A nonlethal murine cutaneous model of invasive aspergillosis.

Cutaneous models allow researchers to dynamically monitor infection by visually determining changes in skin lesion dimensions over time. We present a nonlethal cutaneous model of invasive aspergillosis (IA) in nude BALB/c mice and describe its use to determine altered virulence in Aspergillus strains and response to antifungal drugs. In addition, as an example of the versatility of this model, we show how the cutaneous model can be used to assess the effect of IA on angiogenesis in vivo.