Aspergillus fumigatus is the most prevalent airborne filamentous fungus causing invasive aspergillosis in immunocompromised individuals. Only a limited number of determinants directly associated with virulence are known, and the metabolic requirements of the fungus to grow inside a host have not yet been investigated. Previous studies on pathogenic microorganisms, i.e., the bacterium Mycobacter...

Aspergillus fumigatus is an important opportunistic fungal pathogen that is responsible for high mortality rates in the immunosuppressed population. CgrA, the A. fumigatus ortholog of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae nucleolar protein involved in ribosome biogenesis, contributes to the virulence of this fungus by supporting rapid growth at 37 degrees C. To determine how CgrA affects ribosome biogenes...

In the lung, Aspergillus fumigatus usually forms a dense colony of filaments embedded in a polymeric extracellular matrix called biofilm (BF). This extracellular matrix embeds and glues hyphae together and protects the fungus from an outside hostile environment. This extracellular matrix is absent in fungal colonies grown under classical liquid shake conditions (PL), which were historically use...

Macrophages and neutrophils kill the airborne fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus. The dependency of this killing process on reactive oxygen intermediates (ROI) has been strongly suggested. Therefore, we investigated the enzymatic ROI detoxifying system by proteome analysis of A. fumigatus challenged by H(2)O(2). Since many of the identified proteins and genes are apparently regulated by a pu...

A panel of cDNAs encoding allergenic proteins was isolated from an Aspergillus fumigatus cDNA library displayed on the surface of filamentous phage. Solid phase-immobilized serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) from A. fumigatus-allergic individuals was used to enrich phage displaying IgE-binding molecules. One of the cDNAs encoded a 11.1-kD protein that was identified as acidic ribosomal phosphoprotein...

Aspergillus fumigatus is a widespread opportunistic fungal pathogen causing an alarmingly high mortality rate in immunocompromised patients. Nosocomial infections by drug-resistant A. fumigatus strains are of particular concern, and there is a pressing need to understand the origin, dispersal and long-term evolution of drug resistance in this organism. The objective of this study was to investi...

Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) is difficult to diagnose; diagnosis relies on clinical, radiological, pathological, and serological criteria. Our aim was to assess the performance of two new commercially available kits and a new in-house assay: an Aspergillus fumigatus enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) IgG kit (Bordier Affinity Products), an Aspergillus Western blotting I...

Aspergillus fumigatus is an opportunistic pathogenic fungus that predominantly infects the respiratory system. Penetration of the lung alveolar epithelium is a key step in the infectious process. The cytoskeleton of alveolar epithelial cells forms the cellular basis for the formation of a physical barrier between the cells and their surroundings. This study focused on the distinct effects of A....

The incidence of Aspergillus fumigatus infections has become more frequent as a consequence of widespread immunosuppression. At present, the number of available antifungal agents in the clinic is limited, and most of them, such as itraconazole (ICZ), are toxic and show resistance. Berberine (BER) is a plant alkaloid used in the clinic mainly for alimentary infections. We have used BER and ICZ t...

Changes in methylation of CpG sites at the interleukin (IL)-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma promoters are associated with T helper (Th) 2 polarization in vitro. No previous studies have examined whether air pollution or allergen exposure alters methylation of these two genes in vivo. We hypothesized that diesel exhaust particles (DEP) would induce hypermethylation of the IFN-gamma promoter and hyp...