[PERSPECTIVES] Innate Defense against Fungal Pathogens

Human fungal infections have been on the rise in recent years and proved increasingly difficult to treat as a result of the lack of diagnostics, effective antifungal therapies, and vaccines. Most pathogenic fungi do not cause disease unless there is a disturbance in immune homeostasis, which can be caused by modern medical interventions, disease-induced immunosuppression, and naturally occurring human mutations. The innate immune system is well equipped to recognize and destroy pathogenic fungi through specialized cells expressing a broad range of pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). This review will outline the cells and PRRs required for effective antifungal immunity, with a special focus on the major antifungal cytokine IL-17 and recently characterized antifungal inflammasomes.

Source: Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in medicine - June 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Drummond, R. A., Gaffen, S. L., Hise, A. G., Brown, G. D. Tags: Human Fungal Pathogens PERSPECTIVES Source Type: research