Trans-cellular tunnels induced by the fungal pathogen Candida albicans facilitate invasion through successive epithelial cells without host damage

Abstract

The fungal pathogen Candida albicans forms filamentous hyphae that can invade the epithelium. Here, Lachat et al. show that C. albicans early invasion of epithelial tissues can lead to either host membrane breaching and host cell death, or trans-cellular tunnelling through host cells without membrane breaching.