title: Host cell invasion by medically important fungi.
abstract: To infect the host and cause disease, many medically important fungi invade normally nonphagocytic host cells, such as endothelial cells and epithelial cells. Host cell invasion is a two-step process consisting of adherence followed by invasion. There are two general mechanisms of host cell invasion, induced endocytosis and active penetration. Furthermore, fungi can traverse epithelial or endothelial cell barriers either by proteolytic degradation of intercellular tight junctions or via a Trojan horse mechanism in which they are transported by leukocytes. Although these mechanisms of host cell invasion have been best studied using Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans, it is probable that other invasive fungi also use one or more of these mechanisms to invade host cells. Identification of these invasion mechanisms holds promise to facilitate the development of new approaches to inhibit fungal invasion and thereby prevent disease.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Microbiology and Immunology and Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Donald C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sheppard
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California 90502 David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90025.
authors.forename: Scott G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Filler
mesh_terms: D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D005658:Fungi / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D009181:Mycoses / Q000382:microbiology*