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Editorial
. 2016 Dec 1;214(11):1615-1617.
doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiw331. Epub 2016 Jul 28.

Does the Cervicovaginal Microbiome Facilitate Transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae From Women to Men? Implications for Understanding Transmission of Gonorrhea and Advancing Vaccine Development

William M Shafer  1   2   3
Affiliations
Editorial

Does the Cervicovaginal Microbiome Facilitate Transmission of Neisseria gonorrhoeae From Women to Men? Implications for Understanding Transmission of Gonorrhea and Advancing Vaccine Development

William M Shafer. J Infect Dis. .
No abstract available

Keywords: cervicovaginal; gonorrhea; microbiome; sialidases; transmission.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The successful infection of the male urethra by Neisseria gonorrhoeae is dependent upon the availability of a lipooligosaccharide (LOS) structure with a free terminal galactose necessary to bind the entry receptor, the asialoglycoprotein receptor (ASGP-R). In contrast, cervical cell uptake of the gonococcus by complement receptor 3 (CR3) is independent of the LOS sialylation state of the organism. During growth in both cervical and urethral epithelial cells, the organism acquires cytidine-monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminic acid (CMP-Neu5Ac; also known as “sialic acid”), which is transferred to the terminal galactose on the LOS. To facilitate transmission from female to the male, sialidases produced by cervicovaginal flora (eg, Gardnerella vaginalis and Prevotella bivia) remove the sialic acid from the gonococcal LOS. This modification allows transfer of N. gonorrhoeae to the male partner with a free terminal galactose, resulting in engagement of and uptake by the asialoglycoprotein receptor on the urethral epithelial cell.
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Comment on

References

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