Complement C3 plays an essential role in the control of opportunistic fungal infections.
The innate recognition of fungal pathogens is a crucial first step in the induction of protective antifungal immunity. Complement is thought to be one key component in this process, facilitating fungal recognition and inducing early inflammation. However, the roles of the individual complement components have not been examined extensively. Here we have used mice lacking C3 to examine its role in immunity to opportunistic fungal pathogens and show that this complement component is essential for resistance to infections with Candida albicans and Candida glabrata. We demonstrate that the absence of C3 impairs fungal clearance but does not affect inflammatory responses. We also show that the presence of C3 contributes to mortality in mice challenged with very high doses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although these effects were found to be mouse strain dependent.
Tsoni
S Vicky
SV
Division of Immunology, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, CLS, University of Cape Town, Cape Town 7925, South Africa.
Kerrigan
Ann M
AM
Marakalala
Mohlopheni J
MJ
Srinivasan
Naren
N
Duffield
Maureen
M
Taylor
Philip R
PR
Botto
Marina
M
Steele
Chad
C
Brown
Gordon D
GD
D000818:Animals; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology; D041221:Candida glabrata / Q000276:immunology; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D007249:Inflammation / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D009181:Mycoses / Q000276:immunology*; D009894:Opportunistic Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000276:immunology
D003176:Complement C3