Innate and cell-mediated immunity are considered as the principal defence lines against fungal infections in humans. Most opportunistic mycoses occur in individuals with defective innate and/or adaptive cellular immunity. The morbidity and mortality rates associated with infections caused by fungal pathogens are high, and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of these infections remain quite diff...

The small GTPase Ras acts as a master regulator of growth, stress response and cell death in eukaryotic cells. The control of Ras activity is fundamental, as highlighted by the oncogenic properties of constitutive forms of Ras proteins. Ras also plays a crucial role in the pathogenicity of fungal pathogens where it has been found to regulate a number of adaptions required for virulence. The imp...

Fungal pathogens represent a leading cause of life-threatening infections in debilitated patients and exert a substantial toll on health care resources. A major development in the past few years, resulting from extremely rapid technological advances, has been the elucidation of the genome sequences of all of the major human fungal pathogens. Together with the development of transcriptomics and ...

Fungi cause more than a billion skin infections, more than 100 million mucosal infections, 10 million serious allergies and more than a million deaths each year. Global mortality owing to fungal infections is greater than for malaria and breast cancer and is equivalent to that owing to tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. These statistics evidence fungal infections as a major threat to human health and a...

Fungal cellulases offer advantages of a secreted enzyme complex and relative easiness and economy of producing enzyme. Considerable amount of work has been done on fungal cellulases, especially with resurgence of interest in biomass-ethanol and concept of bio-refineries. Significant information has also been gained on basic biology of organisms producing cellulases, and in process development f...

we present a case of allergic fungal sinusitis (afb) in a 20-year old man with few months' history of bilateral nasal obstruction and discharge with unilateral proptosis that underwent maxillary antrostomy due to the mass in paranasal sinuses. histological examination of tissue showed branching fungal hyphae interspersed with allergic mucin without fungal invasion to soft tissue. the patient re...

Systemic fungal infection occurs in approximately one per cent of the infants in neonatal intensive care units(l,2). Prematurity, prolonged endotracheal intubation, arterial and central venous catheters, use of broad spectrum antibiotics and steroids, necrotizing enterocolitis and gastrointestinal surgery have been associated with development of invasive fungal infections in these infants(l-3)....