In environments characterized by extended multi-stress conditions, pathogens develop a
variety of immune escape mechanisms to enhance their ability to infect the host. The …

Polysaccharide capsule is the main virulence factor of K. pneumoniae, a major pathogen of
bloodstream infections in humans. While more than 80 capsular serotypes have been …

Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive, aerotolerant bacterium that naturally
colonizes the human nasopharynx, but also causes invasive infections and is a major cause …

Many encapsulated bacteria use capsules to cause invasive diseases. However, it remains
largely unknown how the capsules enhance bacterial virulence under in vivo infection …

Anaerobic bacteria are responsible for half of all pulmonary infections. One such pathogen
is Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), a leading cause of community-acquired pneumonia …

Synthesis of capsular polysaccharide (CPS), an important virulence factor of pathogenic
bacteria, is modulated by the CpsBCD phosphoregulatory system in Streptococcus …

The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-6 regulates antimicrobial responses that are broadly
crucial in the defense against infection. Our prior work shows that IL-6 promotes the killing of …

Abstract Group B Streptococcus (GBS; also known as Streptococcus agalactiae) is an
opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes sepsis, meningitis, pneumonia, and skin and …

Infants are highly susceptible to invasive respiratory and gastrointestinal infections. To
elucidate the age-dependent mechanism (s) that drive bacterial spread from the mucosa, we …

Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPN) is a globally significant cause of meningitis, the
pathophysiology of which involves damage to the brain by both bacterial virulence factors …