Degrades the Vaginal Epithelial Glycocalyx Through High Fucosidase and Sialidase Activities

Overview

Journal mBio

Publisher American Society for Microbiology

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2024 Aug 20

PMID 39162399

Authors

Celia Segui-Perez

Rivka de Jongh

Robin L W Jonkergouw

Paula Pelayo

Emily P Balskus

Aldert Zomer

Karin Strijbis

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Importance: Bacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common vaginal infection that affects a significant proportion of women and is associated with reduced fertility and increased risk of secondary infections. is the most well-known BV-associated bacterium, but species including and may also play an important role. We showed that, similar to , adhered well to the vaginal epithelium, suggesting that both bacteria could be important in the first stage of infection. Compared to the other bacteria, was unique in efficiently removing the protective mucin sugars that cover the vaginal epithelium. These results underscore that vaginal bacteria play different roles in the initiation and development of BV.

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