Species-specificity of Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection: Do human complement regulators contribute?
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the causative agent of gonorrhea, a disease restricted to humans. Complement forms a key arm of the innate immune system that combats gonococcal infections. N. gonorrhoeae uses its outer membrane porin (Por) molecules to bind complement clown-regulatory proteins, C4b-binding protein (C4BP) and factor H (M), to evade killing by human complement. In addition, sialylation of
