Abstract
Members of the genus Neisseria include pathogens causing important human diseases such as meningitis, septicaemia, gonorrhoea and pelvic inflammatory disease syndrome. Neisseriae are found on the exposed epithelia of the upper respiratory tract and the urogenital tract. Colonisation of these exposed epithelia is dependent on a repertoire of diverse bacterial molecules, extending not only from the surface of the bacteria but also found within the outer membrane. During invasive disease, pathogenic Neisseriae also interact with immune effector cells, vascular endothelia and the meninges. Neisseria adhesion involves the interplay of these multiple surface factors and in this review we discuss the structure and function of these important molecules and the nature of the host cell receptors and mechanisms involved in their recognition. We also describe the current status for recently identified Neisseria adhesins. Understanding the biology of Neisseria adhesins has an impact not only on the development of new vaccines but also in revealing fundamental knowledge about human biology.
Highlights
The Genus Neisseria (Kingdom Bacteria, Phylum Proteobacterium, Class β-Proteobacterium, Order Neisseriales, Family Neisseriaceae) includes at least 25 species (Table 1) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence information
The noted Austrian pathologist and bacteriologist Anton Weichselbaum (1845–1920) first identified a Diplococcus intracellularis meningitidis from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with “epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis” in 1887 [1]. This organism was later reclassified as a member of the genus Neisseria, after the German physician Albert Neisser (1855–1916) who discovered in 1879 the diplococcus known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Treatment of neutrophils with LPS has been reported to trigger the formation of a TLR4-pSyk-CEACAM1 complex, and subsequent recruitment of SHP-1 to the CEACAM1 ITIMs inhibits the production of IL-1β by the inflammasome [343]
Summary
The Genus Neisseria (Kingdom Bacteria, Phylum Proteobacterium, Class β-Proteobacterium, Order Neisseriales, Family Neisseriaceae) includes at least 25 species (Table 1) based on 16S rRNA gene sequence information. Biology 2013, 2 pathogens and the other strains are either commensal organisms in humans and mammalian species and/or have been reported to cause opportunistic human infections. The noted Austrian pathologist and bacteriologist Anton Weichselbaum (1845–1920) first identified a Diplococcus intracellularis meningitidis from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with “epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis” in 1887 [1]. This organism was later reclassified as a member of the genus Neisseria, after the German physician Albert Neisser (1855–1916) who discovered in 1879 the diplococcus known as Neisseria gonorrhoeae. N. flava, N. perflava and N. subflava N. cinerea. N. elongate, including 3 subspecies: N. elongate subsp. Isolated from a foot ulcer in a diabetic patient [13] Wound infection [14] Not known
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