Dynamic Fungal Cell Wall Architecture in Stress Adaptation and Immune Evasion

Alex Hopke; Alistair J P Brown; Rebecca A Hall; Robert T Wheeler

doi:10.1016/j.tim.2018.01.007

Dynamic Fungal Cell Wall Architecture in Stress Adaptation and Immune Evasion

Trends Microbiol. 2018 Apr;26(4):284-295. doi: 10.1016/j.tim.2018.01.007. Epub 2018 Feb 13.

Authors

Alex Hopke¹, Alistair J P Brown², Rebecca A Hall³, Robert T Wheeler⁴

Affiliations

¹ Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA; Current address: BioMEMS Resource Center, Division of Surgery, Innovation and Bioengineering, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Shriners Burns Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA.
² MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Foresterhill, Aberdeen, UK.
³ Institute of Microbiology and Infection, and School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK.
⁴ Molecular & Biomedical Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA; Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, ME, USA. Electronic address: robert.wheeler1@maine.edu.

Abstract

Deadly infections from opportunistic fungi have risen in frequency, largely because of the at-risk immunocompromised population created by advances in modern medicine and the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This review focuses on dynamics of the fungal polysaccharide cell wall, which plays an outsized role in fungal pathogenesis and therapy because it acts as both an environmental barrier and as the major interface with the host immune system. Human fungal pathogens use architectural strategies to mask epitopes from the host and prevent immune surveillance, and recent work elucidates how biotic and abiotic stresses present during infection can either block or enhance masking. The signaling components implicated in regulating fungal immune recognition can teach us how cell wall dynamics are controlled, and represent potential targets for interventions designed to boost or dampen immunity.

Keywords: cell wall; evasion; fungi; glucan; innate immunity.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Adaptation, Physiological*
Cell Wall / chemistry
Cell Wall / immunology*
Epitopes
Fungal Proteins / immunology*
Fungi / chemistry
Fungi / immunology*
Fungi / pathogenicity
Glucans / immunology
Host-Pathogen Interactions / immunology
Humans
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Immune Evasion*
Immunity, Innate
Lactic Acid
Mycoses / immunology*
Polysaccharides

Substances

Epitopes
Fungal Proteins
Glucans
Polysaccharides
Lactic Acid

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding