The Cryptococcus neoformans/Cryptococcus gattii species complex is a group of fungal pathogens with different phenotypic and genotypic diversity that cause disease in immunocompromised patients as well as in healthy individuals. The immune response resulting from the interaction between Cryptococcus and the host immune system is a key determinant of the disease outcome. The species C. neoforman...

The role of antibody immunity in protection against fungal infections has been uncertain for decades. This is in sharp contrast to bacteria, viruses, and protozoa where antibody immunity is widely acknowledged to contribute to protection. This raises the questions: Do protective antibodies against fungi exist?; Why has it been so difficult to demonstrate conclusively that antibody immunity prot...

Systemic fungal infections with primary and opportunistic pathogens have become increasingly common and represent a growing health menace in patients with AIDS and other immune deficiencies. T lymphocyte immunity, in particular the CD4+ Th 1 cells, is considered the main defense against these pathogens, and their absence is associated with increased susceptibility. It would seem illogical then ...

Host resistance against parasites depends on three aspects: the ability to prevent, control and clear infections. In vertebrates the immune system consists of innate and adaptive immunity. Innate immunity is particularly important for preventing infection and eradicating established infections at an early stage while adaptive immunity is slow, but powerful, and essential for controlling infecti...

Generalizations concerning immunity to virus diseases have required constant modification as information has developed concerning the different agents and their activities within the host. Although the viruses are similar in requiring an intracellular habitat, the great diversity in routes of infection, the tissues attacked, and the types of injury produced-necrotizing, proliferative, exudative...

Resolution of infections depends on the host's ability to mount a protective immune response. However, an exacerbated response to infections may result in deleterious lesions. Consequently, immunoregulatory mechanisms are needed to control immune response and prevent infection-associated lesions. Interleukin 10 may be a major regulator of innate and adaptive immunity in vitro and in animals, bu...

Immunity to previously encountered viruses can alter responses to unrelated pathogens. This phenomenon, which is known as heterologous immunity, has been well established in animal model systems. Heterologous immunity appears to be relatively common and may be beneficial by boosting protective responses. However, heterologous reactivity can also result in severe immunopathology. The key feature...

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common autosomal recessive lethal disease in the Caucasian population. Chronic respiratory infections with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, neutrophil-dominated airway inflammation and progressive lung damage are the major causes of morbidity and mortality in CF. Two persistent infection phenotypes expressed by this bacterium are biofilm and mucoidy. Biofilm, also called...

The discovery of the molecular nature of T cell-mediated immunity is reviewed in a historical context. Current approaches to understanding virus-induced inflammatory processes are described.