Brakhage Axel A
Department of Molecular and Applied Microbiology, Leibniz-Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - HKI-, Beutenbergstrasse 11a, D-07745 Jena, Germany.
Curr Drug Targets. 2005 Dec;6(8):875-86. doi: 10.2174/138945005774912717.
Infections with mould pathogens have emerged as an increasing risk faced by patients under sustained immunosuppression. Species of the Aspergillus family account for most of these infections and in particular Aspergillus fumigatus can be regarded as the most important airborne-pathogenic fungus. The improvement in transplant medicine and the therapy of hematological malignancies is often complicated by the threat of invasive aspergillosis. Specific diagnostics are still limited, as are the possibilities of therapeutic intervention. Hence, invasive aspergillosis is still associated with a high mortality rate that ranges from 30 % to 90 %. In recent years, considerable progress has been made in understanding the genetics of A. fumigatus and molecular techniques for the manipulation of the fungus have been developed. Molecular genetics offers not only approaches for the detailed characterization of gene products that appear to be key components of the infection process but also selection strategies that combine classical genetics and molecular biology to identify virulence determinants of A. fumigatus. The review discusses aspects of the current knowledge of the infection process, mechanisms of protection of the fungus against immune effector cells, and virulence determinants of A. fumigatus.
霉菌病原体感染已成为持续免疫抑制患者面临的日益严重的风险。曲霉属的物种占这些感染的大部分，特别是烟曲霉可被视为最重要的空气传播致病真菌。移植医学和血液系统恶性肿瘤治疗的改善常常因侵袭性曲霉病的威胁而复杂化。特异性诊断仍然有限，治疗干预的可能性也同样有限。因此，侵袭性曲霉病的死亡率仍然很高，在30%至90%之间。近年来，在了解烟曲霉的遗传学方面取得了相当大的进展，并且已经开发出用于操纵该真菌的分子技术。分子遗传学不仅提供了详细表征似乎是感染过程关键组成部分的基因产物的方法，还提供了将经典遗传学和分子生物学相结合以鉴定烟曲霉毒力决定因素的选择策略。本文综述讨论了感染过程的当前知识、真菌抵御免疫效应细胞的机制以及烟曲霉的毒力决定因素等方面。
