AUTHOR=Escobar Alejandro , Rodas Paula I. , Acuña-Castillo Claudio 

TITLE=Macrophage–Neisseria gonorrhoeae Interactions: A Better Understanding of Pathogen Mechanisms of Immunomodulation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.03044

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2018.03044

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</italic> is a significant health problem worldwide due to multi-drug resistance issues and absence of an effective vaccine. Patients infected with <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic> have not shown a better immune response in successive infections. This might be explained by the fact that <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic> possesses several mechanisms to evade the innate and adaptative immune responses at different levels. Macrophages are a key cellular component in the innate immune response against microorganisms. The current information suggests that gonococcus can hijack the host response by mechanisms that involve the control of macrophages activity. In this mini review, we intend to condense the recent knowledge on the macrophage–<italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic> interactions with a focus on strategies developed by gonococcus to evade or to exploit immune response to establish a successful infection. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of therapeutics for controlling immune manipulation by <italic>N. gonorrhoeae</italic>.</p>