Neisseria gonorrhoeae
Infection

For N. gonorrhoeae, the first step after successful transmission is adherence to the epithelial cells found at the mucosal site that is infected. The bacterium relies on type IV pili that attach and retract, pulling N. gonorrhoeae toward the epithelial membrane where its surface proteins, such as opacity proteins, can interact directly. After adherence, N. gonorrhoeae replicates itself and forms microcolonies. While colonizing, N. gonorrhoeae has the potential to transcytose across the epithelial barrier and work its way in to the bloodstream. During growth and colonization, N. gonorrhoeae stimulates the release of cytokines and chemokines from host immune cells that are pro-inflammatory. These pro-inflammatory molecules result in the recruitment of macrophages and neutrophils. These phagocytic cells typically take in foreign pathogens and destroy them, but N. gonorrhoeae has evolved many mechanisms that allow it to survive within these immune cells and thwart the attempts at elimination.
startend:end_checker