The pneumococcal polysaccharide capsule and pneumolysin differentially affect CXCL8 and IL-6 release from cells of the upper and lower respiratory tract.

The polysaccharide capsule and pneumolysin toxin are major virulence factors of the human bacterial pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae. Colonization of the nasopharynx is asymptomatic but invasion of the lungs can result in invasive pneumonia. Here we show that the capsule suppresses the release of t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Eliane Küng, William R Coward, Daniel R Neill, Hesham A Malak, Kathrin Mühlemann, Aras Kadioglu, Markus Hilty, Lucy J Hathaway
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2014-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3963895?pdf=render