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Author Spotlight: Investigating Fungal Pathogenicity Mechanisms in Maize
Published on: September 15, 2023
Immune cells fold and damage fungal hyphae
Judith M Bain1, M Fernanda Alonso1, Delma S Childers1
1Aberdeen Fungal Group, Institute of Medical Sciences, Foresterhill, AB25 2ZD Aberdeen, United Kingdom.
None:
Innate immunity provides essential protection against life-threatening fungal infections. However, the outcomes of individual skirmishes between immune cells and fungal pathogens are not a foregone conclusion because some pathogens have evolved mechanisms to evade phagocytic recognition, engulfment, and killing. For example, Candida albicans can escape phagocytosis by activating cellular morphogenesis to form lengthy hyphae that are challenging to engulf. Through live imaging of C. albicans-macrophage interactions, we discovered that macrophages can counteract this by folding fungal hyphae. The folding of fungal hyphae is promoted by Dectin-1, β2-integrin, VASP, actin-myosin polymerization, and cell motility. Folding facilitates the complete engulfment of long hyphae in some cases and it inhibits hyphal growth, presumably tipping the balance toward successful fungal clearance.
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