Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology (Nov 2016)

Anti-immune strategies of pathogenic fungi.

  • Caroline Maria Marcos,
  • Haroldo Cesar Oliveira,
  • Wanessa de Cássia Martins Antunes de Melo,
  • Julhiany De Fátima Da Silva,
  • Patricia Akemi Assato,
  • Liliana Scorzoni,
  • Suélen Andreia Rossi,
  • Ana Carolina Alves De Paula E Silva,
  • Maria José Soares Mendes-Giannini,
  • Ana Marisa Fusco-Almeida

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2016.00142
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6

Abstract

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Pathogenic fungi have developed many strategies to evade the host immune system. Multiple escape mechanisms appear to function together to inhibit attack by the various stages of both the adaptive and the innate immune response. Thus, after entering the host, such pathogens fight to overcome the immune system to allow their survival, colonization and spread to different sites of infection. Consequently, the establishment of a successful infectious process is closely related to the ability of the pathogen to modulate attack by the immune system. Most strategies employed to subvert or exploit the immune system are shared among different species of fungi. In this review, we summarize the main strategies employed for immune evasion by some of the major pathogenic fungi.

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