Subversion of immunity (1) : bacteria

The third lecture gave me a comprehensive overview of the strategies used by pathogenic bacteria to alter host immune responses. A large proportion of the examples covered concerned the manipulation of the innate response, particularly inflammation, whose powerful bactericidal character undoubtedly represented a selective pressure for the acquisition and maintenance of genes encoding effectors with powerful anti-inflammatory activity. in fact, it turns out that the ability to manipulate inflammation is one of the fundamental characteristics of pathogenic bacteria, highlighting the existence of a veritable Yin & Yang type of antagonistic tension where the pathogen both uses and "antagonizes" inflammation to ensure the success of its infectious offensive. In many cases, this manipulation is due to effectors secreted or injected by the bacterium, which carry out post-translational modifications (phosphorylation/dephosphorylation, ubiquitination, etc.) targeted at key molecules in pro-inflammatory signalling cascades such as the NF-kappaB and MAPKinase pathways. Recent data also point to the existence of effectors altering the adaptive response.