Fungal infection: A protein weakens the immune system

Aspergillus fumigatus uses a surface protein of its spores to slow down the human immune system

06-Sep-2024 - The mold Aspergillus fumigatus produces an enzyme on the surface of its spores with which it can attenuate the human immune response. This makes it easier for for the fungus to colonize human tissue with severe courses of infection. An international research team has now published the results in ...

A fungus gets comfortable

14-Aug-2023 - Aspergillus fumigatus strains that infect humans have a significantly altered metabolism compared to other strains in the environment. At the same time, infection with the fungus leads to an apparent change in the human lung microbiome. Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product ...

Fungal spores hijack lung cells

New target against Aspergillus fumigatus discovered

14-Mar-2023 - The pathogenic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus escapes elimination from surface cells of the human lung by binding to a human protein. In doing so, it is able to nest in so called phagosomes, confined areas in the lung cells, and thus prevents cell processes that would kill the fungus from being set ...

Holes in T cells

Study reveals previously unknown function of immune cells

09-Jan-2023 - Certain T cells can secrete cytokines that are normally part of the innate immune system, as researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology (Leibniz-HKI) and an international research team discovered. They have thus revealed several previously unknown ...

How a fungus hijacks our immune system

The pathogen lets humans fuel its own growth

10-Feb-2022 - During infection, the yeast Candida albicans stimulates the release of tiny RNA fragments, which then stimulate its own growth. An international research team led by the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) in Jena has ...

The pangenome - key to new therapies

Genetic diversity opens up new ways to treat life-threatening diseases

26-Nov-2021 - Aspergillus fumigatus is a fungus that is widespread in the environment and causes life-threatening infections in humans. An international team of researchers has now taken a closer look at the pathogen's great genetic diversity. Serious fungal infections The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus causes ...

Candidalysin – the first toxin of Candida albicans

Team of German and British scientists discovers tissue-damaging fungal toxin

26-Apr-2016 - In a pioneering study, scientists in Jena, Borstel, Aberdeen and London have discovered a toxin in the fungus Candida albicans, which plays a crucial role during human mucosal infection. Throughout evolution, pathogens have come up with many tricks to infect and damage their hosts: viruses ...