Achterman Rebecca Rashid, White Theodore C
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, 307 Westlake Avenue North, Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98109-5219, USA.
Int J Microbiol. 2012;2012:358305. doi: 10.1155/2012/358305. Epub 2011 Oct 4.
Dermatophytes are prevalent causes of cutaneous mycoses and, unlike many other fungal pathogens, are able to cause disease in immunocompetent individuals. They infect keratinized tissue such as skin, hair, and nails, resulting in tinea infections, including ringworm. Little is known about the molecular mechanisms that underlie the ability of these organisms to establish and maintain infection. The recent availability of genome sequence information and improved genetic manipulation have enabled researchers to begin to identify and study the role of virulence factors of dermatophytes. This paper will summarize our current understanding of dermatophyte virulence factors and discuss future directions for identifying and testing virulence factors.
皮肤癣菌是皮肤真菌病的常见病因,与许多其他真菌病原体不同,它们能够在免疫功能正常的个体中引发疾病。它们感染皮肤、毛发和指甲等角化组织,导致癣感染,包括体癣。对于这些生物体建立和维持感染能力背后的分子机制,我们知之甚少。最近基因组序列信息的可得性以及改进的基因操作方法,使研究人员能够开始识别和研究皮肤癣菌毒力因子的作用。本文将总结我们目前对皮肤癣菌毒力因子的理解,并讨论识别和测试毒力因子的未来方向。