title: Mycoviruses: future therapeutic agents of invasive fungal infections in humans?
abstract: Invasive fungal infections are relatively common opportunistic infections in immunocompromised patients and are still associated with a high mortality rate. Furthermore, these infections are often complicated by resistance or refractoriness to current antimicrobial agents. Therefore, an urgent need exists for new therapeutic strategies based on the identification of new microbial targets and novel antimicrobial agents. One such hypothetical therapeutic strategy may involve the use of mycoviruses that are able to selectively infect fungi. Current knowledge of mycoviruses of human pathogenic fungi and the scope for using (recombinant) mycoviruses as future biological control agents are reviewed here.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, s-Gravendijkwal 230, 3015 CE, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W W J
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: van de Sande
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lo-Ten-Foe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Belkum
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Netea
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Kullberg
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Vonk
mesh_terms: D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000639:trends; D005658:Fungi / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents