Phagocytosis of Bacteria and Bacterial Pathogenicity

This book provides up-to-date information on the crucial interaction of pathogenic bacteria and professional phagocytes, the host cells whose purpose is to ingest, kill, and digest bacteria in defense against infection. The introductory chapters focus on the receptors used by professional phagocytes to recognize and phagocytose bacteria, and the signal transduction events that are essential for phagocytosis of bacteria. Subsequent chapters discuss specific bacterial pathogens and the strategies they use in confronting professional phagocytes. Examples include Helicobacter pylori, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Yersinae, each of which uses distinct mechanisms to avoid being phagocytosed and killed. Contrasting examples include Listeria monocytogenes and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which survive and replicate intracellularly, and actually cooperate with phagocytes to promote their entry into these cells. Together, the contributions in this book provide an outstanding review of current knowledge regarding the mechanisms of phagocytosis and how specific pathogenic bacteria avoid or exploit these mechanisms.

• Provides an integrated review of the molecular and cellular processes underlying bacterial infections, offering an authoritative perspective for experts as well as those new to the field
• All of the contributors are internationally-renowned experts in their fields, with most being physician-scientists able to place the cellular and molecular events into a system-wide and clinically-relevant context
• Emphasises the critical mechanisms, while also providing a wide range of specific bacterial examples to set these mechanisms in context