Aspergillus fumigatus adhesion factors in dormant conidia revealed through comparative phenotypic and transcriptomic analyses.

ABSTRACT: Aspergillus fumigatus is an important fungal pathogen of humans. Inhaled conidia of A. fumigatus adhere to pulmonary epithelial cells, causing opportunistic infection. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of the adherence of resting conidia. Fungal molecules adhesive to host cells are presumed to be displayed on the conidial surface during conidial formation as a result of changes in gene expression. Therefore, we exhaustively searched for adhesion molecules by comparing the phenotypes and the gene expression profiles of A. fumigatus strains that have conidia showing either high or low adherence to human pulmonary A549 cells. Morphological observation suggested that strains that produce conidia of reduced size, hydrophobicity, or number show decreased adherence to A549 ce

SUBMITTER: Takahashi-Nakaguchi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5838799 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature