Differential gene expression of Moraxella catarrhalis upon exposure to human serum

The complement system is an important part of the innate defense against invading pathogens (Blom et al., 2009; [1]). The ability to resist complement-mediated killing is considered to be an important virulence trait for the human-restricted respiratory tract pathogen Moraxella catarrhalis, as most disease-associated M. catarrhalis isolates are complement-resistant (Wirth et al., 2007; [2]). Here we provide a detailed overview of the experimental methods that we have used to study the molecular basis of M. catarrhalis complement-resistance by transcriptome profiling of the bacterium upon exposure to 10% normal human serum (NHS), associated with the study of de Vries et al. published in Molecular Microbiology in 2014 [3].