Abstract
The gram-negative coccus Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a major cause of sexually transmitted disease in humans. This bacterium represents a model for several intriguing virulence mechanisms. Most striking is its tremendous capacity to vary its major surface antigens, assumed to be an effective means for evading the immune surveillance of the infected human host. Antigenic variation of the surface components may further facilitate efficient adaptation of the pathogen to environmental changes in the host during the course of an infection. Of the known surface components pilin, the subunit component of the pili, and opacity protein (Op or PII) of gonococci, as well as the Op-related class 5 proteins of meningococci, have received particular attention (1–3). These proteins seem to play a central role in colonization of the pathogens in the human mucosal tissue (4,5). The expression of pili and Op can be turned on and off (phase variation), and a single cell can give rise to cells that produce structurally and antigenically different proteins (antigenic variation). In addition, more than one variant protein can be produced at a time. The total number of variant proteins expressed appears to be strikingly large. To assess the molecular principles underlying this complex phenomenons, we have isolated and characterized several genes coding for pilin and Op (7,8).
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© 1987 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Meyer, T.F., Haas, R., Stern, A. (1987). Antigenic Variation of Proteins on the Surface of Pathogenic Neisseriae . In: Rott, R., Goebel, W. (eds) Molecular Basis of Viral and Microbial Pathogenesis. Colloquium der Gesellschaft für Biologische Chemie 9.–11. April 1987 in Mosbach/Baden, vol 38. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73214-0_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73214-0_13
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