REVIEW

Mechanisms of bacterial pathogenicity

J W Wilson, M J Schurr, C L LeBlanc, R Ramamurthy, K L Buchanan, C A Nickerson

Program in Molecular Pathogenesis and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Cheryl A Nickerson, Program in Molecular Pathogenesis and Immunity, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SL38, Tulane University Health Sciences Center, 1430 Tulane Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70112, USA;
cnicker{at}tulane.edu

Pathogenic bacteria utilise a number of mechanisms to cause disease in human hosts. Bacterial pathogens express a wide range of molecules that bind host cell targets to facilitate a variety of different host responses. The molecular strategies used by bacteria to interact with the host can be unique to specific pathogens or conserved across several different species. A key to fighting bacterial disease is the identification and characterisation of all these different strategies. The availability of complete genome sequences for several bacterial pathogens coupled with bioinformatics will lead to significant advances toward this goal.

Keywords: bacterial pathogenicity; pathogens

Abbreviations: LPS, lipopolysaccharide; PAMPs, pathogen associated molecular patterns; TNF-, tumour necrosis factor-alpha

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