These results indicate that C. burnetii infection of BeWo cells induces a shedding of the E-cad protein ectodomain at an early stage of the infection (detectable at 24 hours post-infection) and suggest that sE-cad shedding is associated with the nuclear translocation of β-catenin and subsequent up-regulation of CDH1 and CTNNB1 gene transcription through a feedback control loop. The gene discussed is CTNNB1; the disease is infection.