title: Complement, Candida, and cytokines: the role of C5a in host response to fungi.
abstract: Complement is the central host defense system that clears invading microbes and balances homeostasis. Pathogenic microbes such as Candida albicans have to breach this efficient and important immune defense layer in order to propagate within the host and to establish an infection. Knowing exactly how the activated complement cascade responds to and attacks microbial invaders is central to understanding the immune battle and the infection process. This also allows a better understanding of how Candida counteracts the individual steps of host innate immunity. Ultimately this knowledge will allow the design of appropriate therapeutic molecules. In this issue Cheng et al. [Eur. J. Immunol. 2012. 42: 993-1004] identify a new cellular effect of the activated human complement system in the defense against the fungal pathogen C. albicans. The authors show that the complement activation fragment C5a, which is formed in response to Candida infection, induces the cellular release of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-1β.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Department of Infection Biology, Beutenbergstrasse, Jena, Germany. peter.zipfel@hki-jena.de
authors.forename: Peter F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Zipfel
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Skerka
mesh_terms: D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology*; D002177:Candidiasis / Q000276:immunology*; D003167:Complement Activation / Q000276:immunology*; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000276:immunology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000276:immunology*; D009000:Monocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: C508585:IL1B protein, human; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D015850:Interleukin-6; D003165:Complement System Proteins