Neisseria meningitidis is a major cause of endemic cases and epidemics of meningitis and
devastating septicemia. Although effective vaccines exist for several serogroups of …

The complement system is an essential player in innate and adaptive immunity. It consists of
three pathways (alternative, classical, and lectin) that initiate either spontaneously …

Despite considerable advances in the understanding of the pathogenesis of meningococcal
disease, this infection remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality globally. The role of …

The 500-million-year-old adaptive immune system detects foreign (“non-self”) epitopes via B
cell-derived antibodies and/or T cell receptor interactions with major histocompatibility …

The complement system is an essential component of the innate and acquired immune
system, and consists of a series of proteolytic cascades that are initiated by the presence of …

Most pathogens are able to infect multiple hosts but some are highly adapted to a single-
host species. A detailed understanding of the basis of host specificity can provide important …

A major function of the immune system is to protect the host from microbial infections. The
complement system plays important roles in both the innate and the adaptive immune …

No broadly effective vaccines are available for prevention of group B meningococcal
disease, which accounts for> 50% of all cases. The group B capsule is an autoantigen and …

Interactions between a bacterial pathogen and its potentially susceptible host are initiated
with the colonization step. During respiratory/oral infection, the pathogens must compete …

Activation of the complement system and resulting opsonisation with C3b are key events of
the innate immune defense against infections. However, a wide variety of bacterial …