Klebsiella LPS O1-antigen prevents complement-mediated killing by inhibiting C9 polymerization.

ABSTRACT: The Gram-negative bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae is an important human pathogen. Its treatment has been complicated by the emergence of multi-drug resistant strains. The human complement system is an important part of our innate immune response that can directly kill Gram-negative bacteria by assembling membrane attack complex (MAC) pores into the bacterial outer membrane. To resist this attack, Gram-negative bacteria can modify their lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Especially the decoration of the LPS outer core with the O-antigen polysaccharide has been linked to increased bacterial survival in serum, but not studied in detail. In this study, we characterized various clinical Klebsiella pneumoniae isolates and show that expression of the LPS O1-antigen correlates with resistance to complement

SUBMITTER: Masson FM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11377433 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature