A recombinant aspartyl protease of Coccidioides posadasii induces protection against pulmonary coccidioidomycosis in mice.

ABSTRACT: Coccidioidomycosis is a respiratory disease of humans caused by the desert soil-borne fungal pathogens Coccidioides spp. Recurrent epidemics of this mycosis in the southwestern United States have contributed significantly to escalated health care costs. Clinical and experimental studies indicate that prior symptomatic coccidioidomycosis induces immunity against subsequent infection, and activation of T cells is essential for containment of the pathogen and its clearance from host tissue. Development of a human vaccine against coccidioidomycosis has focused on recombinant T-cell-reactive antigens which elicit a durable protective immune response against pulmonary infection in mice. In this study we fractionated a protective multicomponent parasitic cell wall extract in an attempt to identif

SUBMITTER: Tarcha EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1346669 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature