Animal models in the analysis of Candida host-pathogen interactions.
An increasingly diverse array of clinically relevant animal models of candidiasis have been established that mimic both the immune perturbations of the host and tissue-specific features of candidiasis in humans. Cause-and-effect analysis of Candida host-pathogen interactions using these animal models has made a quantum leap forward in the genomic era, with the concurrent construction of C. albicans mutants with targeted mutations of putative virulence factors, the application of microarrays and other emerging technologies to comprehensively assess C. albicans gene expression in vivo, and construction of transgenic and knockout mice to simulate specific host immunodeficiencies. The opportunity to combine these powerful tools will yield an unprecedented wealth of new information on the molecular and cellular pathogenesis of candidiasis.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sainte-Justine Hospital and University of Montreal, 3175 Côte Ste-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1C5. louis.de.repentigny@umontreal.ca
Louis
L
de Repentigny
D000818:Animals; D002175:Candida / Q000145:classification / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011817:Rabbits; D051381:Rats; D014774:Virulence