Surrogate infection model predicts optimal alveolar macrophage number for clearance of Aspergillus fumigatus infections.

ABSTRACT: The immune system has to fight off hundreds of microbial invaders every day, such as the human-pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. The fungal conidia can reach the lower respiratory tract, swell and form hyphae within six hours causing life-threatening invasive aspergillosis. Invading pathogens are continuously recognized and eliminated by alveolar macrophages (AM). Their number plays an essential role, but remains controversial with measurements varying by a factor greater than ten for the human lung. We here investigate the impact of the AM number on the clearance of A. fumigatus conidia in humans and mice using analytical and numerical modeling approaches. A three-dimensional to-scale hybrid agent-based model (hABM) of the human and murine alveolus allowed us to simulate millions o

SUBMITTER: Saffer C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10086013 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature