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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Live-cell Video Microscopy of Fungal Pathogen Phagocytosis
Published on: January 9, 2013
Evolutionarily conserved recognition and innate immunity to fungal pathogens by the scavenger receptors SCARF1 and
Terry K Means1, Eleftherios Mylonakis, Emmanouil Tampakakis
1Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases and Division of Rheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA. tmeans@partners.org
Abstract:
Receptors involved in innate immunity to fungal pathogens have not been fully elucidated. We show that the Caenorhabditis elegans receptors CED-1 and C03F11.3, and their mammalian orthologues, the scavenger receptors SCARF1 and CD36, mediate host defense against two prototypic fungal pathogens, Cryptococcus neoformans and Candida albicans. CED-1 and C03F11.1 mediated antimicrobial peptide production and were necessary for nematode survival after C. neoformans infection. SCARF1 and CD36 mediated cytokine production and were required for macrophage binding to C. neoformans, and control of the infection in mice. Binding of these pathogens to SCARF1 and CD36 was beta-glucan dependent. Thus, CED-1/SCARF1 and C03F11.3/CD36 are beta-glucan binding receptors and define an evolutionarily conserved pathway for the innate sensing of fungal pathogens.
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