Publications by authors named "Joshua S Norwood"
Streptococci, Lactococci and Enterococci all produce L-rhamnose-containing cell wall polysaccharides which define Lancefield serotypes and represent promising candidates for the design of glycoconjugate vaccines. The L-rhamnose containing Enterococcal Polysaccharide Antigen (EPA), produced by the opportunistic pathogen Enterococcus faecalis, plays a critical role in normal growth, division, biofilm formation, antimicrobial resistance, phage susceptibility, and innate immune evasion. Despite the critical role of this polymer in E.
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- Enterococcus faecalis is a pathogen that causes infections in healthcare settings and has the ability to avoid the immune system by evading phagocytosis.
- The immune evasion relies on a specific surface polysaccharide called enterococcal polysaccharide antigen (EPA), which is crucial for the bacteria’s biological activity and varies between strains.
- The study presents a new in vitro assay to explore how different EPA decorations influence phagocytosis, finding that bacteria lacking these decorations are more easily targeted by immune cells, offering insights into immune evasion mechanisms.