Pathogenesis and virulence of .

is a commensal yeast fungus of the human oral, gastrointestinal, and genital mucosal surfaces, and skin. Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis, iatrogenic immunosuppression, and/or medical interventions that impair the integrity of the mucocutaneous barrier and/or perturb protective host defense mechanisms enable to become an opportunistic pathogen and cause debilitating mucocutaneous disease and/or life-threatening systemic infections. In this review, we synthesize our current knowledge of the tissue-specific determinants of pathogenicity and host immune defense mechanisms.

Stable Redox-Cycling Nitroxide Tempol Has Antifungal and Immune-Modulatory Properties.

Invasive mycoses remain underdiagnosed and difficult to treat. Hospitalized individuals with compromised immunity increase in number and constitute the main risk group for severe fungal infections. Current antifungal therapy is hampered by slow and insensitive diagnostics and frequent toxic side effects of standard antifungal drugs.

Induces MCP-1 Release and Delays the Death of Human Mast Cells.

Cryptococcosis, caused by the basidiomycete , is a life-threatening disease affecting approximately one million people per year worldwide. Infection can occur when cells are inhaled by immunocompromised people. In order to establish infection, the yeast must bypass recognition and clearance by immune cells guarding the tissue.

Visualizing Hypoxia in a Murine Model of Infection Using Biofluorencence.

is a leading human fungal pathogen that uses several metabolic adaptations to escape immune cells and causes systemic disease. Here, we describe a protocol for measuring one of these adaptations, the ability to thrive in hypoxic niches. Hypoxia was generated after successful subdermal infection with in a murine infection model.

Evasion of Immune Surveillance in Low Oxygen Environments Enhances Candida albicans Virulence.

Microbial colonizers of humans have evolved to adapt to environmental cues and to sense nutrient availability. Oxygen is a constantly changing environmental parameter in different host tissues and in different types of infection. We describe how , an opportunistic fungal pathogen, can modulate the host response under hypoxia and anoxia.

Adult Supratentorial Extraventricular Anaplastic Ependymoma: Therapeutic Approach and Clinical Review.

We report a 69-year-old patient with left paresthesia and hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a right frontoparietal cystic tumor. A subtotal surgical resection was performed, and an Ommaya reservoir was left in place.

Dual transcriptome of the immediate neutrophil and Candida albicans interplay.

Background: Neutrophils are traditionally considered transcriptionally inactive. Compared to other immune cells, little is known about their transcriptional profile during interaction with pathogens.

Methods: We analyzed the meta-transcriptome of the neutrophil-Candida albicans interplay and the transcriptome of C.

Opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans elicits a temporal response in primary human mast cells.

Immunosuppressed patients are frequently afflicted with severe mycoses caused by opportunistic fungal pathogens. Besides being a commensal, colonizing predominantly skin and mucosal surfaces, Candida albicans is the most common human fungal pathogen. Mast cells are present in tissues prone to fungal colonization being expectedly among the first immune cells to get into contact with C.

Novel high-throughput screening method for identification of fungal dimorphism blockers.

Invasive mycoses have been increasing worldwide, with Candida spp. being the most prevalent fungal pathogen causing high morbidity and mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Only few antimycotics exist, often with severe side effects.

Antifungal application of nonantifungal drugs.

Candida species are the cause of 60% of all mycoses in immunosuppressed individuals, leading to ∼150,000 deaths annually due to systemic infections, whereas the current antifungal therapies either have toxic side effects or are insufficiently efficient. We performed a screening of two compound libraries, the Enzo and the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) oncology collection library, for anti-Candida activity based on the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) guidelines. From a total of 844 drugs, 26 agents showed activity against Candida albicans.