Publications by authors named "Zaragoza O"

Background: Candida parapsilosis is a pathogenic yeast that has reduced susceptibility to echinocandins and ranks as the second or third leading cause of candidaemia, depending on the geographical region. This yeast often causes nosocomial infections, which are frequently detected as outbreaks. In recent years, resistance to azoles in C.

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  • * Researchers used single-domain nanobodies from camels to target a specific enzyme (β-1,3-glucanosyltransferases) crucial for fungal survival, revealing important structural insights.
  • * The tested nanobody showed strong antifungal effects in laboratory settings and in animal models, particularly against certain strains of C. neoformans, suggesting it could be a promising avenue for developing new antifungal therapies.
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Small molecules are components of fungal extracellular vesicles (EVs), but their biological roles are only superficially known. is a eukaryotic gene that is required for the activity of benzimidazoles against . In this study, during the phenotypic characterization of mutants expected to lack expression, we observed a reduced EV production.

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  • Fungal infections are becoming a big problem worldwide because many fungi are not affected by current medicines, and new treatments are needed.
  • Scientists studied a new antifungal compound called NR-6226C, which fights harmful fungi without being too harmful to human cells.
  • NR-6226C works by taking away iron that fungi need to grow, causing them to get very sick and helping infected organisms survive better.
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  • Researchers are studying a type of yeast that can grow larger cells called "titan cells," which help it survive in hosts.
  • They used old drugs and a special method to look at the size of these yeast cells to find which drugs stop them from getting big.
  • They discovered that some of these drugs are antioxidants, showing that certain changes in the yeast's cells are important for making titan cells, and more research can help understand how these cells make the yeast stronger.
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  • - Organoids are tiny structures that act like real organs, and they're helpful for studying how our body reacts to germs and medicines in a way that’s more like what happens inside a living thing.
  • - Scientists are especially interested in using these organoids to learn more about a fungus called Cryptococcus neoformans, which can make sick people even sicker, especially those with weak immune systems.
  • - The research focuses on using special lung organoids made from stem cells to see how this fungus sticks to, invades, and grows in our lungs, as well as how our lungs' defenses respond to it.
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In an 80-year-old man with long-term dysphagia, an upper endoscopy was performed and biopsy samples collected for microbiological and pathological tests, showing fungal structures. was isolated in microbiological cultures that were later confirmed with DNA sequencing. Susceptibility tests were performed, and antifungal treatment was initiated with a clinical, pathological, and microbiological response.

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Several approaches have been developed to analyze the entry of highly pathogenic viruses. In this study, we report the implementation of a Bimolecular Multicellular Complementation (BiMuC) assay to safely and efficiently monitor SARS-CoV-2 S-mediated membrane fusion without the need for microscopy-based equipment. Using BiMuC, we screened a library of approved drugs and identified compounds that enhance S protein-mediated cell-cell membrane fusion.

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Lipid droplets (LD), triglycerides and sterol esters among them, are well known for their capacity as lipid storage organelles. Recently, they have emerged as critical cytoplasmic structures involved in numerous biological functions. LD storage is generated de novo by the cell and provides an energy reserve, lipid precursors, and cell protection.

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Flippases transport lipids across the membrane bilayer to generate and maintain asymmetry. The human fungal pathogen Candida albicans has 5 flippases, including Drs2, which is critical for filamentous growth and phosphatidylserine (PS) distribution. Furthermore, a drs2 deletion mutant is hypersensitive to the antifungal drug fluconazole and copper ions.

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Background: Following the invasion of eukaryotic cells, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium replaces PBP2/PBP3, main targets of β-lactam antibiotics, with PBP2SAL/PBP3SAL, two homologue peptidoglycan synthases absent in Escherichia coli. PBP3SAL promotes pathogen cell division in acidic environments independently of PBP3 and shows low affinity for β-lactams that bind to PBP3 such as aztreonam, cefepime, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, cefuroxime and cefalotin.

