The phospholipase A of <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i> lyses eukaryotic membranes and is necessary for survival in neutrophils and cervical epithelial cells

Intracellular survival is crucial to the success of <i>Neisseria gonorrhoeae</i> as a human pathogen. Multiple factors contribute to the intracellular survival of gonococci, including the ability to prohibit apoptosis of the epithelial cell the organism invades and mechanisms to evade host innate defense systems. The role of phospholipase A (PLA), an outer membrane protein, is important as it disrupts the host vacuolar and phagolysosomal membranes, preventing the effective delivery of innate immune factors that normally restrict organism growth within human cells. After cell entry, PLA disrupts the integrity of these host cell membranes, allowing the gonococcus to live free within disrupted vacuoles where it pilfers host cell nutrients that enable its survival and replication. A vaccine or drug that could neutralize PLA activity would disrupt the intracellular survival of the gonococcus.