimicrobial activity of Lactobacillus S-layer proteins, we examined how Lactobacillus S-layer proteins impact Salmonella Typhimurium-induced apoptosis in vitro in Caco-2 human colon epithelial cells. When Caco-2 cells infected with Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344, we found that apoptosis was mediated by activation of caspase-3, but not caspase-1. When Salmonella Typhimurium SL1344 and S-layer proteins were coincubated simultaneously, Caco-2 cell apoptosis was markedly decreased and the cell damage was modified, as evaluated by flow cytometry and microscopy. Detailed analyses showed that the 5-layer proteins inhibited the caspase-3 activity and activated the extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings suggest that Lactobacillus S-layer proteins protected against Salmonella-induced apoptosis through reduced caspase-3 activation. In addition, cSalmonella-induced apoptotic cell damage was modified by S-layer proteins through the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. This mechanism may represent a novel approach for antagonizing Salmonella infection. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.