title: Interference of Aspergillus fumigatus with the immune response.
abstract: Aspergillus fumigatus is a saprotrophic filamentous fungus and also the most prevalent airborne fungal pathogen of humans. Depending on the host's immune status, the variety of diseases caused by A. fumigatus ranges from allergies in immunocompetent hosts to life-threatening invasive infections in patients with impaired immunity. In contrast to the majority of other Aspergillus species, which are in most cases nonpathogenic, A. fumigatus features an armory of virulence determinants to establish an infection. For example, A. fumigatus is able to evade the human complement system by binding or degrading complement regulators. Furthermore, the fungus interferes with lung epithelial cells, alveolar macrophages, and neutrophil granulocytes to prevent killing by these immune cells. This chapter summarizes the different strategies of A. fumigatus to manipulate the immune response. We also discuss the potential impact of recent advances in immunoproteomics to improve diagnosis and therapy of an A. fumigatus infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Applied Microbiology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (HKI), Jena, Germany, thorsten.heinekamp@hki-jena.de.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heinekamp
authors.forename: Hella
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lapp
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pähtz
authors.forename: Iordana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Shopova
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Köster-Eiserfunke
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Krüger
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kniemeyer
authors.forename: Axel A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brakhage
mesh_terms: D056809:Alveolar Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D000946:Antigens, Fungal / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001232:Aspergillus fumigatus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D003165:Complement System Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D057131:Immune Evasion; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000382:microbiology; D040901:Proteomics
chemical_list: D000946:Antigens, Fungal; D003165:Complement System Proteins