Identification of a Kingella kingae factor H binding protein that is the major determinant of serum resistance.

ABSTRACT: Kingella kingae is a Gram-negative bacterium that has emerged as a leading cause of invasive disease in children between 6 months and 4 years of age. K. kingae initiates infection by colonizing the oropharynx, then breaches the oropharyngeal epithelium, enters the bloodstream, and disseminates to distant sites to cause disease, including osteomyelitis, septic arthritis, and endocarditis. To survive in the bloodstream and disseminate to sites of invasive disease, K. kingae produces a polysaccharide capsule and an exopolysaccharide that inhibit opsonin deposition and mediate resistance to complement-mediated serum killing. However, elimination of these extracellular polysaccharides only partially reduces K. kingae survival in human serum, suggesting that additional factors contribute to seru

SUBMITTER: Hernandez KA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12416846 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature