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Systems biology of fungal infection

Fabian Horn1, Thorsten Heinekamp, Olaf Kniemeyer

  • 1Systems Biology/Bioinformatics, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute Jena, Germany.

Frontiers in Microbiology
|April 10, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Systems biology approaches are crucial for understanding fungal infections caused by Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans. Integrating omics and imaging data into models can reveal pathogenicity mechanisms and identify new therapeutic targets.

Area of Science:

  • Mycology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Systems Biology

Background:

  • Invasive fungal infections (IFIs) caused by Aspergillus fumigatus and Candida albicans are increasing.
  • Understanding host-pathogen interactions is key to combating IFIs.
  • Fungal morphotypes interact with host epithelial and immune cells during infection.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current efforts in applying systems biology to study fungal pathogenicity.
  • To explore the integration of omics and image-based data for modeling host-pathogen interactions.
  • To highlight the potential for identifying diagnostic biomarkers and therapeutic targets.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current research integrating omics data (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics) and image-based data.
  • Application of network and spatio-temporal modeling to analyze host-pathogen interactions.
  • Quantitative analysis of complex, non-linear interactions between fungal and host elements.

Main Results:

  • Systems biology enables a comprehensive understanding of the structure and dynamics of pathogenic interactions.
  • Integration of diverse data types into models reveals molecular and cellular cause-effect relationships.
  • Modeling facilitates the elucidation of fungal pathogenicity mechanisms.

Conclusions:

  • Systems biology approaches are essential for unraveling complex fungal infections.
  • Integrated modeling can identify novel diagnostic biomarkers and drug targets for antifungal therapies.
  • This approach may lead to new intervention strategies, including novel antifungal drugs and cell therapy.
Keywords:
Aspergillus fumigatusCandida albicansgene-regulatory networknetwork modelingpathogen-host interactionpathogenicityspatio-temporal modelingsystems biology

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