Briner Sydney L, Doering Tamara L
Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63108, USA.
Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO 63108, USA.
Curr Biol. 2025 Jun 9;35(11):R518-R522. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.04.008.
Fungal pathogens pose a significant threat to human health that is greatly underrecognized, despite causing several million deaths every year. To put it simply, the fight against these fungi is complicated. At baseline, there is a severe lack of effective and accessible antifungals, especially in regions with limited resources. Exacerbating the situation, many of these pathogens are opportunists that primarily affect immunocompromised individuals, which adds to the challenges of treatment. Another concern is that climate change selects for thermotolerance in environmental fungi, enhancing their ability to thrive at human body temperatures. This may not only intensify the danger of existing pathogens but also lead to the emergence of new ones. To focus attention on the serious and escalating threat of fungal pathogens, the World Health Organization has recently classified them into priority categories, designating Cryptococcus neoformans as "critical priority". In this primer, we will discuss the fundamental biology that makes C. neoformans such a notorious pathogen.
真菌病原体对人类健康构成了重大威胁，尽管每年造成数百万人死亡，但这一威胁却远未得到充分认识。简单来说，对抗这些真菌的斗争十分复杂。从根本上讲，有效且易于获取的抗真菌药物严重短缺，尤其是在资源有限的地区。使情况更加恶化的是，这些病原体中有许多是机会致病菌，主要影响免疫功能低下的个体，这增加了治疗的挑战。另一个令人担忧的问题是，气候变化促使环境真菌产生耐热性，增强了它们在人体温度下繁殖的能力。这不仅可能加剧现有病原体的危险性，还可能导致新病原体的出现。为了使人们关注真菌病原体这一严重且不断升级的威胁，世界卫生组织最近将它们划分为优先类别，将新型隐球菌列为“极高优先级”。在本入门指南中，我们将探讨使新型隐球菌成为如此臭名昭著的病原体的基础生物学特性。
