title: Brucella lipopolysaccharide acts as a virulence factor.
abstract: Brucella is a facultative intracellular bacterium responsible for brucellosis. Virulence factors involved in Brucella replication and Brucella's strategies to circumvent the immune response are under investigation. VirB proteins that form the type IV secretion system and that are involved in intracellular replication are considered as one of Brucella's virulence factors. In addition to this secretion system, bacterial outer membrane components have also been described as being implicated in Brucella survival in the host. For example, this bacterium possesses an unconventional non-endotoxic lipopolysaccharide that confers resistance to anti-microbial attacks and modulates the host immune response. These properties make lipopolysaccharide an important virulence factor for Brucella survival and replication in the host.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Immunologie INSERM-CNRS-Université de la Méditerranée, Parc Scientifique de Luminy, Case 906, 13288 Marseille Cedex 9, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lapaque
authors.forename: Ignacio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moriyon
authors.forename: Edgardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.forename: Jean-Pierre
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gorvel
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002002:Brucella / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008070:Lipopolysaccharides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology*; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008070:Lipopolysaccharides; D037521:Virulence Factors