Iron and outer membrane proteins in the susceptibility of Neisseria meningitidis to human serum |
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Authors: | M.T. Criado ,M.C. del Rí o,C.M. Ferreiró s,M. Pintor,V. Sá inz,J. Carballo |
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Affiliation: | Departamento de Microbiología y Parasitología, Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain. |
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Abstract: | The proportion of carrier-isolated Neisseria meningitidis strains sensitive to human serum (37.2%) was found to be significantly higher than that of case-isolated ones (4.1%), although the difference is too low to consider serum-resistance responsible for invasion in this microorganism. Serum-susceptibility was not related to the existence of specific outer membrane proteins, as is the case of N. gonorrhoeae. Iron restriction induced iron-regulated outer membrane proteins in each strain (but not the same proteins in all strains) but without any detectable effect on serum-susceptibility. Iron excess was also unable to induce changes in the susceptibility of N. meningitidis to human serum. |
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Keywords: | Iron Serum susceptibility Outer membrane Neisseria meningitidis |
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