Main description:

Attachment to host cells or tissues is often the first step in the establishment of bacterial infections. A complex array of recognition, attachment, and virulence factors is involved in this process, which recent research has greatly illuminated. This comprehensive and authoritative volume discusses the specific cell and tissue-specific affinities of pathogenic microorganisms, including bioinorganic surfaces such as teeth, and is an essential reference for researchers and students of host-pathogen interactions.

Contents:

Preface. Principles of bacterial adhesion. Methods, models, and analysis of bacterial adhesion. Animal cell membranes as substrata for bacterial adhesion. Relationship between bacterial cell surfaces and adhesins. Bacterial lectins as adhesins. Gram-positive pyogenic cocci. Interaction of bacteria with phagocytic cells. Adhesion of bacteria to oral tissues. Regulation and expression of bacterial adhesins. Recent developments in bacterial adhesion to animal cells. Common themes in bacterial adhesion. Index.