Differential Recognition of Clinically Relevant Species by Human Granulocytes.

Sporotrichosis is a cutaneous mycosis that affects humans and animals and has a worldwide distribution. This infection is mainly caused by , , and . Current research about anti- immunity has been mainly focused on and , using different types of human or animal immune cells. Granulocytes are a group of cells relevant for cytokine production, with the capacity for phagocytosis and the generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). Considering their importance, this study aimed to compare the capacity of human granulocytes to stimulate cytokines, uptake, and form NETs when interacting with different species. We found that conidia, germlings, and yeast-like cells from , , and play an important role in the interaction with these immune cells, establishing morphology- and species-specific cytokine profiles. tended to stimulate an anti-inflammatory cytokine profile, whilst the other two species had a proinflammatory one. cells were the most phagocytosed cells, which occurred through a dectin-1-dependent mechanism, while the uptake of mainly occurred via TLR4 and CR3. Cell wall -linked and -linked glycans, along with β-1,3-glucan, played a significant role in the interaction of these species with human granulocytes. Finally, this study indicates that conidia and yeast-like cells are capable of inducing NETs, with the latter being a better stimulant. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the cytokine profiles produced by human granulocytes interacting with cells.