Lipoproteins of bacterial pathogens
By Linda on Nov 11, 2010 in Infections | comments(0)
Excerpt:
Bacterial lipoproteins are a set of membrane proteins with many
different functions. Due to this broad-ranging functionality
these proteins have a considerable significance on many
phenomenon from cellular physiology through to cell division and
virulence. Here, we give a general overview of lipoprotein
biogenesis and highlight examples of the roles of lipoproteins in
bacterial disease caused by a selection of medically relevant
Gram negative and Gram positive pathogens; Mycobacterium
tuberculosis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Borrelia burgdorferi and
Neisseria meningitidis. Lipoproteins have been shown to play key
roles in the adhesion to host cells, the modulation of
inflammatory processes and translocation of virulence factors
into host cells. As such, a number of lipoproteins have been
shown to be potential vaccines. This review provides a summary of
some of the reported roles of lipoproteins and of how this
knowledge has been exploited in some cases for the generation of
novel countermeasures to bacterial diseases.
