Dual species transcriptomics reveals conserved metabolic and immunologic processes in interactions between human neutrophils and Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

ABSTRACT: Neisseria gonorrhoeae (the gonococcus, Gc) causes the sexually transmitted infection gonorrhea. Gc is a prominent threat to human health by causing severe lifelong sequelae, including infertility and chronic pelvic pain, which is amplified by the emergence of "superbug" strains resistant to all current antibiotics. Gc is highly adapted to colonize human mucosal surfaces, where it survives despite initiating a robust inflammatory response and influx of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs, neutrophils) that typically clear bacteria. Here, dual-species RNA-sequencing was used to define Gc and PMN transcriptional profiles alone and after infection. Core host and bacterial responses were assessed for two strains of Gc and three human donors' PMNs. Comparative analysis of Gc transcripts revealed

SUBMITTER: Potter AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11257400 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature