Singh Jennifer K, Adams Felise G, Brown Melissa H
College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA, Australia.
Front Microbiol. 2019 Jan 9;9:3301. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.03301. eCollection 2018.
The Gram-negative opportunistic bacterium is a significant cause of hospital-borne infections worldwide. Alarmingly, the rapid development of antimicrobial resistance coupled with the remarkable ability of isolates to persist on surfaces for extended periods of time has led to infiltration of into our healthcare environments. A major virulence determinant of is the presence of a capsule that surrounds the bacterial surface. This capsule is comprised of tightly packed repeating polysaccharide units which forms a barrier around the bacterial cell wall, providing protection from environmental pressures including desiccation and disinfection regimes as well as host immune responses such as serum complement. Additionally, capsule has been shown to confer resistance to a range of clinically relevant antimicrobial compounds. Distressingly, treatment options for infections are becoming increasingly limited, and the urgency to develop effective infection control strategies and therapies to combat infections is apparent. An increased understanding of the contribution of capsule to the pathobiology of is required to determine its feasibility as a target for new strategies to combat drug resistant infections. Significant variation in capsular polysaccharide structures between isolates has been identified, with over 100 distinct capsule types, incorporating a vast variety of sugars. This review examines the studies undertaken to elucidate capsule diversity and advance our understanding of the role of capsule in pathogenesis.
革兰氏阴性机会致病菌是全球医院感染的重要原因。令人担忧的是，抗菌药物耐药性的迅速发展，加上分离株在表面长时间存活的显著能力，导致其渗透到我们的医疗环境中。该菌的一个主要毒力决定因素是围绕细菌表面的荚膜的存在。这种荚膜由紧密堆积的重复多糖单元组成，在细菌细胞壁周围形成一道屏障，保护细菌免受包括干燥和消毒措施等环境压力以及血清补体等宿主免疫反应的影响。此外，荚膜已被证明能赋予对一系列临床相关抗菌化合物的抗性。令人苦恼的是，该菌感染的治疗选择越来越有限，显然迫切需要制定有效的感染控制策略和疗法来对抗感染。为了确定将荚膜作为对抗耐药感染新策略的靶点的可行性，需要进一步了解荚膜对该菌病理生物学的作用。已确定该菌分离株之间的荚膜多糖结构存在显著差异，有超过100种不同的荚膜类型，包含各种各样的糖类。本综述考察了为阐明荚膜多样性并增进我们对荚膜在该菌发病机制中作用的理解而开展的研究。
