Attachment, pathogen

A Lactobacillus strain was recently shown to inhibit competitively adhesion of enteropathogenic E. coli to pig ileum and interfered with bacterial attachment to the mucosal layer of ileal conducts (Blomberg et al., 1993). Although L. acidophilus inhibits the adhesion of several enteric pathogens to human intestinal cells in culture, when pathogen attachment preceded L. acidophilus treatment, no inhibitory interference occurred indicating that steric hindrance of site occupation is important in the inhibition of adhesion. Thus, therapeutic use is likely to be limited to preventive application of probiotics. 

The critical first step in the acquisition of acute bacterial meningitis is nasopharyngeal colonization of the host by the bacterial pathogen. The bacteria first attach themselves to nasopharyngeal epithelial cells and are then phagocytized into the host s bloodstream. 

Algal chemical defenses that inhibit the settlement and attachment of pathogens or biofoulers represent the first line of defense against microbial challenge. Unlike compounds that function through growth inhibition or lethality, most settlement and... 

Lipopolysaccharides Human pathogenic and marine bacteria Lipid A + various attached oligosaccharide decorations Oxidative burst, and oxylipin production in L. digitata Kupper et al. 2006... 

Viruses, like all pathogens, show host specificity, usually infecting only one or a restricted range of host species. The initial basis of specificity is the ability of the virus particle to attach to the host cell. If the amount of infectious virus is measured over a period of time in the host, it is seen to fall, after an initial lag period, remain low for a period of time, and then rise to even higher levels. The period during which the amount of virus is low is referred to as the eclipse period. The virus infection cycle can be divided into several events. 

Finally, it has been speculated that TNTs could represent a general mechanism for the intercellular spread of pathogens. In this respect, bacteria and retroviruses were seen to attach to the outer membrane and surf along the nanotubes towards connected cells, where they could be internalized (Onfelt et al., 2006 Sherer et al., 2007). Furthermore, the human immunodeficiency vims type 1 (HIV-1) was shown to move within nanotubes to infect connected cells (Sowinski et al., 2008). 

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