title: Identification of genes of Aspergillus fumigatus up-regulated during growth on endothelial cells.
abstract: Aspergillus fumigatus is an important opportunistic fungal pathogen that can cause acute invasive disease in neutropenic hosts. Invasive aspergillosis is being diagnosed with increasing frequency, and morbidity and mortality remain high despite prompt antifungal therapy. Because little is known about the virulence factors used by A. fumigatus, a tissue culture model was developed to mimic the interaction of the fungus with the endothelium. Differential display was used to compare gene expression in fungal cells grown on endothelial cells with that of cells grown in the absence of endothelial cell contact, and genes that were up-regulated were selected for analysis as putatively virulence-related genes. Two of these up-regulated genes were chosen for further study and were identified as genes encoding the regulatory subunit of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-dependent protein kinase and a member of the ras gene family, both of which are involved in cAMP-mediated signaling in fungi. This model system provides a new approach to the identification of potentially virulence-related genes induced in A. fumigatus by the interaction with host cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-0529, USA. Judith.Rhodes@uc.edu
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Rhodes
authors.forename: B G
authors.initials: BG
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Askew
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Amlung
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000382:microbiology; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology / Q000382:microbiology*; D015966:Gene Expression Regulation, Fungal; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D011905:Genes, ras; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014471:Umbilical Veins; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D017868:Cyclic AMP-Dependent Protein Kinases