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Interactions of pathogenic Neisseria with host cells. Is it possible to assemble the puzzle?
Author(s) -
Nassif Xavier,
Pujol Céline,
Morand Philippe,
Eugène Emmanuel
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
molecular microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 247
eISSN - 1365-2958
pISSN - 0950-382X
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1999.01416.x
Subject(s) - neisseria gonorrhoeae , neisseria meningitidis , biology , neisseria , microbiology and biotechnology , pathogenesis , bacteria , immunology , genetics
Neisseria meningitidis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae are human pathogens that have to interact with mucosa and/or cellular barriers for their life cycles to progress. Even though they both give rise to dramatically different diseases, the use of in vitro models has shown that most of the mechanisms mediating cellular interactions are common to N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae . This suggests that bacterial cell interactions may be essential not only for pathogenesis but also for other aspects of the bacterial life cycle that are common to both N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae . This manuscript will review the most recent developments concerning the mechanisms mediating cellular interaction of pathogenic Neisseria and will then try to put them into the perspective of pathogenesis and bacterial life cycle.