title: The mechanism by which microorganisms avoid complement attack.
abstract: The complement system provides a critical level of defense against bacterial invasion. Various microorganisms have evolved a variety of mechanisms to allow them to avoid complement lytic and opsonic activity. These range from the formation of factors that destroy activity of complement proteins to the evolution of surface structures that fail to bind, facilitate degradation of, or shed, complement proteins. The range of factors associated with bacterial complement resistance is reviewed here.
authors.affiliation: Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Frank
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001433:Bacteriolysis; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000502:physiology; D003182:Complement C5 / Q000502:physiology; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D007891:Leishmania / Q000276:immunology; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000276:immunology; D014780:Viruses / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D003176:Complement C3; D003182:Complement C5; D003165:Complement System Proteins