Virulence factors of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Streptococcus pneumoniae colonizes the nasopharynx and remains a major human pathogen despite antibiotic therapy. Pneumococci cause important diseases including pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis and otitis media. Many pneumococcal virulence factors contribute to the pathogenesis. On the one hand, capsular polysaccharides, PspA and PspC enable pneumococci to escape host defenses. On the other hand, after the lysis induced by LytA, pneumolysin, teichoic acids, lipoteichoic acids and phosphocholine induce inflammatory reactions which are often deleterious for the host. Others factors as CbpA, neuraminidases, PsaA… participate in adherence, colonization and in the first steps of the infection. A better knowledge of pneumococcal pathogenesis and virulence factors will contribute to the development of new drugs or vaccines. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]