Immune control of Staphylococcus aureus - regulation and counter-regulation of the adaptive immune response.
Successful vaccination relies on immune memory, a core competence of the adaptive immune system. This review summarizes the current knowledge about the adaptive immune response to Staphylococcus aureus as well as the bacterial escape mechanisms. The Janus-faced bacteria, both life-threatening pathogens and peaceful cohabitants of their human host, have so far frustrated all attempts at vaccine development. This begs the question of whether the adaptive immune system is at all able to protect against S. aureus infection. In search of an answer the main functions of the adaptive immune system are probed for potential mechanisms of protection against S. aureus, which may be put to the test in future research.
Department of Immunology, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany. Electronic address: broeker@uni-greifswald.de.
Barbara M
BM
Bröker
Department of Immunology, University Medicine Greifswald, Germany.
Silva
S
Holtfreter
Institute of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Parasitology, University of Bonn, Germany.
Isabelle
I
Bekeredjian-Ding
D056704:Adaptive Immunity; D000818:Animals; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology*
B cells; Staphylococcus aureus; T cells; antibodies; immune memory