Cohen Dorrian G, Wingert Rebecca A
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA.
Tissue Barriers. 2024 Jan 28:2309717. doi: 10.1080/21688370.2024.2309717.
The fungus is pervasive in our environment and causes the infectious disease cryptococcosis in humans, most commonly in immunocompromised patients. In addition to corroborating the avian origins of a case of cryptococcosis in an immunocompromised patient in 2000, a fascinating recent report has now characterized the genetic and phenotypic changes that occur in this during passage in mammalian hosts. Interestingly, mouse-passaged isolates showed differences in virulence factors ranging from capsule size, melanization, nonlytic macrophage exocytosis, and amoeba predation resistance as compared to the patient strain. Taken together, these results provide new insights about the relationship between mutations acquired during an infection and changes in virulence.
这种真菌在我们的环境中普遍存在，可导致人类感染隐球菌病，最常见于免疫功能低下的患者。除了证实2000年一名免疫功能低下患者的隐球菌病病例源自禽类外，最近一份引人入胜的报告现在已经描述了这种真菌在哺乳动物宿主体内传代过程中发生的基因和表型变化。有趣的是，与患者菌株相比，经小鼠传代的分离株在毒力因子方面存在差异，包括荚膜大小、黑色素化、非溶解性巨噬细胞胞吐作用和抗阿米巴捕食能力。综上所述，这些结果为感染期间获得的突变与毒力变化之间的关系提供了新的见解。
