Brilacidin, a novel antifungal agent against .

Unlabelled: causes cryptococcosis, one of the most prevalent fungal diseases, generally characterized by meningitis. There is a limited and not very effective number of drugs available to combat this disease. In this manuscript, we show the host defense peptide mimetic brilacidin (BRI) as a promising antifungal drug against .

An ELISA-based method for apolipophorin-III quantification.

Mammalian models, such as murine, are used widely in pathophysiological studies because they have a high degree of similarity in body temperature, metabolism, and immune response with humans. However, non-vertebrate animal models have emerged as alternative models to study the host-pathogen interaction with minimal ethical concerns. is an alternative model that has proved useful in studying the interaction of the host with either bacteria or fungi, performing drug testing, and assessing the immunological response to different microorganisms.

Milteforan, a promising veterinary commercial product against feline sporotrichosis.

Sporotrichosis, the cutaneous mycosis most commonly reported in Latin America, is caused by the clinical clade species, including and . In Brazil, represents a vital health threat to humans and domestic animals due to its zoonotic transmission. Itraconazole, terbinafine, and amphotericin B are the most used antifungals for treating sporotrichosis.

The Emerging Pathogen : Biological Aspects, Virulence Factors, Diagnosis, and Treatment.

Fungal infections represent a constant and growing menace to public health. This concern is due to the emergence of new fungal species and the increase in antifungal drug resistance. Mycoses caused by species are among the most common nosocomial infections and are associated with high mortality rates when the infection affects deep-seated organs.

Differential Recognition of , , and by Human Monocyte-Derived Macrophages and Dendritic Cells.

Background: Sporotrichosis is a mycosis frequently caused by , and . The cell wall is a species-specific fungal structure with a direct role in activating the host's immune response. The current knowledge about anti- immunity comes from studies using or and murine cells.

Differential Recognition of Clinically Relevant Species by Human Mononuclear Cells.

Sporotrichosis is a human and animal fungal infection distributed worldwide that is caused by the thermodimorphic species of the pathogenic clade, which includes , , and . The cell wall composition and the immune response against the species have been studied mainly in and , whilst little is known about the cell wall and the immune response that its components trigger. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to analyze the cell wall composition of in three morphologies (germlings, conidia, and yeast-like cells) and the differences in cytokine production when human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) interact with these morphotypes, using and as a comparison.

Moonlighting proteins in medically relevant fungi.

Moonlighting proteins represent an intriguing area of cell biology, due to their ability to perform two or more unrelated functions in one or many cellular compartments. These proteins have been described in all kingdoms of life and are usually constitutively expressed and conserved proteins with housekeeping functions. Although widely studied in pathogenic bacteria, the information about these proteins in pathogenic fungi is scarce, but there are some reports of their functions in the etiological agents of the main human mycoses, such as spp.

The Search for Cryptic L-Rhamnosyltransferases on the Genome.

The fungal cell wall is an attractive structure to look for new antifungal drug targets and for understanding the host-fungus interaction. is one of the main causative agents of both human and animal sporotrichosis and currently is the species most studied of the genus. The cell wall of this organism has been previously analyzed, and rhamnoconjugates are signature molecules found on the surface of both mycelia and yeast-like cells.

Mucormycosis and COVID-19-Associated Mucormycosis: Insights of a Deadly but Neglected Mycosis.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has quickly become a health threat worldwide, with high mortality and morbidity among patients with comorbidities. This viral infection promotes the perfect setting in patients for the development of opportunistic infections, such as those caused by fungi. Mucormycosis, a rare but deadly fungal infection, has recently increased its incidence, especially in endemic areas, since the onset of the pandemic.

Biological and Clinical Attributes of , a Causative Agent of Sporotrichosis.

Sporotrichosis is an important subcutaneous mycosis with high prevalence and threat to human and animal health worldwide. , and are the main etiological agents of this disease; and even though many efforts have been made recently to understand the -host interaction, little is known about , an underestimated species. This organism shows the lowest virulence among the members of the pathogenic clade and represents an important pathogenic agent due to its global distribution.

Virulence Factors of .

is one of the etiological agents of sporotrichosis. In this review, we discuss the virulence factors that have been proven to participate in the -host interaction. Among these known factors, we can find cell wall glycoproteins, adhesins, melanin, extracellular vesicles, and dimorphism.

Current Models to Study the -Host Interaction.

Sporotrichosis is a worldwide distributed subcutaneous mycosis that affects mammals, including human beings. The infection is caused by members of the pathogenic clade, which includes , and . The fungus can be acquired through traumatic inoculation of conidia growing in vegetal debris or by zoonotic transmission from sick animals.

