Some bacteria have developed ways to change their appearance to avoid our immune system. They achieve this by many genetic means, including modifying rates of transcription, translation, or by modifying expression of surface proteins.
For example, some bacteria, like those in the family Neisseria, can switch from a form with pili (the surface appendage necessary to attach to our epithelia cells in the urethra) to a form without pili. By doing so they can avoid attack by antibodies (click here to see how) |
 Translational
Regulation: Also know as phase variation, allows a variety of different proteins to be expressed on the surface of bacterial cells at certain times to confuse and evade the immune system |
| Modifying Protein
Expression: Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria that is famous for causing staph infections, can evade confuse our immune system by binding to the constant region of antibodies, thus making the bacteria difficult to recognize and thus harder to kill. However, this only occurs when bacteria numbers are low and there is plentiful food, otherwise they become aggressive and kill host cells by synthesizing and secreting virulence factors |