Bacteria utilize capsules and other virulence factors to evade phagocytosis by immune cells, protecting themselves and enhancing their ability to cause infections.
Capsules play a crucial role in enabling bacteria to resist phagocytic engulfment by immune cells. They achieve this by preventing immune cells from adhering to and then engulfing the bacterial cell, making it harder for them to combat the pathogen.
Furthermore, capsules protect pathogenic bacteria from the phagocytic action of immune cells, allowing them to invade the body and avoid being engulfed by white blood cells. Bacterial species in the microbiome also utilize capsules to shield themselves from phagocytosis.
Aside from capsules, certain bacterial pathogens employ other virulence factors like fimbriae and mycolic acid to evade the immune system. For instance, Streptococcus uses M protein to inhibit phagocytosis, while Mycobacterium tuberculosis produces mycolic acid to resist killing mechanisms within phagolysosomes.
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