Objectives: To find compounds with high affinity for PBP3SAL to control Salmonella intracellular infections.

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  • Candidemia, often linked to medical implants, has seen rising cases of fluconazole-resistant strains in Spain, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A study analyzed 1,315 yeast isolates from 2000 to 2021, revealing increased instances of acquired resistance to fluconazole and voriconazole in various Spanish hospitals.
  • Three prevalent clones were identified, with a need for further research to understand their expansion and genetic connections.
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Objectives: Rezafungin EUCAST MIC testing has been associated with notable inter-laboratory variation, which prevented ECOFF setting for C. albicans. We assessed in vitro susceptibility and reproducibility for a modified EUCAST methodology and established associated wild-type upper limits (WT-ULs).

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The new generation of organoids derived from human pluripotent stem cells holds a promising strategy for modeling host-bacteria interaction studies. Organoids recapitulate the composition, diversity of cell types, and, to some extent, the functional features of the native organ. We generated lung bud organoids derived from human embryonic stem cells to study the interaction of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) with the alveolar epithelium.

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Background: is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause meningitis in immunocompromised individuals. The objective of this work was to study the relationship between the phenotypes and genotypes of isolates of clinical origin from different cities in Colombia.

Methods: Genome classification of 29 clinical isolates of var.

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is a pathogenic yeast that can form Titan cells in the lungs, which are fungal cells of abnormally large size. The factors that regulate Titan cell formation in vivo are still unknown, although an increased proportion of these fungal cells of infected mice correlates with induction of Th2-type responses. Here, we focused on the role played by the cytokine IL-17 in the formation of cryptococcal Titan cells using knockout mice.

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Phosphatidylinositol phosphates are key phospholipids with a range of regulatory roles, including membrane trafficking and cell polarity. Phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate [PI(4)P] at the Golgi apparatus is required for the budding-to-filamentous-growth transition in the human-pathogenic fungus Candida albicans; however, the role of plasma membrane PI(4)P is unclear. We have investigated the importance of this phospholipid in C.

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Unlabelled: In fungi, metals are associated with the expression of virulence factors. However, it is unclear whether the uptake of metals affects their pathogenicity. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of iron/copper in modulating pathogenicity and proteomic response in two clinical isolates of with high and low pathogenicity.

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Due to its location, the fungal cell wall is the compartment that allows the interaction with the environment and/or the host, playing an important role during infection as well as in different biological functions such as cell morphology, cell permeability and protection against stress. All these processes involve the activation of signaling pathways within the cell. The cell wall integrity (CWI) pathway is the main route responsible for maintaining the functionality and proper structure of the cell wall.

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Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is the most common cause of severe respiratory infections in infants and young children, often leading to hospitalization. In addition, this virus poses a serious health risk in immunocompromised individuals and the elderly. HRSV is also a major nosocomial hazard in healthcare service units for patients of all ages.

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has emerged as a fungal pathogen that causes nosocomial outbreaks worldwide. Diseases caused by this fungus are of concern, due to its reduced susceptibility to several antifungals. exhibits paradoxical growth (PG; defined as growth at high, but not intermediate antifungal concentrations) in the presence of caspofungin (CPF).

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Candida tropicalis is a human pathogen that primarily infects the immunocompromised. Whereas the genome of one isolate, C. tropicalis MYA-3404, was originally sequenced in 2009, there have been no large-scale, multi-isolate studies of the genetic and phenotypic diversity of this species.

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Invasive fungal diseases represent an unmet clinical need that could benefit from novel immunotherapeutic approaches. Host pattern recognition receptors (e.g.

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Background: Rhodotorula species were traditionally considered non-virulent environmental microorganisms, but are nowadays considered important human pathogens, especially in immunocompromised individuals.

Case Report: We present the case of a 73 year-old man with diarrhea, anorexia and fever. In the blood analyses, both aerobic blood culture bottles yielded the growth of Rhodotorula dairenensis.

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