The Heat Shock Protein 60 and Pap1 Participate in the -Host Interaction.

is one of the etiological agents of sporotrichosis, a worldwide-distributed subcutaneous mycosis. Its cell wall contains a glycoconjugate composed of rhamnose, mannose, glucuronic acid, and proteins, named peptidorhamnomannan, which harbors important -specific immunogenic epitopes. Although the peptidorhamnomannan carbohydrate moiety has been extensively studied, thus far, little is known about the protein core.

Role of Protein Glycosylation in Interactions of Medically Relevant Fungi with the Host.

Protein glycosylation is a highly conserved post-translational modification among organisms. It plays fundamental roles in many biological processes, ranging from protein trafficking and cell adhesion to host-pathogen interactions. According to the amino acid side chain atoms to which glycans are linked, protein glycosylation can be divided into two major categories: glycosylation and glycosylation.

as an Alternative Model to Analyze the Species Virulence.

Background: Sporotrichosis is an increasing threat for humans, affecting mainly skin and subcutaneous tissues but that can cause disseminated infection in immunocompromised patients. , and are the main etiological agents of this mycosis, and each species show different virulence levels. The gold standard to assess fungal virulence is the mouse model that is expensive and time-consuming.

Influences of the Culturing Media in the Virulence and Cell Wall of , , and .

, , and are etiological agents of sporotrichosis, a human subcutaneous mycosis. Although the protocols to evaluate virulence in animal models are well described, the cell preparation before inoculation is not standardized, and several culturing media are used to grow yeast-like cells. Here, we found that carbon or nitrogen limitation during fungal cell preparation negatively impacted the ability of and to kill larvae, but not .

Early Virulence Predictors during the Species- Interaction.

Fungal infections are a serious and increasing threat for human health, and one of the most frequent etiological agents for systemic mycoses is spp. The gold standard to assess virulence is the mouse model of systemic candidiasis, a restrictive, expensive, and time-consuming approach; therefore, invertebrate models have been proposed as alternatives. larvae have several traits that make them good candidates to study the fungal virulence.

Recognition of Fungal Components by the Host Immune System.

By being the first point of contact of the fungus with the host, the cell wall plays an important role in the pathogenesis, having many molecules that participate as antigens that are recognized by immune cells, and also that help the fungus to establish infection. The main molecules reported to trigger an immune response are chitin, glucans, oligosaccharides, proteins, melanin, phospholipids, and others, being present in the principal pathogenic fungi with clinical importance worldwide, such as Histoplasma capsulatum, Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, Aspergillus fumigatus, Candida albicans, Cryptococcus neoformans, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Sporothrix schenckii. Knowledge and understanding of how the immune system recognizes and responds to fungal antigens are relevant for the future research and development of new diagnostic tools and treatments for the control of mycosis caused by these fungi.

Virulence Factors in , One of the Causative Agents of Sporotrichosis.

Sporothrix schenckii is one of the etiological agents of sporotrichosis, a fungal infection distributed worldwide. Both, the causative organism and the disease have currently received limited attention by the medical mycology community, most likely because of the low mortality rates associated with it. Nonetheless, morbidity is high in endemic regions and the versatility of S.

Differential recognition of , , , and by human innate immune cells.

Background: The deep-seated infections caused by the genus are associated with a high mortality rate, and is the most frequent species associated with these diseases. The fungal wall is composed of macromolecules not synthesized by the host, and therefore is a source of ligands recognized by innate immune cells.

Methods: We performed a comparative study analyzing the cell wall composition and organization of , , and , along with their ability to stimulate cytokine production and phagocytosis by human innate immune cells.

Analysis of some immunogenic properties of the recombinant Sporothrix schenckii Gp70 expressed in Escherichia coli.

Aim: Sporothrix schenckii is the causative agent of sporotrichosis. A 70-kDa glycoprotein, Gp70, is a candidate for the development of prophylactic alternatives to control the disease, and its gene (GP70) is predicted to encode for a protein of 43 kDa, contrasting with the molecular weight of the native protein.

Materials & Methods: The GP70 was expressed in bacteria, the recombinant protein purified, used in immunoassays and injected to Galleria mellonella.

Immunity and Treatment of Sporotrichosis.

Species of the complex are the etiological agents of sporotrichosis, an important subcutaneous mycosis with several clinical forms and an increasing incidence around the world that affects humans and other mammals. The immunological mechanisms involved in the prevention and control of this mycosis are not entirely understood. Many reports have suggested that cell-mediated immunity has an essential role in the development of the disease, being the primary response controlling it, while only recent data supports that the humoral response is essential for the appropriate control.

Current trends to control fungal pathogens: exploiting our knowledge in the host-pathogen interaction.

Human fungal infections remain a major challenge in medicine. Only a limited number of antifungal drugs are available, which are often related to severe adverse effects. In addition, there is an increased emergence related to resistant strains, which makes imperative to understand the host-pathogen interactions as well as to develop alternative treatments.