Interaction mechanisms of encapsulated meningococci with eucaryotic cells: what does this tell us about the crossing of the blood-brain barrier by Neisseria meningitidis?
An important feature of Neisseria meningitidis is its ability to invade the meninges. This requires that bacteria cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which is one of the tightest barriers of the body. N. meningitidis has, therefore, evolved very sophisticated means by which it circumvents the physical properties of this cellular barrier. Recent advances have allowed the identification of several steps that might occur in the interaction of N. meningitidis with the BBB and the transit of the bacteria to the meninges.
INSERM U411 Laboratoire de Microbiologie Faculté de Médecine Necker-Enfants Malades 156 Rue de Vaugirard 75730 Paris cedex 15 France. nassif@necker.fr
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Nassif
D000940:Antigenic Variation; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000502:physiology*; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D051916:Membrane Cofactor Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009345:Neisseria meningitidis / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D015703:Antigens, CD; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C497857:CD46 protein, human; D051916:Membrane Cofactor Protein; D008562:Membrane Glycoproteins; C050308:opacity proteins; C079208:pilC protein, Neisseria gonorrhoeae; C074517:opc protein, bacteria; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins