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Related Concept Videos

Complement System01:27

Complement System

The complement system is a group of approximately 20 plasma proteins that strengthen the body's defenses against infections through opsonization, inflammation, and cell lysis. Opsonization involves coating pathogens with complement proteins, making them more recognizable and facilitating phagocyte engulfment. Certain complement proteins induce inflammation that attracts immune cells to the site of infection. Cell lysis involves the destruction of pathogens through the formation of a membrane...
Colonisation of Pathogens01:25

Colonisation of Pathogens

Pathogen colonization of host tissues is a critical step in the development of infectious diseases. Various pathogenic microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and protozoa, have evolved complex strategies to attach to, invade, and persist within host environments. These mechanisms enable pathogens to establish infections, evade immune responses, and resist antimicrobial treatments.Attachment to Host CellsIn bacteria, colonization typically begins with adherence to host epithelial...
Defense Against Bacterial Pathogens01:31

Defense Against Bacterial Pathogens

The human immune system is a complex network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to defend the body against bacterial infections. It consists of various immune cells, each playing a specific role in the defense mechanism.
Phagocytes
Phagocytes are the frontline soldiers of the immune system. They include neutrophils and macrophages. Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cell and are quickly mobilized to the site of infection. Macrophages are larger cells that patrol...
Regulation of Bacterial Virulence01:28

Regulation of Bacterial Virulence

Pathogenic bacteria employ a range of regulatory mechanisms to modulate the expression of virulence genes in response to environmental and host-derived signals. These mechanisms ensure that virulence factors are expressed only under favorable conditions, thereby optimizing infection and survival strategies.Mechanisms of Virulence RegulationKey regulatory strategies include:Two-Component Systems: These consist of a membrane-bound sensor kinase and a cytoplasmic response regulator. Environmental...
Antimicrobial Proteins01:23

Antimicrobial Proteins

Antimicrobial proteins are important components of the immune system. They aid the body in combating pathogens by either killing them directly or hindering their replication processes. Four main types of antimicrobial substances are interferons, the complement system, iron-binding proteins, and antimicrobial proteins.
Interferons
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins produced by lymphocytes, macrophages, and fibroblasts infected with viruses. While IFNs cannot prevent viruses from entering and...
Transduction01:16

Transduction

Among the three main modes of HGT—transformation, conjugation, and transduction—transduction is unique in that it is mediated by bacteriophages, or bacterial viruses.Transduction occurs in two ways. Generalized transduction occurs during the lytic cycle of a bacteriophage infection. In this process, bacteriophages infect bacterial cells, replicate within them, and ultimately cause cell lysis, releasing newly assembled virions. Occasionally, random fragments of the bacterial genome are...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

Assays for Studying the Role of Vitronectin in Bacterial Adhesion and Serum Resistance
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Assays for Studying the Role of Vitronectin in Bacterial Adhesion and Serum Resistance

Published on: October 16, 2018

Human complement control and complement evasion by pathogenic microbes--tipping the balance.

Peter F Zipfel1, Teresia Hallström, Kristian Riesbeck

  • 1Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Products Research and Infection Biology, Hans-Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany. peter.zipfel@hki-jena.de

Molecular Immunology
|July 2, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Pathogenic microbes evade the human complement system, our body's first immune defense. Understanding these evasion strategies is key to developing new therapies against drug-resistant infections.

Keywords:
Complement escapeImmune controlImmune escapeInfectionPathogenic Microbes

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Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology

Background:

  • The complement system is a crucial part of innate immunity, maintaining homeostasis by clearing self and non-self materials.
  • Pathogenic microbes have evolved mechanisms to evade complement-mediated immune attacks, posing significant health challenges.
  • Increasing antimicrobial resistance necessitates understanding host-pathogen immune interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the human complement system and its effector functions.
  • To summarize how pathogenic microbes evade host complement and immune responses.
  • To identify conserved mechanisms of complement evasion for therapeutic target development.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of the human complement system.
  • Analysis of microbial virulence factors and complement escape proteins.
  • Comparative analysis of pathogen strategies to modulate host immunity.

Main Results:

  • Pathogen complement evasion involves diverse, redundant, and multi-faceted strategies.
  • Sequence variability in microbial proteins is driven by host adaptive immunity.
  • Conserved principles of complement evasion, like binding host regulators, are emerging across diverse pathogens.

Conclusions:

  • Understanding pathogen complement evasion is vital for designing novel therapeutic strategies.
  • Conserved evasion mechanisms offer promising targets for broad-spectrum anti-infective approaches.
  • Targeting these conserved features could overcome antimicrobial resistance.