Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Institute for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Leipziger Str. 44, 39120 Magdeburg, Germany.
Int J Med Microbiol. 2011 Jun;301(5):436-44. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmm.2011.04.012. Epub 2011 May 14.
The saprophytic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is a mold which is ubiquitously present in the environment. It produces large numbers of spores, called conidia that we constantly inhale with the breathing air. Healthy individuals normally do not suffer from true fungal infections with this pathogen. A normally robust resistance against Aspergillus is based on the presence of a very effective immunological defense system in the vertebrate body. Inhaled conidia are first encountered by lung-resident alveolar macrophages and then by neutrophil granulocytes. Both cell types are able to effectively ingest and destroy the fungus. Although some responses of the adaptive immune system develop, the key protection is mediated by innate immunity. The importance of phagocytes for defense against aspergillosis is also supported by large numbers of animal studies. Despite the production of aggressive chemicals that can extracellularly destroy fungal pathogens, the main effector mechanism of the innate immune system is phagocytosis. Very recently, the production of extracellular neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) consisting of nuclear DNA has been added to the armamentarium that innate immune cells use against infection with Aspergillus. Phagocyte responses to Aspergillus are very broad, and a number of new observations have added to this complexity in recent years. To summarize established and newer findings, we will give an overview on current knowledge of the phagocyte system for the protection against Aspergillus.
腐生真菌烟曲霉是一种在环境中普遍存在的霉菌。它会产生大量的孢子，称为分生孢子，我们在呼吸空气时会不断吸入这些孢子。健康个体通常不会受到这种病原体的真正真菌感染。脊椎动物体内存在非常有效的免疫防御系统，使正常人能够正常抵抗曲霉。吸入的分生孢子首先被肺驻留的肺泡巨噬细胞和中性粒细胞吞噬。这两种细胞类型都能够有效地摄取并破坏真菌。尽管适应性免疫系统会产生一些反应，但主要的保护作用是由先天免疫介导的。吞噬细胞在防御曲霉菌病方面的重要性也得到了大量动物研究的支持。尽管先天免疫系统会产生可以在细胞外破坏真菌病原体的侵袭性化学物质，但先天免疫系统的主要效应机制是吞噬作用。最近，人们发现中性粒细胞胞外陷阱（NETs）的产生可以抵御感染，这些 NETs 由核 DNA 组成，是先天免疫细胞对抗曲霉菌感染的新武器。吞噬细胞对曲霉的反应非常广泛，近年来一些新的观察结果增加了这种复杂性。为了总结已有的和更新的发现，我们将概述先天吞噬细胞系统在抵御曲霉中的作用。
