fungus
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologySpleen Tyrosine Kinase Is a Critical Regulator of Neutrophil Responses to Candida SpeciesNeutrophils are recognized to represent significant immune cell mediators for the clearance and elimination of the human-pathogenic fungal pathogen Candida. The sensing of fungi by innate cells is performed, in part, through lectin receptor recognition of cell wall components and downstream cellular activation by signaling components, including spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk). While the essential role of Syk in macrophages and...
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionFluconazole Monotherapy Is a Suboptimal Option for Initial Treatment of Cryptococcal Meningitis Because of Emergence of ResistanceCryptococcal meningitis is a lethal disease with few treatment options. The incidence remains high and intricately linked with the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In many parts of the world, fluconazole is the only agent that is available for the initial treatment of cryptococcal meningitis despite considerable evidence that it is associated with suboptimal microbiological and clinical outcomes. Fluconazole has a fungistatic mode of action: it...
Opinion/Hypothesis | Host-Microbe BiologyOn the Emergence of Candida auris: Climate Change, Azoles, Swamps, and BirdsThe most enigmatic aspect of the rise of Candida auris as a human pathogen is that it emerged simultaneously on three continents, with each clade being genetically distinct. Although new pathogenic fungal species are described regularly, these are mostly species associated with single cases in individuals who are immunosuppressed.
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyIdentification of Pathogen Genomic Differences That Impact Human Immune Response and Disease during Cryptococcus neoformans InfectionEven with the best available care, mortality rates in cryptococcal meningitis range from 20% to 60%. Disease is often due to infection by the fungus Cryptococcus neoformans and involves a complex interaction between the human host and the fungal pathogen. Although previous studies have suggested genetic differences in the pathogen impact human disease, it has proven...
Research Article | Therapeutics and PreventionEfficacy of Oral Encochleated Amphotericin B in a Mouse Model of Cryptococcal MeningoencephalitisCryptococcus neoformans is a significant global fungal pathogen that kills an estimated quarter of a million HIV-infected individuals yearly and has poor outcomes despite therapy. The most effective therapy, amphotericin B, is highly effective in killing the fungus but is available only in highly toxic, intravenous formulations that are unavailable in most of the...
Commentary | Host-Microbe BiologyIn Fungal Intracellular Pathogenesis, Form Determines FateFor pathogenic microbes to survive ingestion by macrophages, they must subvert powerful microbicidal mechanisms within the phagolysosome. After ingestion, Candida albicans undergoes a morphological transition producing hyphae, while the surrounding phagosome exhibits a loss of phagosomal acidity.
- Editor's Pick Research ArticleNovel Partitivirus Enhances Virulence of and Causes Aberrant Gene Expression in Talaromyces marneffei
Talaromyces marneffei (formerly Penicillium marneffei) is the most important thermal dimorphic fungus in Southeast Asia, causing highly fatal systemic penicilliosis in HIV-infected and immunocompromised patients. We discovered a novel mycovirus, TmPV1, in seven clinical isolates of...