A metalloproteinase of Coccidioides posadasii contributes to evasion of host detection.

ABSTRACT: Coccidioides posadasii is a fungal respiratory pathogen of humans that can cause disease in immunocompetent individuals. Coccidioidomycosis ranges from a mild to a severe infection. It is frequently characterized either as a persistent disease that requires months to resolve or as an essentially asymptomatic infection that can reactivate several years after the original insult. In this report we describe a mechanism by which the pathogen evades host detection during the pivotal reproductive (endosporulation) phase of the parasitic cycle. A metalloproteinase (Mep1) secreted during endospore differentiation digests an immunodominant cell surface antigen (SOWgp) and prevents host recognition of endospores during the phase of development when these fungal cells are most vulnerable to phagocyti

SUBMITTER: Hung CY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1230962 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature