Bacteria have become really good at hiding from our immune system. They’ve developed different tricks to start infections and stick around in our bodies. It's important to learn about how they do this so that we can find better ways to treat these infections.
Many harmful bacteria have a gooey outer shell called a capsule. This capsule helps them avoid being eaten by our immune cells. It stops antibodies, which are like “tags” that label the bacteria for destruction, from doing their job.
Take Streptococcus pneumoniae, for example. It has over 90 different types, and its capsule helps it be more dangerous. When this encapsulated bacteria causes pneumonia, about 10% to 20% of hospitalized patients can face very serious outcomes.
Bacteria can change their surface to trick our immune system. They do this by modifying their outer parts, making it harder for our body to recognize them.
For instance, Neisseria gonorrhoeae changes its pili and outer proteins all the time. It can show many different kinds of these proteins, which helps it avoid detection and leads to a reinfection rate of about 30% within a year.
Some bacteria can also stop our immune system from working properly. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for example, can quiet down immune cells called macrophages. This helps the bacteria survive inside those cells.
About one-third of people worldwide carry this bacteria, and there's a 10% chance they could develop serious illness over their lifetime. The bacteria can even trick infected macrophages into staying alive longer than they should.
Bacteria can create biofilms, which are groups of bacteria stuck together in a slime. These biofilms make it tough for our immune system to attack them.
One well-known example is Pseudomonas aeruginosa found in people with cystic fibrosis. These biofilms are very hard to get rid of, leading to ongoing infections where antibiotics might not work at all, with failure rates over 50%.
Bacteria have special tools called secretion systems to inject proteins straight into our cells. This disrupts our immune signals.
For example, Salmonella enterica uses a Type III secretion system to put proteins into immune cells. This action helps the bacteria survive and multiply inside those cells without being attacked.
Bacteria use many tricks to escape from our immune system. They form physical barriers, change their appearance, suppress our immune responses, create biofilms, and inject harmful proteins. Learning how these methods work is key to finding better treatments and developing vaccines against bacterial infections.
Bacteria have become really good at hiding from our immune system. They’ve developed different tricks to start infections and stick around in our bodies. It's important to learn about how they do this so that we can find better ways to treat these infections.
Many harmful bacteria have a gooey outer shell called a capsule. This capsule helps them avoid being eaten by our immune cells. It stops antibodies, which are like “tags” that label the bacteria for destruction, from doing their job.
Take Streptococcus pneumoniae, for example. It has over 90 different types, and its capsule helps it be more dangerous. When this encapsulated bacteria causes pneumonia, about 10% to 20% of hospitalized patients can face very serious outcomes.
Bacteria can change their surface to trick our immune system. They do this by modifying their outer parts, making it harder for our body to recognize them.
For instance, Neisseria gonorrhoeae changes its pili and outer proteins all the time. It can show many different kinds of these proteins, which helps it avoid detection and leads to a reinfection rate of about 30% within a year.
Some bacteria can also stop our immune system from working properly. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, for example, can quiet down immune cells called macrophages. This helps the bacteria survive inside those cells.
About one-third of people worldwide carry this bacteria, and there's a 10% chance they could develop serious illness over their lifetime. The bacteria can even trick infected macrophages into staying alive longer than they should.
Bacteria can create biofilms, which are groups of bacteria stuck together in a slime. These biofilms make it tough for our immune system to attack them.
One well-known example is Pseudomonas aeruginosa found in people with cystic fibrosis. These biofilms are very hard to get rid of, leading to ongoing infections where antibiotics might not work at all, with failure rates over 50%.
Bacteria have special tools called secretion systems to inject proteins straight into our cells. This disrupts our immune signals.
For example, Salmonella enterica uses a Type III secretion system to put proteins into immune cells. This action helps the bacteria survive and multiply inside those cells without being attacked.
Bacteria use many tricks to escape from our immune system. They form physical barriers, change their appearance, suppress our immune responses, create biofilms, and inject harmful proteins. Learning how these methods work is key to finding better treatments and developing vaccines against bacterial infections.